Minister Vu Hai Quan said he wants to form a center to connect domestic and foreign scientists to develop physics research in Vietnam.

The proposal was made by the Minister of Science and Technology at a working session with scientists on the development orientation of physics research for the period 2027-2035, on the morning of November 5. He raised the issue of "a big question": How Vietnam needs to build physical capacity to both contribute to human knowledge and create a foundation for mastering the technologies that determine the country's future.

He said that it is necessary to put physics in the right place in the national development strategy, because "behind semiconductor chips is physics; behind quantum technology is physics; behind nuclear energy is also physics." Therefore, investing in physics is investing in long-term technological autonomy.

To solve this story, the Ministry is forming a Vietnamese physics research program, based on the existing domestic research foundation, with the participation of Vietnamese scientists abroad and international scientists.

One direction is to form a national Physics center. According to the Minister, the center can start with a virtual model, in which scientists operate and direct expertise remotely without having to work full-time or transfer payroll from the university.

The plan he suggested was to organize according to the co-director mechanism. In particular, the scientific director can be a scientist abroad, in charge of professional orientation; The domestic director is in charge of operations and administration.

The Ministry of Science and Technology will create financial conditions and facilities for the center to operate. Minister Vu Hai Quan also invited Professor Dam Thanh Son, a theoretical physicist of Vietnamese origin, to join as director of the center, playing the role of "chief architect" of the Vietnam Physics research program from now until 2035.

The idea of ​​building a focal point to connect the physics community was also mentioned at the meeting by Professor Dam Thanh Son, University of Chicago (USA). According to him, this could be a place to organize conferences and seminars, with a model similar to the Institute for Advanced Research in Mathematics, to connect physics researchers.

According to Professor Son, before determining priority directions, Vietnam needs an overall picture of the current state of physics research in the country. It is a general and detailed document so that domestic and foreign scientists have a basis for proposing what needs to be done.

Agreeing with the view that "physics is the foundation of technological development", Associate Professor Nguyen Hai Son from Singapore said that Vietnam needs to build national laboratories and shared research centers, because equipment for experimental research is often very expensive, requiring a team of engineers and technicians to operate professionally. At the same time, the Ministry needs to maintain a balance between basic research and applied research.

According to Professor Phan Anh Tuan, Nanyang Technological University (Singapore), in the first phase, Vietnam should choose a few priority areas to develop physics research capacity, and only when it is strong enough will it expand into other directions.

Sharing a domestic perspective, Prof. Dr. Nguyen Quang Liem, Chairman of the Vietnam Physics Association, emphasized that the development of a physics research team needs to start from high school, because without people who are good at physics, it will be difficult to have a force to master core technologies.

In response to the opinions of scientists, Minister Vu Hai Quan assigned the Department of Social and Natural Sciences to build a full picture of physics training and research activities, expected to be completed by the end of November. This is the basis for determining priority directions and building Vietnam's physics research program from now to 2035.

The Minister also proposed to organize a meeting between leading domestic and foreign physics scientists to discuss research directions and propose a number of mechanisms and policies. According to him, it is necessary to start with specific things to promote the development of physics research in Vietnam.

Zhong Dat

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