VinUni opens 6th course, introduces new principal and elite leadership team

(Dan Tri) - VinUni's opening ceremony for the 2025-2026 academic year with the theme "Breakthrough to Lead" welcomed more than 700 new students and introduced the new principal - Professor Yap-Peng Tan, former leader of Nanyang Technological University (NTU, Singapore) and a team of elite academic leaders.

The event affirms VinUni's aspiration to conquer standards of excellence and realize the goal of being in the top 100 global universities.

VinUni's new students are excited on their first day of school.

The opening ceremony with the theme “Breakthrough to Lead” welcomed more than 700 new students, including 37 international students. The increasing presence of international students from 35 countries and territories, accounting for 5% of the total student population, has affirmed that VinUni is gradually becoming a prestigious destination for global students. This school year, VinUni is expected to welcome 600 international undergraduate and graduate students to study through student exchange programs and international cooperation.

This year, VinUni recorded a new quality milestone: new students achieved an average SAT score of 1,480, an average IELTS score of 7.5; 100% of new students won academic awards or had special qualities in extracurricular activities, culture - arts - sports .

Professor Yap-Peng Tan beats the drum to open the school year during the Opening Ceremony of his first term at VinUni.

The opening ceremony also marked VinUni's official welcome of Professor Yap-Peng Tan, former Acting Principal of the School of Engineering, Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Singapore, as Principal and Professor Ling San, former Permanent Vice President and former President of NTU, as Permanent Vice President of the University Council.

Professor Yap-Peng Tan is a scientist in image and video processing, computer vision, AI and big data; a leader who is always interested in strongly promoting interdisciplinary training, international cooperation and forming co-innovation labs (university-industry innovation experimental complexes) at NTU.

Professor Ling San is an outstanding mathematician in the fields of combinatorial design, coding theory, cryptography and number sequences. He is also an academic leader who has contributed significantly to helping NTU maintain its position among the world's best universities for many years, conquering the top 12 of QS World Rankings (2026), with many fields of science and technology in the world's top 10.

The presence of two leaders who have brought NTU - a young university in Asia to international stature, is expected to bring a leap forward for VinUni in conquering excellence and building a training - research - innovation ecosystem.

Leading professors will lead VinUni's new research centers of excellence.

Professor Yap-Peng Tan, President of VinUni, shared: “I came to Vietnam to promote breakthroughs with VinUni. I hope that VinUni will become a testament to the power of global cooperation, not only training brave global citizens, but also creating scientific and technological solutions for the sustainable development of Vietnam.”

Notably, at the ceremony, VinUni also announced the initial results of the VinUni 500 Campaign, an initiative to attract 500 global scholars, responding to Resolution 57-NQ/TW (2024) of the Politburo on breakthroughs in science, technology and innovation.

In the 2025-2026 academic year, VinUni has gathered 100 global scientists, including 45 research lecturers, 15 scholars and 40 affiliated lecturers. After the opening ceremony, the school also announced the establishment of new centers of excellence and welcomed leading professors:

Professor Vu Ha Van, former Yale Professor, USA, holds the position of member of the University Council and Scientific Director of VinUni Big Data Research Institute.

Professor Duong Nguyen Vu, former Professor of NTU, Singapore, holds the position of Vice President of Graduate Studies and Scientific Director of the AI ​​Research Center.

Professor Edmund J. Malesky, Professor at Duke University, USA, will establish and lead the Center for Smart Green Transition.

Professor Phan Manh Huong, Professor at the University of South Florida, USA, will establish and lead the Center for Materials Technology Innovation.

“On this opening day, when talking about 'Breakthrough to Lead', I think of the journey of science: every step forward begins with curiosity and persistent effort. I hope that VinUni students of the 6th course will persevere with difficult questions, because it is the breakthrough in thinking that helps us make a small but meaningful contribution to the future of Vietnam and the world,” shared Professor Phan Manh Huong, Scientific Director of VinUni Materials Technology Innovation Center.

The opening ceremony with the theme “Breakthrough to Lead” welcomed more than 700 new students, including 37 international students.

The new research centers will be planned according to interdisciplinary clusters on smart health, smart environment, artificial intelligence and big data. Here, R&D experts from the business ecosystem, especially from VinFast, Vinmec, VinRobotics, VinMotion, etc., will coordinate with VinUni lecturers and students to build strong research groups, promote scientific publications, develop inventions, transfer technology and start-up innovation.

With the guidance of a prestigious leadership team and a talented community of scholars, VinUni is entering a new phase of development, affirming its aspiration to break through and contribute to raising the intellectual status of Vietnam on the global academic map.

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/giao-duc/vinuni-khai-giang-khoa-6-ra-mat-tan-hieu-truong-va-dan-lanh-dao-tinh-hoa-20250912090905554.htm