62 PhDs applied, only 27 were accepted

62 PhDs, mostly graduated from abroad, applied to Ho Chi Minh City National University to teach and research at member universities, but only 27 were recruited. Up to now, Ho Chi Minh City National University has had 3 rounds of recruiting PhDs under the VNU350 program.

Of which, in the first round (March 2024), 33 PhDs applied, but only 14 were admitted. The University of Technology, the University of Natural Sciences, the University of Economics and Law, and An Giang University each had 2 admitted students; the University of Health Sciences had 4 students; the International University and the Center for Research on Nanostructured and Molecular Materials each had 1 student.

In the second round (June 2024), 20 PhDs applied, but only 8 were admitted, including 5 from the University of Natural Sciences ; 1 each from the University of Technology, University of Information Technology, and Institute of Nanotechnology.

In the third round (September 2024), 9 PhDs applied but only 5 were accepted, including 4 from the University of Science and Technology and 1 from the Center for Research on Nanostructured and Molecular Materials.

In the latest batch of 2025, there were 39 PhDs, including 37 foreign graduates, applying, but the results are not yet available.

The VNU350 program of Ho Chi Minh City National University is determined to attract 350 PhDs to work. For young scientists, in the first 2 years, they will be granted 1 type C scientific research topic, with a maximum budget of 200 million VND. In the third year, they will be granted 1 type B topic, with a maximum budget of 1 billion VND. In the fourth year, they will be supported to invest in a laboratory for scientific research, with a maximum budget of 10 billion VND. In the fifth year, they will be supported and guided in the procedures and processes for considering and recognizing them as meeting the standards for the title of associate professor at the state level.

For leading scientists in the first 2 years, they will be granted a type B scientific research project with a maximum budget of 1 billion VND. In the following years, they will be supported to invest in laboratories for scientific research, with a maximum budget of 30 billion VND, supported to establish strong research groups, supported to register to preside over projects at all levels... not to mention other incentives.

Recruited famous PhD

After the first 3 application rounds, 7 scientists graduated from the world's top 100 universities according to the QS World University Ranking 2025 to work, such as: California Institute of Technology (10th), University of California Berkeley (12th), Seoul National University (31st), Carnegie Mellon University (58th), University of Paris - Saclay (73rd) or Osaka University (86th).

Can Tran Thanh Trung.jpeg
Dr. Can Tran Thanh Trung - valedictorian of Duke University, PhD from California Institute of Technology (USA) returned to Vietnam to teach and do research. Photo: VNU

The most prominent among them is Dr. Can Tran Thanh Trung - an excellent student of Dr. Le Ba Khanh Trinh, graduated from the California Institute of Technology (USA) and worked at the University of Natural Sciences.

Dr. Can Tran Thanh Trung was born in 1995, a former student of the Gifted High School (Ho Chi Minh City National University). During his high school years, he won a gold medal at the International Math Olympiad in Colombia in 2013. After finishing grade 12, Trung received a full scholarship to Duke University (USA) - a school in the top 10 of the best university rankings in the US, according to US News 2024. He graduated as valedictorian in Mathematics in 2018. After that, Trung did his PhD in Mathematics at the California Institute of Technology (USA). According to the THE 2024 rankings, the California Institute of Technology ranked 7th among the best universities in the world. According to the rankings of the Quacquarelli Symonds - QS (UK), this Institute ranked in the top 10 in the world.

During 10 years of studying in the US, Mr. Trung realized that Vietnamese students have qualities and passion no less than their international friends, but lack opportunities to develop early.

“Since 2015, Duke University has developed a summer research program on big data for students and researchers, attracting millions of dollars in investment cooperation from businesses and local governments. This program instills passion and research skills, while nurturing a new generation of experts in the field of big data. Currently, in the context of the explosive development of artificial intelligence leading to hundreds of billions of dollars in investments in large data centers around the world, the need for high-quality human resources has never been more urgent. Incubating talents early like Duke University, in my opinion, is invaluable,” said Dr. Trung.

With the desire to nurture talents for Vietnam, in 2016, Dr. Trung used his personal scholarship with students, graduate students and the University of Natural Sciences to organize the PiMA summer research camp for Mathematics and Applications.

Over the past eight years, the camp has brought cutting-edge applications in machine learning, data science, and bioinformatics to hundreds of talented students. Many have gone on to pursue research at top universities around the world or work at major technology companies.

“These initial successes made me think seriously about returning long-term and contributing to my homeland,” Dr. Trung confided.

According to Dr. Trung, when faced with the choice of continuing his career in the US or returning to Vietnam, he learned about the VNU350 Program of Ho Chi Minh City National University - an initiative to attract and develop outstanding young scientists. He was convinced because "this was the starting motivation and also the ambition that I wanted to realize". Therefore, the young doctor decided to apply and was selected as a lecturer at the Faculty of Information Technology, University of Natural Sciences.

Not all foreign PhD graduates are recruited.

Sharing with VietNamNet, a leader of Ho Chi Minh City National University said that the reason why many PhDs were not accepted was because they did not fully understand the recruitment regulations, some candidates submitted their applications and then withdrew because they had not completed their contracts with the current agency, and the benefits were not really attractive. On the other hand, the recruiting unit was also very serious, the selection process was scientific, not all PhDs who graduated from abroad were recruited.

Source: https://vietnamnet.vn/vi-sao-62-tien-si-tot-nghiep-nuoc-ngoai-ve-nuoc-chi-27-nguoi-duoc-tuyen-dung-2405009.html