Reflecting on Academic Year 2022 – 2023
The Academic Year 2023 – 2024 of VinUniversity is approaching. This academic year is a remarkable one, as the university welcomes students of Cohort 4 and prepares for the graduation of Cohort 1. Once again, the VinUni Pledge was recited on Convocation Day to act as the guiding light for each VinUnian at their second home:
“To be honest in my academic work;
To treat all people with respect and care;
To honor the university values of EXCEL;
And devote my heart and mind,
for the betterment of life, for my country, and for the world.‘’
Let’s have a look at VinUni’s achievements during the AY 2022-2023!
OCTOBER – THE START OF A NEW ACADEMIC YEAR
On October 10, 2022, Dr. Le Mai Lan – President of the University Council – delivered an inspiring speech at the Opening Ceremony of Academic Year 2022-2023: “VinUni is a young university full of entrepreneurial spirit, we are not afraid to think and act boldly. I believe that VinUni is prepared to embark on a new academic year with the theme ‘Be the change to change the world.'”
To embrace this spirit, VinUni took strong actions to make a difference in three areas: (i) Global education, to attract global talents to Vietnam and to empower Vietnamese talents to conquer the world. (ii) Practical education that is high-tech and closely connected to real life (iii) Comprehensive education that develops knowledge, skills, and character.
To consolidate its global education approach, VinUni became the youngest university in the Asia-Pacific region to receive a QS 5-star rating in seven categories this month, after only two years of establishment. VinUni was rated 4-star overall by Quacquarelli Symonds (UK), a renowned global education analysis and ranking company, and received an excellent 5-star rating in seven criteria: Teaching, Academic Development, Internationalization, Arts and Culture, Facilities, Social Responsibility, and Inclusiveness.
As the Founding Provost of VinUni, Dr. Rohit Verma shared emotionally: “I am truly proud that VinUni achieved the QS 4-star overall in this academic year. This is a testament for the relentless efforts and ‘steel’ spirit of every faculty member, staff, and student at VinUni.”
This was also a successful month for College of Health Sciences (CHS): 3D Technology in Medicine Center won First place in the Medical Technovation 2022, VinUni cooperated with VinMec and GE Healthcare Vietnam to organize continuing medical training courses on healthcare imaging and anesthesia, VinUni Medical Simulation Center received provisional accreditation by the Society for Simulation in Healthcare (SSH) within three years of operation, and VinUni’s first resident doctor joined an exchange program at University of Pennsylvania’s hospital, USA.
With the spirit of an entrepreneurial university, VinUni established the Entrepreneurship Lab (E-Lab) and pledged to sponsor $100,000 annually for student startup projects, researches, and community initiatives to promote entrepreneurship. After just three months of incubation at the TechYouth Incubator – a joint initiative by VinUni E-Lab and UpYouth, 12 technology startup projects by VinUni students and young founders aged 18-25 were able to introduce their products and business models to potential investors and investment funds during Demo Day.
For example, NaviAI is a technology startup focused on virtual assistants using AI technology to assist and automate the content creation, presentation, and performance process. Although the team was only founded in February 2023, they were Second Runner Up in the prestigious Kawai Startup Contest and received the prize with a total value of over 450 million Vietnamese Dong. Additionally, the team received a $1,000 Research grant from the Vice Provost Office’s OUR program with the Student Research Committee and $2,000 from the EntrePrep Incubator program through E-Lab.
NOVEMBER – ENTREPRENEURIAL SPIRIT
VinUni believes that the success of its students is the success of the university itself. In November, VinUni students had received numerous prestigious awards: Nguyen Thi Thanh Hang, Nguyen Thi Ngoc Thao, Nong Duc Anh, Hoang Phuong Thao and Le Trung Kien – majoring in Hotel Management at College of Business and Management (CBM) – won Second Place for Asia-Pacific region at the Virtual Student Market Competition; Nguyen Thi Thuy Ngan, a Nursing student, had the honor of receiving an Encouragement Award for her report on “Improving Physical Activity and Symptom Management for Vietnamese Women After Cancer Treatment” at the 10th National Science Conference for Nursing; Pham Thuy Dung, a third-year medical student at CHS, also won Second Place in this year’s Student Essay Competition.
