VietNamNet Bridge – More than 100 Vietnamese chemists who are living overseas gathered at a workshop on chemistry and chemical technology in Paris last weekend, which aimed to build a bridge of cooperation with Vietnamese colleagues.

Workshop participants.

“We will organize training courses on management for young scientists,” said Professor Vu Ngoc Can, from France’s Technology University of Compiègne, a member of the organizing board.

Speaking about his expectations regarding young overseas Vietnamese doctors, Professor Nguyen Minh Tho, from Belgium’s Leuven University, said: “I wish they (young doctors), after returning to Vietnam, can replace the old generation, like us, to do much more for chemistry and for Vietnam’s sciences in general”.

Prof. Tho said the young doctors who were born in the 1980s will be the core contingent for the development of scientific research in Vietnam. This generation will change thinking and create necessary changes for Vietnam’s sciences.

“Future scientific research in Vietnam will focus on the needs of businesses. This will help shorten the gap between research activities and reality,” said Nguyen Minh Ngoc, leader of the young chemist group, who is pursuing a post-Ph.D at the Ecole Supérieure de Physique et Chimie Industrielles in Paris.

Ngoc said many young chemists want to return to Vietnam to work and devote themselves to the country.

“We wish the environment for scientific research at home will be favorable for scientists. Autonomy in sciences is another thing that we need,” Ngoc added.

This is the first workshop on chemistry for overseas Vietnamese scientists, held by a group of young chemists, the Vietnamese Students’ Association in France, and the community of Vietnamese chemists in Europe.

Many interesting presentations were introduced at the workshop, such as one on which energies would be used in the future, by Christiane Ngo from France, one on Sol-gel and its application in material technology, by Tran Thi Thu Hoa from France, and one on the development of chemistry in Vietnam, by Luong Bach Van (Vietnam), etc.

Attracting around 100 scientists from various countries, the workshop will be organized every two years.

Le Quynh – Ngoc Hoai