“Many scientists have to make sacrifices. Personally, I have to pawn my land title to pursue my passion, trying to bring research results from the laboratory to the ‘buffer zone’, creating commercial products.”

That is the story shared by Professor Vu Thi Thu Ha at the meeting between General Secretary To Lam and intellectuals and scientists on the morning of December 30.

Spend 50% of your effort doing things that are not related to science 

Prof. Dr. Vu Thi Thu Ha, Deputy Director of the Vietnam Institute of Industrial Chemistry, said that in order to unleash the internal strength of science and technology (S&T) and national innovation, we should take into account the characteristics of S&T research activities and the characteristics of those working in S&T.

According to Ms. Ha, scientists want policies that motivate them to create passion and dedication.

“In the process of carrying out our tasks, we also encounter matrices and difficulties. Therefore, we hope that science and technology managers will truly accompany us and resolve them with feasible measures,” Ms. Ha emphasized, pointing out the fact that many scientists have spent a lot of energy and effort doing things that are not scientific.

Prof. Dr. Vu Thi Thu Ha, Deputy Director of Vietnam Institute of Industrial Chemistry. Photo: Pham Hai

She believes that, for some suitable scientific fields, it is necessary to boldly implement the fund mechanism and apply the form of contracting to the final product, reduce intermediate procedures, aiming for the goal of 100% of scientists’ energy and capacity being devoted to professional activities.

In fact, when receiving a task, scientists spend 50% doing work that has nothing to do with science, but if they don’t do it, they can’t complete the task.

Therefore, she suggested a breakthrough mechanism when ordering, giving scientists a task with a budget to bid on, whoever wins can do it, to reduce 5-7 meetings haggling over every penny. This does not violate regulations but also frees up a lot of energy for scientists.

There must be a mechanism to support scientists and intellectuals; scientists must not have to mortgage their family’s land title to serve their passion for science. General Secretary To Lam

In addition, she suggested that there should be an early solution to remove difficulties for the “buffer zone”. Currently, to bring scientific and technological research to create value-added chains and commercialize products, it is necessary to go through the “buffer zone” to perfect technology and products.

“This buffer zone costs a lot of money. Many people have to sacrifice and I personally have to pawn my land title to pursue my passion, trying to bring research results from the laboratory through the buffer zone to create commercial products, contributing to the country,” Ms. Ha cited and hoped that science and technology managers would accompany scientists through this buffer zone.

Prof.Dr.. Vu Thi Thu Ha took speech in the Meeting

Removing the most important bottlenecks in science and technology development

Mr. Phan Xuan Dung, Chairman of the Vietnam Union of Science and Technology Associations (VUSTA), hopes to have a mechanism to create more courage for intellectuals and scientists to speak, think, do and act.

Quoting the scholar Archimedes, “Give me a fulcrum and I will move the earth,” Mr. Dung hopes that the Party and State will be a solid support for intellectuals and scientists.

“The innovation and reorganization of the apparatus is an important matter that requires high political determination like a revolution. In the process of reorganization, VUSTA would like to undertake that the current functions should not be retained in the state but should be socialized, especially public services,” said Mr. Dung.

To do that, VUSTA would like to expand its functions, receive and unite more widely the intellectual team to perform additional functions assigned by the Party and the State.

Mr. Dung also hopes that the Party and State will trust and assign important responsibilities to Vietnamese enterprises and intellectuals to carry out major projects of the century such as the Ninh Thuan nuclear power plant, the North-South high-speed railway, Long Thanh airport, etc.

Mr. Phan Xuan Dung, President of the Vietnam Union of Science and Technology Associations (VUSTA). Photo: Pham Hai

According to Mr. Dung, Resolution 57 of the Politburo (on breakthroughs in science, technology, innovation and national digital transformation) is a particularly important resolution of our Party and people with a different approach.

“With the General Secretary’s resolute, responsible, and daring approach, I am completely confident that the implementation of Resolution 57 will be successful, helping our country rise and reach new heights,” said Mr. Dung.

Research and focus on early implementation of Resolution No. 57 dated December 22, 2024 of the Politburo “On breakthroughs in science, technology, innovation and national digital transformation” as a source of inspiration, a new driving force, a new land, a new sky for the creativity of intellectuals and scientists. General Secretary To Lam

Mr. Nguyen Quan, former Minister of Science and Technology and Chairman of the Digital Automation Association, also hopes that Resolution 57 will remove the most important bottlenecks in science and technology development that have been raised for many years but have not been resolved so far.

He wished to re-establish the science and technology development fund in ministries, branches and localities and expressed his delight at Resolution 57 stating that 3% of the total state budget expenditure should be allocated for science and technology development, of which a certain portion should be allocated for the country’s science and technology topics and projects.

According to the former Minister of Science and Technology, this budget should be allocated directly to science and technology development funds at the beginning of the fiscal year, then any task ordered will be funded.

Mr. Quan also pointed out the current reality that scientists are facing, many excellent research topics are put in drawers, not applied in practice. There are two major unresolved problems. One is the ownership of research results from the state budget. The second is the valuation of research results for transfer to businesses.

Therefore, he hopes that after Resolution 57, relevant laws will be amended to give scientists the highest autonomy to own research topics, set prices during the technology transfer process, and the State will recover investment through taxes from businesses.

In addition, he said that very large projects such as the North-South high-speed railway, nuclear power, and semiconductor microchips currently have very high science and technology content, so it is necessary to apply the “chief engineer” model to gather the best people at home and abroad to work together.

View of the  meeting. Photo: Nghia Duc

Listening to the opinions of intellectuals and scientists, General Secretary To Lam emphasized: Only science and technology and innovation are the ways to help us catch up, progress together, break through and surpass ourselves and the world.From there, the General Secretary suggested that the Party, the State, Party committees and authorities at all levels need to strongly innovate the training, selection, use and promotion of intellectuals and scientists. Pay special attention to honoring intellectuals and valuing talents; have specific and practical solutions to strongly innovate thinking, improve and unify awareness of the position, role and importance of building a contingent of intellectuals in the new situation.

                                                                                                                     Source: VietnamNet