1. Renovating university admission and improving training quality
VNU’s university admission renovation based on competence assessment has been investigated since 2014. To date, VNU has developed and designed 4,500 test questions, trained 50 specialists in designingquestions for competence assessment. The administration of the test and candidate assessment is implemented on a computer. In 2014, more than 1,600 candidates participated in VNU’s competence assessment test for admission to four training streams: talented, advanced, high quality and international standard. The analysis of the competence assessment results in comparison with those of the MOET’s three common examinations showed high reliability of the assessment items.
Issuing the planning of 415 majors and major specializations for the period 2014- 2020 as the basis forquality stratification, investment orientation, facilitating human resource supply and demand forecast for each major specialization.
The number of students from high-quality, talented, advanced and international standard streams accounted for 16% of the student body; 56% of the doctoral graduates in the fields of natural sciences andengineering - technology published in the ISI/ Scopus journals. Fifteen percent of VNU’s graduates are working and further studying either abroad or in international organizations and reputable domesticbusinesses.
Specialized high school students have won a number of International Olympic medals: 1 gold medal in Mathematics, 1 gold medal in Physics, 1 silver medal and two bronze medals in Informatics.
2. Linking basic scientific research with development
A number of VNU’s basic research works reached international standards. According to Web of Science, in2014, VNU published 260 ISI articles with citation index average of 3.9; h-index of correlation between the number of ISI articles and their citation turns is 24. VNU also published 50 high quality monographsincluding 10 books published in foreign languages.
Scientific research linked with sustainable development of the country producing such groups ofoutstanding products as: 2,082 international standard genetic resources successfully registered in the global microbial gene resources database; developing and applying biological information technology to thebuilding of the Vietnamese gene system, opening up the possibility for analyzing and diagnosing diseaseat the genomic level, improving living quality; exploring Vietnam’s biodiversity with 57 new species of insectsand crustaceans; discovering the species carrying Roosevelt in Vietnam; successfully separating phytolithfrom straw for environmental applications; publishing the set of historical documents on Vietnam’s territorial border sovereignty.
Research also linked with knowledge and technology transfer: 10 groups of science and technology products were transferred, including: high quality biodiesel to Bai Tho Tourist Transportation Company forprotecting Ha Long Bay’s environment; the device and central control system for solar technology public lighting network to Hanel Professional Electronic JSC; high stability apothecary Enereffect-Plus to Quang Binh Pharmaceutical JSC; 11 microbial byproducts to Me Linh Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd.; the technology for producing 3 types of purified DNA/ RNA kits with silica-coated magnetic nanoparticles to ANA BIO Research & Development JSC; and the research results of Annual Economic Report 2014 "Constraints to growth" to the Central Economic Committee, the ministries and sectors. In addition, VNU’s Vietnamese as a foreign language competency assessment toolkit was applied to facilitate Vietnamese language teachingand integration promotion; VNU also succeeded in producing the breast cancer diagnosis BRCA1-METHYLTest and automated multi-target environmental analysis by capillary electrophoresis.
According to Scimago Ranking, VNU ranked 284th in technological innovation. In addition, 35 patents, utility solutions, brands (including 3 international patents) have been recognized and/ or applications for their recognition have been
accepted.
Key state-level science and technology research program "Northwest Region Sustainable Development"was started with the design of integrated interdisciplinary database system.
3. Further finalizing the multidisciplinary, multisectoral structure and research-oriented university model
Completing Phase 1 of Project “Adjusting, arranging and developing VNU’s organization”; foundingVietnam-Japan University; designing and submitting the proposals for the establishment of Tran Nhan TongInstitute and that of Research Institute of Natural Resources and Environment for the Prime Minister’s approval.
Establishing VNU Center for Educational Testing, VNU Center for Hanoi Studies; Implementing the plan for VNU member institution organization development towards the model and organizational structure of aresearch-oriented university.
Constructing and developing the system of laboratories and research groups, including 16 teamsrecognized as VNU-level strong teams.
4. Developing staff toward advanced university human resource management
Designing and implementing some of the items of Project “Developing highly qualified scientists and management staff to year 2020 and year 2030 vision”. The contingent of VNU’s PhDs and DScs accounted for 47% of the total number of scientists; specifically, for the fields of natural sciences, technology andeconomics, this percentage was over 65%. The percentage of under-45-year-old doctoral scientists reached 25%. The contingent of 48 professors and 306 associate professors accounted for 18.8% of the total number of scientists.
In order to enhance democracy and personnel management, VNU has successfully piloted competition recruitment for several leadership positions for VNU scientific research institutes.
Organizing 5 higher education management training courses for core staff resources, English languagecourses, teaching and scientific research skill courses in English for lecturers to help improve the quality ofmanagement, training and scientific research activities.
5. Development cooperation strengthens VNU’s position and resources
In 2014, VNU welcomed Russian State Duma Chairman, Sergey Yevgenyevich Naryshkin; Irish Minister of State Kathleen Lynch, and awarded honorary doctoral degrees to 05 international scientists. In addition,many cooperation agreements with leading universities of Russia, US and Japan were signed; several VNU scientists were awarded honorary doctoral degrees, orders, international merit certificates.
International cooperation helped develop integration factors of laboratories and research teams, increase international publications by Young Scientists Club, implement international projects on green growth modelat VNU University of Economics and Business and in Quang Ninh Province, attract investment to Vietnam-Japan University and increase the value of international funds for research and knowledge transfer (nearly50 billion VND) and that of undergraduate scholarships (over 5 billion VND). Furthermore, the presence of VNU at the BESETOHA University Presidents’ Forum (Peking University, Seoul National University, the University of Tokyo and Vietnam National University, Hanoi) helped to affirm the determination andmeasures to promote the role of universities in Green Growth of the countries.
The indicators of international integration and internationalization kept increasing: 190 VNU students participated in international exchange programs; 1,004 international students/ research fellows/ trainees came to VNU; the number of scientists participating in international academic, research and teachingexchange programs reached 700 turns; the number of international scientists visiting VNU for research,academic cooperation and teaching exchanges was 403.
Co-organizing training and capacity building courses&nbs