VinFuture Fund - a bridge of knowledge

When Prof. Dr. Hoang Van Minh - Rector of the University of Public Health - and his colleagues were anxiously searching for intervention solutions to reduce the use of new tobacco products among young people in Vietnam, VinFuture Foundation approached and proposed cooperation. The "sweet fruit" of this collaboration was the success of the InnovaConnect conference in September 2024, with the participation of leading experts in the region and the project "Intervention program on prevention and control of electronic cigarettes in secondary schools in major cities in Vietnam" implemented from the beginning of 2025.

A sharing session on the harmful effects of e-cigarettes and efforts to prevent them in schools, organized by the University of Public Health in collaboration with VinFuture Foundation in 2025. (Photo: VFP)

Bridge of substantive scientific collaborations

“The VinFuture Foundation is truly a bridge of knowledge. Through InnovaConnect, we have invited the world's leading experts on e-cigarette prevention. The September 2024 workshop with experts from Australia and Thailand brought many modern solution perspectives, helping to consolidate the research direction and pilot project at 2 secondary schools in Hanoi. If successful, the model will be replicated nationwide,” shared Professor Minh.

During the project implementation, the expert said he will continue to cooperate with foreign experts that VinFuture has connected with to deploy public health solutions based on scientific evidence, suitable for Vietnamese practices.

In the first year, the project implemented a comprehensive intervention model, suitable for the practical context in Vietnam, with the cooperation of the REACH research group led by Professor Bonnie Halpern-Felsher (Stanford University, USA). At the same time, the two sides organized thematic exchanges at schools in Hanoi, with the participation of health experts, reaching thousands of students to raise awareness about the harmful effects of e-cigarettes.

From the InnovaConnect event in 2024, the University of Public Health and VinFuture Foundation will implement a project to build an anti-e-cigarette program in schools from 2025. (Photo: VFP)

Meanwhile, in Da Nang, Associate Professor Dr. Nguyen Tan Hung, Director of the Institute of Advanced Science and Technology (University of Da Nang), was still impressed with the InnovaConnect event of VinFuture Foundation with the theme "Fundamental technologies for future society - The intersection of electronics and photonics" within the framework of Da Nang Semiconductor Day 2025. This event is not only for the scientific community but also for policy agencies and businesses in electronic microchips, photonics and AI.

“In my opinion, the greatest achievement that the InnovaConnect event series has brought is to help break the border between domestic and international science. Domestic science and technology is still fundamentally low compared to the region and the world in many aspects such as human resources, facilities and support conditions. Therefore, the above event series has broken down a huge barrier for domestic scientists and research groups, increasing their confidence in international cooperation,” Associate Professor Hung assessed.

The InnovaConnect event held in Da Nang at the end of August 2025 attracted a large number of scientists and representatives of departments and sectors. (Photo: VFP)

Introducing to the world a generation of confident and open-minded young Vietnamese researchers

From Jakarta, Mr. Adya Danaditya, UNESCO AI consultant and panelist at the InnovaTalk conference in April 2025, with the theme “Artificial Intelligence without Borders: Ethics and Technology” , highly appreciated VinFuture’s scientific networking initiatives to help researchers in Vietnam access global AI trends, while expanding their cooperation in the international scientific community.

“It was great to be part of the InnovaTalk discussion. I met so many talented AI experts, including those from Vietnam. I still keep in touch with some of the speakers,” said Adya Danaditya.

Sharing more about this perspective, Associate Professor Hung said that through VinFuture's science connection initiatives, the world's leading experts also have the opportunity to explore Vietnam as a dynamic, creative country, ready for changes and positive contributions to science in general.

This is very important in the current period, when Vietnam has many policies to promote the development and mastery of strategic technologies and core technologies. Therefore, it is necessary to have a strong domestic research force with enough confidence and capacity to coordinate with famous scientists and research groups in the world.

“In my opinion, these activities in Vietnam are pioneering in promoting national policies on science and technology. Activities connecting the world's top science with Vietnam also help to raise the level of Vietnamese science and create inspiration and motivation for the community,” Associate Professor Hung analyzed.

The InnovaConnect workshop held at Can Tho University of Medicine and Pharmacy marked the first time this scientific connection initiative was deployed in the Mekong Delta region. (Photo: VFP)

Also one of the experts who participated in the InnovaConnect event series at the end of October 2025, Associate Professor, Dr. Do Thi Thao, Deputy Head of the Faculty of Dentistry, Can Tho University of Medicine and Pharmacy, highly appreciated the international stature of the program when it gathered leading speakers and scientists to Vietnam to exchange and share about activities related to academics and scientific research.

The auditorium of Can Tho University of Medicine and Pharmacy on the day of InnovaConnect was bustling with more than 1,000 students, lecturers and many scientists from the Mekong Delta region attending.

“The event really inspired the students in terms of academics and scientific research. Many students also asked many questions to connect with the scientists participating in the program,” said Associate Professor Thao.

According to Associate Professor Thao, scientists from Austria were impressed by the eagerness to learn of many young Vietnamese students and researchers.

“InnovaConnect proves to be of great significance in introducing to world scientists the knowledge and skills of domestic scientists, while helping foreign experts access the practical academic and research environment in Vietnam; thereby opening up great cooperation opportunities with value not only domestically but also globally,” she said.

From these achievements, experts also expressed hope that activities such as InnovaConnect and InnovaTalk will continue to be implemented, so that the Vietnamese public can benefit from updated knowledge about the latest developments in the technology field.

Ngoc Linh

Source: https://vtcnews.vn/quy-vinfuture-cau-noi-tri-thuc-ar985838.html