LookAtVietnam – Vietnam’s mathematics now rank the 54th position in the world

Vietnam’s mathematics now rank the 54^th position in the world, while the number of mathematic scientific research work is just at average level. Therefore, Vietnam thinks it needs to have a key national program on mathematics development.

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From Ngo Bao Chau…

Vietnamese renowned mathematicians - from left - Pham Ky Anh, Ngo Viet Trung, Tran Van Nhung, Le Tuan Hoa

On July 30 afternoon, while submitting to the Ministry of Education and Training the plan on the key national program to develop mathematics by 2020, Professor Tran Van Nhung, Secretary General of the State Professorship Council, informed that Professor Ngo Bao Chau has been invited to speak at the 2010 International Congress of Mathematics to be held in India.

This is really a great honor doe Vietnam, because it is highly possible that those people who are invited to speak at the congress may be awarded the Fields Medal, an award that is considered “the Nobel prize in mathematics,” the dream of many countries in the world.

The Fields Medal is a prize awarded to two, three, or four mathematicians not over 40 years of age at each International Congress of the International Mathematical Union, a meeting that takes place every four years. This is the top honor a mathematician can receive. Even China, a powerful country in mathematics, also has not had any mathematician who gets Fields Medal yet, according to Nhung.

. . . to the necessity of having a driving force for mathematics development

Vietnam always has high achievements in international mathematics Olympiads. However, according to Professor Le Tuan Hoa, Deputy Head of the Mathematics Institute, currently no mathematics faculty at any university in Vietnam has been recognized as having modern mathematics teaching methods.

Meanwhile, the number of good students who choose to pursue mathematics has been decreasing. The number of students achieving required marks from the university entrance exams to be able to study mathematics have been decreasing year after year.

The ratio of declared Vietnamese mathematics research works is just 0.21 percent of the world, while the ratio of Vietnamese population is 1.33 percent. Vietnam is now ranks 54^th in the world in mathematics.

The number of scientists who have mathematics research works so far has reached 850. Meanwhile, the total number of Vietnamese mathematicians who still follow mathematics studies is less than a mathematics faculty of a university in developed countries, according to Hoa.

Therefore, Vietnamese mathematicians believe it is necessary to have a national key program on developing mathematics, and the core part of the program is to build up a high-ranking mathematics research and training institute. The institute will be like a common house for high-ranking mathematicians, which will be the help birth ideas and scientific works.

Such institutes now exist in many countries in the world, such as Princeton in the US, KIAS in South Korea and Max-Planck in Germany.

Why mathematics?

When asked why Vietnam should focus on developing mathematics, instead of other fields like physics or chemistry, Professor Hoa said that Vietnam has nine state-level science-technology development programs relating to basic sciences, but there has been no program relating to mathematics.

Hoa said if the suggested program succeeds, such a model would also be applied to other scientific fields.

Commenting about the program, Minister of Education and Training Pham Vu Luan said this is a program to train talented people; therefore, it needs a special mechanism.

“Most Nobel Prize winners are mathematicians,” said the Minister, who is also an economic expert. Therefore, he also believes Vietnam needs to learn good lessons from other mathematics institutes in the world and apply suitable schemes in Vietnam.

Source: Tien phong