Hanoi (VNA) – Since its inceptio⛦n five years ago, the Vingroup Innovation Foundation (VINIF) has supported 2,500 scientists with a total funding of nearly 800 billion VND (34.7 million USD), contributing to the advancement of domestic scientific research.

During a seminar held by VINIF in Hanoi on July 26, its Director Prof. Vu Ha Van said the biggest reward of the fund over the past five years was trust from scientists, students, trainees, researchers, and even close monitoring from policy planners for its funding programmes. He hoped that it will serve as a foundation for making even greater strides in supporting scientific research in Vietnam. VINIF was established with the aim of supporting young scientists from universities and institutes to carry out sci-tech research and innovation. In its first five years of operation, VINIF has funded over 100 projects in science, technology, culture, and history; awarded 1,200 scholarships and supported 2,500 scientists, contributing to the progress of scientific research in the country. After five years, VINIF has expanded both in breadth and depth, concurrently carrying out seven programmes, including sci-tech projects, masters and doctorate scholarships, masters degree courses on data science, post-doctoral scholarships within the country, workshops and events, public and visiting professor lectures, and preservation of cultural and historical values. It has produced thousands of publications in reputable international journals, nearly 400 products, over 70 patented inventions, and set up about 20 startups and spin-off enterprises that commercialise intellectual property rights. According to Prof. Van, the goal of VINIF is to contribute to building a generation of innovative scientists and create a professional research environment for the country. Since 2019, the fund has been constantly innovating and perfecting programmes and funding methods to match the reality of research and meet the world's highest scientific standards.   VINIF's programmes have not only diversified investment sources for Vietnam’s science and technology but are also expected to have a positive impact on the current scientific funding and support activities. Prof. Le Quan, Director of the Vietnam National University (VNU) - Hanoi, said the university is one of the organisations that has received the most support from VINIF with 10 projects, totalling nearly 60 billion VND in the last three years. Thanks to this support, the VNU-Hanoi has issued regulations to provide scholarships worth up to 100 million VND per year for undergraduates and 120 million VND each year for young doctorate degree holders with excellent research capabilities and international publications. The fair funding selection method and emphasis on quality have become the distinctive features of VINIF. VINIF's approach to funding projects has contributed to changing the mechanisms, selection, and evaluation of research topics towards quality and efficiency. These positive impacts not only affect the Hanoi University of Science and Technology (HUST) but also extend to the scientific community and domestic management agencies, said HUST Director Asso.Prof Huynh Quyet Thang.   The two-day event attracted the participation of over 300 delegates, including university leaders, the Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology, research institutes, policy and financial experts and scientists. Apart from important sci-tech project presentations, two panel discussions on promoting research, application, and commercialization of sci-tech products; and opportunities, challenges, and solutions to sci-tech research and training were also held./.