Developing key universities - a strategic direction

This policy is specified through Conclusion Notice 45-TB/TGV of the Working Group assisting the Central Steering Committee on science , technology development, innovation and digital transformation.

In line with global development trends

Speaking with the Education and Times Newspaper, Dr. Phan Dang Hai - Deputy Head of the Faculty of Law, Banking Academy, said that building breakthrough mechanisms and policies, and investing in a number of higher education institutions to become national centers of science, technology and innovation on par with advanced countries is a major policy of the Party and State, concretized in major resolutions.

In the context of Vietnam's goal of becoming a developed, high-income country by 2045, university education cannot stop at the function of training human resources. Universities must become intellectual resources, places that produce new knowledge, new technology and are a bridge between science and production - business, between theory and practice.

Dr. Phan Dang Hai commented that Vietnam's higher education system has made remarkable progress. However, the quality and effectiveness of research are still scattered, lacking connections and have not really created a spillover effect on the economy .

The current investment mechanism is still scattered and lacks focus; the legal environment and university governance mechanism still have many administrative constraints, not creating conditions for schools to promote their autonomy in organization, personnel, academics and finance.

At the macro level, investment in key universities helps restructure the economic development model, shifting from capital and labor-based growth to knowledge and technology-based growth. Commercialized research products will contribute to improving labor productivity, increasing added value in production and promoting the formation of high-tech industries, digital economy and green economy.

At the same time, innovative universities will become the starting point for science and technology enterprises and creative startups, connecting with investment funds, high-tech zones, and incubation centers. Thereby, creating a complete national innovation ecosystem, in which academic knowledge is closely linked to economic and social values.

Danang University is one of four universities in Vietnam selected for key investment to serve as a model for the university education system. According to the Director, Associate Professor, Dr. Nguyen Ngoc Vu, Danang University has completed the project to develop into an international-class university according to the Conclusion

45-TB/TGV. The focus in the coming period is to improve university governance capacity, expand autonomy associated with accountability, and identify and remove “bottlenecks” in the organizational structure, streamlining the apparatus to improve effectiveness and efficiency.

Danang University will establish specialized working groups on university rankings, digital transformation, and university-enterprise cooperation, under the direct guidance of the Board of Directors and the Boards of Rectors of member schools, ensuring synchronous and effective coordination.

At the same time, special attention is paid to staff development, aiming to select lecturers with doctoral degrees, with research capacity and good English skills; striving to have at least 60% of training programs in science, engineering and technology taught in English by 2030.

To strengthen facilities and resources for research, Danang University prioritizes sources to increase the proportion of funding for scientific research, especially scientific research among students at a certain and more satisfactory rate; actively supports students in research with lecturers.

Schools and units allocate specific levels of support and criteria for supporting student topics, with timely rewards and incentives. In addition, member schools need to proactively propose and prepare plans and projects to participate in and seize opportunities in programs, projects, and portfolios receiving key state investment; encourage schools and units to proactively research and establish new innovation centers and excellent scientific research centers, focusing on key industries.

Students of the University of Technical Education - Danang University participated in displaying products at the Danang City Innovation and Startup Festival.

Some important recommendations

Based on international experience, Dr. Phan Dang Hai proposed a number of solutions. Accordingly, to build higher education institutions into innovation centers, the Government needs to play a leading role in long-term strategic orientation and investment; focusing resources on a number of elite universities instead of dispersing them too much.

At the same time, increase the proportion of budget investment for higher education; establish a university fund to receive sponsorship from businesses and alumni. Pilot other forms of resource mobilization (auction of school name rights, calling for capital from domestic and foreign funds) to avoid complete dependence on the budget.

Invested schools must have commitments on research quality, international publications, technology transfer and commercialization of scientific products.

In the long term, universities selected to develop into national science and innovation centers must aim to meet international standards in governance, research and technology transfer, participate in global academic cooperation networks, and have research products with Vietnamese brands recognized internationally.

Dr. Phan Dang Hai also proposed granting comprehensive autonomy to key universities, including autonomy in academics, organization, personnel, and finance. Autonomy is not only the right to decide, but also comes with accountability, with independent and transparent inspection and evaluation mechanisms.

Along with that, create a linkage mechanism between the State - School - Enterprise - Scientists. Enterprises become research partners; the State creates a legal corridor and policy orientation; and universities are the place to provide knowledge, technology and high-quality human resources.

“It is necessary to develop policies to attract and utilize talents, creating conditions for good scientists at home and abroad to participate in teaching and research in Vietnam. The remuneration mechanism must be competitive, transparent and encourage creativity, while at the same time developing a free academic environment, respecting scientific values and professional ethics.

Continue to strengthen the university quality assessment system according to international standards (ASEAN, Asia), encourage high-standard schools to be given priority to open majors and be autonomous. At the same time, promote teaching in English in the fields of science and technology and increase the exchange of lecturers and students with foreign universities to improve education and research standards," Dr. Phan Dang Hai further proposed.

The spirit of Resolution 57-NQ/TW is that scientific research must create breakthroughs in science and technology development, innovation and digital transformation, creating more wealth for society; contributing, building and criticizing policies for the development of localities, businesses and the country. Therefore, scientists and lecturers need not only to research what they have but also need to focus on researching what society needs.

Associate Professor Dr. Nguyen Ngoc Vu said that in order to propose tasks that meet the requirements of localities, businesses and society, it is necessary to strengthen the connection with localities and businesses. This is also the appropriate direction that Danang University is implementing.

“There needs to be a breakthrough first of all in the thinking and awareness from the leaders of Danang University to schools and units, unifying common awareness, considering science and technology, innovation and digital transformation as extremely important and urgent tasks. From there, clearly define goals, requirements, motivations, resources and breakthrough solutions. The spirit of “breakthrough” is also applied to schools and units to first create a “breakthrough” compared to themselves in order to rise up”, affirmed the Director of Danang University.

For “breakthroughs” in industries and fields, schools and units need to take advantage of opportunities, be proactive, grasp the trend in time, and stay ahead of the curve. For the development of research forces, schools and units proactively invite leading international scientists and experts, especially in key industries and fields, to have more leading scientists, lead key science and technology programs, and strong research groups.

This also contributes to the implementation of the Plan to attract 100 good experts to participate in the national key artificial intelligence development program of the Ministry of Science and Technology.

“Development practices in advanced countries show that leading universities such as MIT (USA), NUS (Singapore), Tsinghua (China) or KAIST (Korea) are all innovation centers, the starting point for technology businesses, global corporations and world-changing inventions.

Vietnam's choice and focus on investing in developing a number of higher education institutions into national centers of science, technology and innovation is a step forward from the "training university" model to "research and innovation university", in line with global development trends," Dr. Phan Dang Hai shared.

Source: https://giaoducthoidai.vn/phat-trien-cac-dai-hoc-trong-diem-huong-di-chien-luoc-post756299.html