Ta Quang Buu Award 2018: Honoring the young scientists

On May 18, The Ministry of Science and Technology presented the Ta Quang Buu Award 2018 at a ceremony in Hanoi. Dr. Tran Dinh Phong, Director of the Department of Fundamental and Applied Sciences at USTH, is one of two winners of this year’s main award.

Attending the ceremony were Mr. Vu Duc Dam, Vietnam Deputy Prime Minister; Mr. Chu Ngoc Anh, Minister of Science and Technology together with members of the Award Council, scientists as well as scientific and technological organizations. Besides, the family representatives of late Prof. Ta Quang Buu and Prof. TS. Pierre Darriulat, who has accompanied Ta Quang Buu for 5 years also were the guests of the ceremony.

Prof. Nguyen Duc Chien, Vice Chairman of the Award Council said that this year the Council received 54 applications. The Scientific specialized councils evaluated and selected 9 nominations for further consideration at the Award Council. All scientific researches are of good quality, published in prestigious scientific journals and have high application potential.

Finally, the Ta Quang Buu Award 2018 has been decided to be presented to three scientists. In details, two major awards were given to Dr. Tran Dinh Phong (University of Science and Technology of Hanoi – USTH) for his work in physics titled “Coordination polymer structure and revisited hydrogen evolution catalytic mechanism for amorphous molybdenum sulfide” and Assoc.Prof.Dr. Pham Van Hung (International University, VNU of Ho Chi Minh city) for his work “In-vitro digestibility and in-vivo glucose response of native and physically modified rice starches varying amylase contents”. The award for young scientists was given to Dr. Do Quoc Tuan (Hanoi University of Science, VNU of Hanoi) for his scientific work in the field of physics “Higher dimensional non-linear massive gravity”.

Dr. Tran Dinh Phong is also the youngest scientist ever who is presented the Ta Quang Buu Award. His work was published in Nature Materials, the world’s leading scientific journal, which was ranked 2/1983 by SCIMAGO in Materials Science, 2/863 in Chemistry and 3/4363 in Technic.

In the speech after receiving the award, Dr. Tran Dinh Phong sincerely shared his thoughts about the path he chose. “I would like to say that researchers might be greatly ambitious for the practical application of their works but were always prepared to be unsuccessful. However, it is also possible that we may be led to another discovery or surprise”. More than a personal thought, this is a word of encouragement that Dr. Tran Dinh Phong wanted to send to his colleagues in the scientific community, especially young scientists.

Furthermore, he expressed the honor of receiving such a noble award at a young age. In addition to the profound thanks to the organizers of the award, Dr. Phong also showed his respect for the support of colleagues at the University of Science and Technology of Hanoi – USTH as well as the great contribution from the students for his research work. “They are the creative and hardworking people who work with me day by day to form a young team.”

Returning to Vietnam after 11 years studying and working in France and Singapore, Dr. Tran Dinh Phong has chosen USTH as the place to continue the path of research as well as to transfer knowledge and passion for science to the younger generation. Also, he has provided USTH students with the opportunity to take part in many research projects so that they could broaden their knowledge, gain experiences and develop their abilities. Currently, he is the Director of the Department of Fundamental and Applied Sciences.

The Ta Quang Buu Award is a prestigious award which has attracted the attention and positive evaluation of managers and the scientific community. Organized annually, the award has become the special event, marked Vietnam Science and Technology Day on May 18 – the festival honoring the people who work in research and scientific management.