“Tiên học lễ, hậu học văn” (Learn your manners before you learn anything else) is what VinUni Vice Provost – Associate Professor Dr. David Harrison places great value on in Vietnam. On November 17th, together with his colleagues at VinUni, Professor Harrison was deeply moved to receive flowers, handwritten cards, and heartfelt expressions of gratitude from students on the occasion of Vietnamese Teachers’ Day.
DECEMBER – SCIENCE FOR LIFE BETTERMENT
With an educational approach to solve real-life problems, all first-year students from three Colleges participated in “VinUni Hackathon 2022” from December 17th to 23rd. The teams worked together for 36 hours nonstop to find solutions for “healthy and positive living for the elderly.” Hackathon was full of tension, but it was also filled with enthusiasm and served as a unique final exam for “Agile Innovation” course.
December was also a month of vibrant entrepreneurial spirit and innovation for students.
As one of 12 start-up projects “incubated” by the TechYouth Startup Incubator at VinUni E-Lab and UpYouth, Zinance got selected into SIHUB-EXPARA ACCELERATOR – an international organization that had nurtured many successful startups.
Tran Phuoc Lam Duy – a junior at the College of Business and Administration developed a mentorship platform for high school students called “Tra Da Mentor”. This one-to-one mentoring platform connects high school students (mentees), especially senior students who are still at a loss, with life mentors who are university students or experienced professionals. To date, Tra Da Mentor has helped nearly 70 students reshaped their mindset and attracted more than 35 mentors from top universities and companies, including the world’s leading auditing company – Ernst. & Young, a successful business management platform in Vietnam – Base.vn, Southeast Asia’s leading e-commerce platform – Lazada and Shopee, America’s leading strategic consulting company – Boston Consulting Group,…
With an aim to solve financial problems that many agricultural startups encounter, a team of students from CECS and CBM did their research and founded TinFam – a hightech solution that helps agricultural startups crowdfund from the very customers that support their products.
Moreover, Nguyen Tuan Hiep and Vu Truong Giang, third year students from CECS, won the Honorable Judge Award with their project “Nijgaku Traffic Radio” in the Cloud Programming World Cup for students in Tokyo, Japan on November 17th.
JANUARY & FEBRUARY – GLOBAL COLLABORATION
To carry on its commitment to global education, VinUni was honored to welcome Professor Michael I. Kotlikoff, President of Cornell University, to give a public lecture at VinUni. The purpose of this lecture was to discuss collaborative activities and projects between VinUni and Cornell, which encompass academic initiatives, student exchanges, the integrated degree 3+2 program, Vingroup scholarships, and opportunities for future research collaboration.
The close partnership between VinUni and Vinmec laid a strong foundation for a new generation of young doctors and experts who are both tech-savvy and wel-prepared with clinical knowledge. The 3D Technology at the VinUni Medical Simulation Center was officially one of the first 3D laboratories in Vietnam to achieve ISO 9001:2015 (Quality Management System) and ISO 13485:2016 (Quality Management System for Medical Devices) certification, with two products: 3D-printed models and Patient-Specific Instruments (PSI).
MARCH – COMPREHENSIVE DEVELOPMENT
March marked a month filled with activities to help VinUni students develop both academically and physically. 1518 Education, a start-up project initiated by VinUni’s third-year students, was the youngest startup to participate in and successfully complete the “Google for Startups, Startup Academy Vietnam” Program. This program was organized for the first time in Vietnam by Google, the National Innovation Center (NIC), and the Ministry of Planning and Investment of Vietnam. This is an in-depth, on-site training program designed for technology startups with significant growth potential.
Green Sports Day 2023 with the slogan “Sit Less Move More” received great support from students and lecturers at VinUni. The noble sportsmanship was shown in many different categories such as tug of war, water polo, electronic sports, basketball, Zumba, shuttlecock, etc.
Studying and working to become leader is one of the most important goals of VinUni students. This month, the Leadership Bootcamp 2023 program was held with lots of team activities to practice discipline, nerves of steel and cooperation for success.
APRIL – LEARNING BY DOING
VinUni organized various activities to mark the 5th anniversary of its strategic partnership with Cornell University and University of Pennsylvania, two prestigious Ivy League schools in the Top 20 Universities worldwide. This partnership is the most elite strategic collaboration in the field of higher education in Vietnam. Over the past five years, both universities have supported VinUni in strategies development, faculty recruitment, training, and program validation. VinUni students can enrol in education programs that are co-developed and validated in accordance with highest international standards for each specialized field by Cornell and UPenn.
