Valedictorian of Physics Education wins three US PhD scholarships

He entered Pedagogy partly because of economic difficulties, but Nhat Quang graduated as valedictorian and won three full doctoral scholarships in the US.

With an average GPA of 3.92/4, Nguyen Nhat Quang, 22 years old, is the valedictorian of the Physics Pedagogy major at Ho Chi Minh City University of Education in 2023.

Since the end of his third year of university, Quang has been awarded a full doctoral scholarship worth 7 billion VND for 5 years by Florida State University, USA, including tuition and living expenses. Living expenses will come from teaching or research assistantship at the school's Physics Department. In addition, the male student has been accepted into doctoral programs at the University of Connecticut and the University of Utah, also with full scholarships and financial support.

"With a passion for researching High Energy Physics (also known as Elementary Particle Physics), I chose Florida State University because the school is very strong in this field, with key research labs and laboratories in the US," Quang said. The school is in the top 20 public universities in the US according to the US News & World Report rankings.

Nhat Quang during a scientific exchange trip to Japan in 2022. Photo: Character provided

In 2020, the former student of Le Hong Phong High School for the Gifted, Ho Chi Minh City, faced many choices to go straight to university with the third prize in the national Physics competition. Unlike his friends who chose Polytechnic or Information Technology, Quang chose Pedagogy because he loved Physics and teaching, which also helped his family reduce the burden of tuition fees.

Quang said that his family was not well off so he did not think about studying abroad or further education but decided to become a high school Physics teacher. The turning point came to Quang when he participated in research at the school's Computational Physics Laboratory under the guidance of Professor Le Van Hoang.

From the work of his teacher and his seniors, Quang realized that after graduating from Physics Pedagogy, he could not only teach in high school but also do in-depth research and teach at higher levels. With his teacher pointing out research directions and participating in scientific exchanges abroad, the male student gradually became interested in research and teaching at the university level. With his teacher's encouragement of "keep going and you will get there", Quang courageously outlined the goal of doing PhD research in the US at the beginning of his third year (August 2022).

Within four months, the male student rushed to take the GRE certificate (a prerequisite for graduate studies in the US) in Physics and an English certificate. At that time, IELTS exams in Vietnam were suspended, so he had to switch to taking the Duolingo certificate. In addition, the male student asked for recommendation letters from Professor Le Van Hoang and two other lecturers in the Physics department, wrote a letter of introduction with his transcript, and a list of Physics and Math courses he had taken to include in his application.

Quang said the average application fee at each school is 100 USD (2.5 million VND), so he prioritizes choosing schools that are strong in Physics research. The male student also proactively contacted to request exemption or reduction of application fees.

Professor Le Van Hoang, a senior lecturer in the Physics Department, commented that Quang was an exceptionally excellent student that he had supervised. According to his experience, when granting doctoral scholarships, universities in the US focus on the academic achievements and scientific research inclinations of the candidates through the recommendation letters of the supervisors.

In his letter of recommendation for Quang, Professor Hoang emphasized that he was the most outstanding male student in the faculty's class of nearly 100 students, among the highest in the school. Quang went to the lab to study and participate in Physics research since his second year, and had a research on low-dimensional physics published in the school's scientific journal in his third year.

When guiding scientific research and graduation thesis, he assigned Quang the topic of theoretical calculation of exciton energy spectrum in TMDC monolayer in the presence of magnetic field. This topic required higher knowledge and skills than at university level but Quang solved it well.

The professor was impressed when his student continued to solve the problem posed by the research topic even though he had completed his thesis and received a doctoral scholarship in the US. This is the spirit of pursuing to the end of a scientist. The results obtained from this research topic of Quang will be published in the International Science Journal (SCIE) in the near future.

"In addition to ability, with a serious working attitude, ambition and passion, I believe Quang will succeed in his scientific career," said Professor Hoang.

Nhat Quang and Professor Le Van Hoang (left). Photo: Provided by the character

In his self-introduction letter, Quang shared his view that scientific research is a journey of continuous learning and discovery , not being complacent with what he already knows but aiming to explore new limits.

"There were times when I had difficulties and didn't understand everything right away, but I considered it a step forward and a necessary element on the research journey," Quang said.

Besides his grades, Quang believes that his participation in the Physics summer school and student exchange programs on science and culture in Japan and Korea are also plus points that demonstrate his goal of pursuing scientific research.

The male student is also an active member of the school's Youth Union movements and the Green Summer and Volunteer Spring volunteer campaigns. Right from his first year, he started working as a tutor and assistant in Physics for the annual Math-Physics-Literature Meeting program. Quang considers this both a part-time job and an opportunity to practice his career because he can apply his knowledge and pedagogical skills.

To balance his time, Quang makes a weekly plan, determining the priority work at each time. Tutoring is scheduled for the evening. During exam and test times, Quang will focus entirely on studying. On weekends or summer, the male student devotes himself to group activities and scientific exchanges.

One way Quang makes the most of his time during the day is to use the scattered free time to study quickly or do small tasks. The time between classes or when commuting is used to re-listen to lectures.

Quang plans to return home after completing his doctoral program in the US. He hopes to work at a university or research institute to both conduct research to create new knowledge and teach to inspire the next generation.

"I believe that research will be valuable when it is taught and passed on for further application and development. Therefore, instilling a passion for Physics in the younger generation is equally important as research," Quang shared.

Le Nguyen

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