At a 2007 awards ceremony of the Vietnam Fund for Supporting Scientific and Technological Creations (VIFOTEC), Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Thien Nhan, who is also Minister of Education and Training, praised students and young people for their creativity, industriousness and passion for scientific research.

He said that many of their research projects have proved applicable to socio-economic developments in the country.

“These exemplary role models should be replicated to promote scientific research and encourage young Vietnamese people to devote their energy and wisdom to the nation,” said Mr Nhan. 

The girl with a burning desire

Among VIFOTEC awards winners was Pham Van Trang, a student from Hanoi University of Water Resources. Under the title “Evaluating the efficiency of flood prevention at dams in the Huong River basin”, Trang worked towards new solutions for preventing floods in the central region.

According to Trang, the coastal area of the central region suffers huge material and human losses caused by floods and storms every year. Thua Thien-Hue is one of the localities that bear the brunt of natural calamities. Floods badly affect the life and production of local people and damage historical relics recognised by UNESCO in Hue city. 

To mitigate the effect of floods in the river basin, Trang proposed building reservoirs to divert floods upriver. Thua Thien-Hue is currently implementing projects to build Huong Dien reservoir on the Bo river, Ta Trach reservoir on the Ta Trach river and Binh Dien reservoir on the Huu Trach river. The three projects are believed to divert floods and mitigate the effect of floods on Hue city. They will be put into operation by 2010-2011.    

While doing her research project, Trang measured and compared water levels in the river basin before and after the reservoir was built to evaluate the reservoir’s capability for diverting floods. Trang said her research project will help hydro-meteorologists come up with more precise calculations and forecasts so as to divert the floods more efficiently.

Trang expressed her wish that her work will be further developed to build an operation mechanism for achieving the highest economic efficiency of reservoirs.

Students with the stock market

In 2007, the stock market heated up, drawing the participation of many Vietnamese people, particularly businesses. But for students, it is almost a new concept and there is little research on it. To make clear the relationship between the students and the stock market, Vu Thuy Duong and Nguyen Phuong Chi from the Social Science and Humanities University under Hanoi National University decided to conduct a thorough study into this topic. 

After nearly two years of gathering, processing and analysing information, both Duong and Chi found that most students acquired knowledge of the stock market through the media, and the school did not provide enough basic and necessary information about this market for students. Many students played the stock market without taking into account any imminent risks.

In their research, Duong and Chi concluded that though students playing the stock market make up a small proportion among the investors in society, they are the country’s future masters and economists. If they have good knowledge of the stock market, it will create a short-term playground and a strategic investment at present, but also facilitate sustainable development in the future.

On the one hand, their research project underlines the need to raise students’ awareness of the stock market, on the other hand it helps universities develop training methods to help their students quickly be adapted to and work efficiently in the current socialist-oriented market economy.

Both Duong and Chi received the second prize at the 2007 scientific research contest launched by the Ministry of Education and Training. 

Research project on science and technology

Though they did not study in the same year, Luu Manh Ha and Luu Van Hoan from Technology University under the Hanoi National University jointly conducted a research project on “Position and navigation in the transport sector”.

According to Luu Manh Ha, position and navigation for aircraft, missiles and ships is a vital requirement in many aspects of life. Navigation systems have been built in several countries and regions in the world such as the Global Position System (GPS) in the US and Galileo in Europe. However, using these systems require us to rely on the service provider, and the provider either does not want to transfer the technology or agrees to transfer it at a high cost.

Ha and Hoan realised the need to develop an independent navigation system in Vietnam. In more than a year, Ha and Hoan learned from their teachers and contacted airports and ports to study the navigation of aircraft, trains and ships. Finally they succeeded in integrating the Inertial Navigation System into the Global Position System for proper use in Vietnam. Their research project received a third prize at the Vietnam Technology Innovation Competition.

Though Trang, Duong, Chi, Ha and Hoan were among more than 1,200 VIFOTEC awards winners, their contributions to science and technology are encouraging. It is hoped that their research projects will be applied in reality and the scientific research movement will spread across the country and attract more gifted young people.