To celebrate the five-year partnership with Cornell University, VinUni introduced the VinUni-Cornell Knowledge Hub, which serves to enhance a lifelong learning culture. This platform stores all materials and resources that were collected, developed, and refined by more than 250 professors, academic leaders, and operational leaders at Cornell University during the five years of collaboration. This Hub serves the purpose of sharing valuable experiences in managing and operating a world-class university from its early days for VinUni.
Furthermore, in alignment with a focus on practical education, VinUni hosted the Career Day on April 22 with the theme “Reimagining the future of talents.” This event emphasized the importance of innovation, creativity, and adaptability in a constantly changing job market for university graduates. This is an annual event designed to provide VinUni students with valuable knowledge about the skills and competencies needed for success in their future workplaces. Representatives from leading national companies such as Techcombank, ABB, VNPT, Ernst & Young, PwC, Shopee, Bosch, Viettel, Panasonic, LG, FPT, Intercontinental and Melia Hotel Groups, … also attended VinUni Career Day.
Another highlight of the month included two out of six resident doctors from CHS winning the Best Presentation Award in the Open Medical Institute (OMI) Symposium in Austria.
MAY – A MONTH OF EXCELLENCE
With relentless effort to achieve international recognition, VinUni-Illinois Smart Health Center (VISHC) received the Excellence in Sustainable Development 2023 Award from International Sustainable Campus Network (ISCN). Furthermore, VinUni proudly had six professors named in the ranking of scientists with outstanding research publication records by Research.com. The site evaluated data from 166,880 scientists and selected top 1,000 scholars with the highest research productivity and citations worldwide, considering factors such as the H-index (a measure of a researcher’s impact), the correlation between the number of publications, patents in a specific field, and awards and achievements.
The journey towards building an evidence-based medical education has yielded initial results as the Advanced Imaging Education Center (AIEC) of CHS officially inaugurated the first Continuing Medical Education (CME) program.
The VinUni 3D Laboratory won Second Place in the Science Innovation Competition with an impactful project titled “Patient-Specific Instruments for Total Knee Replacement Surgery”.
JUNE – GLOBAL RESEARCH COLLABORATION
In June, there were notable collaborations between VinUni professors and leading global scholars in pioneering projects that have the potential to bring about groundbreaking changes in Vietnam.
On Innovation, Professor Soumitra Dutta, along with a research team led by Associate Professor Dr. Phan Thi Thuc Anh from CBM, announced the results of Vietnam Innovation and Creativity Report (VIIR). The research team also held a meeting with the Ministry of Science and Technology to discuss useful research directions for the country’s future. Professor Soumitra Dutta is currently Dean of the Saïd Business School at the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. He is also a former Founding Dean of the Cornell SC Johnson College of Business at Cornell University, USA, and a member of the prestigious VinFuture Prize Jury from 2023.
On Destination Brand Building, Dr. Trinh Viet Dung’s research team from CBM collaborated with Professor Reibstein from the Wharton School at University of Pennsylvania. The research team’s goal is to provide comprehensive data to help cities understand their strengths and weaknesses, thereby making strategic development decisions and attracting investment.
On Service Quality Management, more than 150 world-renowned professors and scientists from 90 universities representing 28 countries and territories gathered at VinUni for the 18th International Research Conference on Service Excellence in Management (QUIS18) on June 20th. Representatives from Cornell University, the University of Pennsylvania, the University of Oklahoma, the University of Minnesota, Texas A&M University (USA), Karlstad University (Sweden), the University of Queensland (Australia), the National University of Singapore, Nova School of Business and Economics (Portugal), the Polytechnic University of Valencia (Spain), Kyoto University (Japan), the University of Victoria, Wilfrid Laurier University (Canada), and the International Research University of North Beijing (China) and others attended this impactful event. VinUni also announced the publication of the book “Service Operations – Service Marketing”, which was written by Dr. Le Thi Phuong Duong, Dr. Phi Thi Linh Giang, Professor Rohit Verma, Professor Rochen Writz, and Professor Christopher Lovelock.
