School of intelligence, humanity and aspiration

Only 1 month after signing Decree No. 45 establishing the Faculty of Letters, President Ho Chi Minh directly presided over the Opening Ceremony of the first academic year of Vietnam National University on November 15, 1945.

The 80-year journey - under the names of University of Letters (1945), Hanoi University of Science (1956), University of Social Sciences and Humanities (1995) - is a valuable heritage and an important resource for the school to continue to develop breakthroughs in the era of global digital knowledge.

After peace was restored in the North, the Government merged the Faculty of Letters with a number of universities to form Hanoi University of Science (1956) - the country's leading multidisciplinary basic science center. Hanoi University of Science's academic reputation is famous in the national and international science arena; the field of social sciences and humanities gathers many outstanding teachers. In 1995, the University of Social Sciences and Humanities was established on the basis of separating Hanoi University of Science. During 3 decades of operation within the structure of Hanoi National University (1995-2025), the school has achieved many great achievements, becoming a center for training high-quality human resources and nurturing talents, excellent scientific research, advising on macro policies for the Party and State, creating and disseminating knowledge of social sciences and humanities, spreading Vietnamese language and culture to the world...

Based on the viewpoint of “academics as the foundation - modernity as the trend”, the school perfects the educational philosophy of “Cultural-modern-liberal” and firmly adheres to the core values of “Pioneering-Creative-High quality-High level”. The culture of quality assurance and university rankings is focused on: 100% of undergraduate programs are quality-accredited according to national and international standards (AUN-QA); in 2024, the school's social sciences field will be ranked 501-600 in the world by Times Higher Education; in 2025, the Ministry of Education and Training will evaluate the school as belonging to the group of higher education institutions with the highest educational quality accreditation results in the country.

The school currently has 500 staff, of which 85% are scientists with PhD degrees, 25% with Professor and Associate Professor titles; 30 bachelor's programs, 28 master's programs and 22 doctoral programs; nearly 14,000 students (postgraduate students and international students account for about 25%).

The school has implemented many state science programs; published thousands of monographs and textbooks; published nearly 200 international publications annually (of which about 100 articles are in the web of science category). The school is implementing the Project of Compiling and Publishing Books for Training and Scientific Research (2024-2029 period), including 300 monographs, 200 textbooks, and 100 translated books. The project affirms the traditional source of knowledge of Literature - the essence of Synthesis - the reputation of Humanities, and at the same time demonstrates the school's strategic vision and commitment to leading the country in training, research, policy consulting, creating and disseminating knowledge of social sciences and humanities to the community and the world.

With more than 200 global partners, the school annually welcomes more than 1,000 students and nearly 300 international scientists to study, teach and research. Many international alumni of the school have become politicians, ambassadors and prestigious scholars. Currently, the school is promoting the internationalization strategy of training, with at least 30% of courses taught in English, credit recognition, and sending students on international exchanges.

The achievements of the 80-year journey of the Faculty of Literature, General Science, and Humanities contribute to the overall success of modern Vietnamese higher education. In recognition of the school's spirit of working hard and serving the Fatherland, the Party and State have awarded many noble medals and titles: First-class Independence Medal (2001), Labor Hero (2005), Ho Chi Minh Medal (2010), First-class Labor Medal (2015, 2025); nearly 30 teachers were awarded the Ho Chi Minh Prize and the State Prize.

In a congratulatory letter sent to the school on October 10, 2025, on the occasion of the 80th anniversary of tradition and 30 years of development, Comrade To Lam, General Secretary of the Central Executive Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam, acknowledged the contributions and expressed his confidence and expectation that “with the philosophy of Culture - Modernity - Openness and the spirit of innovation, the school will continue to develop in a breakthrough way, combining tradition and innovation, culture and the times, academia and integration, elite and mass; by 2030, some fields of social sciences and humanities of the school will be ranked in the group of 150 Asian universities”.

In the coming time, the school will promote comprehensive innovation for breakthrough development: Restructuring the organizational apparatus towards streamlining, modern digital university management, internationalizing training and research; training staff, attracting talents, developing a team of excellent leading experts, professional officials; developing a training structure in the direction of interdisciplinary, cross-field, application-oriented basic science, providing a team of highly qualified human resources for the country; implementing key scientific programs, aiming at excellent clusters of works that have won prestigious awards at home and abroad, top policy advice for the Central and local levels...

With its steadfast philosophy and determination to innovate, the University of Social Sciences and Humanities will continue to be a school of wisdom, humanity and aspiration; a place to nurture talents, create knowledge, contribute to building the cultural foundation of Vietnamese people and spread the good values of the nation to the world - as General Secretary To Lam wished to the school on October 10, 2025.

Professor, Doctor HOANG ANH TUAN

Rector of the University of Social Sciences and Humanities

Source: https://nhandan.vn/mai-truong-cua-tri-tue-nhan-van-va-khat-vong-post923867.html