VinUni’s professors were also honoured with prestigious awards and accolades. Professor Le Van Phuoc, Vice Dean of Medical Education at CHS, received the UCSF Chancellor’s Award 2023 on May 31 in San Francisco, USA. This award recognized his contributions to community health care, particularly the HEAL network initiative.
Professor Rohit Verma, VinUni Provost, was appointed as a Fellow of the Production and Operations Management Society (POMS). POMS is the largest professional academic society in the field of operations and supply chain management, and this prestigious recognition is a lifetime achievement award. At the end of June, Professor Rohit Verma – VinUni’s first Provost completed his dedicated four-year appointment. Professor Verma played a pivotal role in setting global standards and establishing an ambitious and innovative academic environment at VinUni.
JULY – INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCES
In July, Professor David Bangsberg was appointed as the Provost and Dean of CHS at VinUni for Academic Year 2023-2024. He received his Master’s degree in Philosophy of Science from King’s College London and Doctor of Medicine Degree from Johns Hopkins University. Later, he became a resident doctor at Columbia Presbyterian Hospital to look after patients affected by poverty and HIV. Before joining VinUni, Professor Bangsberg was the Director of MGH Global Health at Massachusetts General Hospital, the largest teaching hospital of Harvard Medical School. He has received numerous awards worldwide and is recognized as one of the most outstanding HIV researchers.
In July, the Vingroup Science and Technology Scholarship granted scholarships to 40 students/scholars pursuing Master’s, Ph.D., and Post-Doctoral programs abroad in 2023. The total value of scholarships awarded this year amounted to 120 billion VND (approximately 5 million USD).
Major conferences were organized at VinUni, including: “Forum on the Role of Feedback in Higher Education” and the “Redefining Gifted Education – Re*gate” conference. Notably, the open forum “Education and Innovation in Smart Manufacturing, Environment, and Health” brought together senior leaders from VinUni, Professor Robert J. Jones, Provost of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC), and top industry partners including Intel, Foxconn, Boeing, and VinFast.
At the end of July, CHS received international accreditation from ACGME-I (Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education International), making it one of the only two universities in Southeast Asia to attain this quality certification.
AUGUST – STUDENT EXCHANGE PROGRAMS
VinUni students embarked on joining exchange programs at prestigious universities worldwide, while VinUni also welcomed international students to its campus.
Stories of VinUni students who went on exchange programs at renowned universities around the world, such as Cornell University (USA), Nanyang Technological University (Singapore), Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST), University of Sydney (Australia), and the Israel Institute of Technology, were shared to inspire and encourage future students to embark on their own journeys of studying abroad, expand knowledge, enhance learning experiences, and explore the world.
During this month, VinUni practiced diversity within the campus through the stories of international exchange students. Daniel Hartman, a second-year medical student from Perelman School of Medicine at University of Pennsylvania, had an unforgettable experience during his month-long internship at VinUni. In addition, eight Cornell students participated in community-engaged learning activities and work directly on the “Vietnam Adverse Childhood Experience Pathfinders” (VACEP) project, which aims to provide support to underprivileged children in Vietnam.
SEPTEMBER – WELCOME HOME
The “Week of Welcome” for new students in Academic Year 2023-2024 took place at VinUni. New students were warmly welcomed with two “Move-in Dorm” days, accompanied by an Orientation Week featuring various exciting and engaging experiential activities at the new campus.
Dr. Pham Huy Hieu – faculty at College of Engineering and Computer Science & Deputy Director of VinUni-Illinois Smart Health Center (VISHC) was one of the top 10 young scientists to receive Golden Globe Award 2023 for Science and Technology with VAIPE project. Dr. Hiệu was also appointed as a member of the National Academy of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) Research Innovation Workshop on Neuroscience in Southeast Asia.
Moreover, the Environmental Intelligence Center (CEI) was awarded $250,000 by the US National Science Foundation for a groundbreaking initiative – the Global Center for Climate Risk and Resilience: Southeast Asia as a Living Lab (SEALL).
And greetings, October!
We are looking forward to a meaningful and remarkable Convocation Day of Academic Year 2023 – 2024 with the theme “Conquering new horizons”. VinUni’s first cohort of students will graduate, the University will become Vietnam’s first Green University in the University UNESCO Chair network, Professor David Bangsberg will become the new Provost, and many milestones await on the journey towards “new horizons”.
