The director, who was once ox-herd
“It was a courageous decision to establish the Institute of Mathematics. In 1970, when the institute was set up, the war was very violent, and what Vietnam needed most at that time were the outstanding people who could serve well in the war. Nevertheless, our country’s leaders still sent the most excellent people to the mathematics institute,” Professor Ha Huy Khoai, former Director of the institute, who devoted all his life to it, recalled.
The eldest Director, Professor Hoang Tuy, related that forerunner of the institute was a division of mathematicians, a group of 5-6 outstanding students, who were sent to attend training courses at the Science Committee. Later, the group grew to include 10 members.
“I think that there is no other mathematics institute elsewhere in the world, which had to operate in such difficult circumstances as our institute. Le Van Thiem, the first director, many people’s idol when they were young, once had to return to his home village where he worked as an ox-herd. However, Thiem did not lose hope andstrongly believed that the country would eventually escape from difficulties and prosper,” he related.
In the 40-year history of the Mathematics Institute, mathematicians believe that the most outstanding personality, who could represent Vietnam’s mathematics in the world, is Professor Hoang Tuy. He is the author of nearly 150 research works published in prestigious international journals.
To date, three Vietnamese mathematicians have been recognized by the Third World Academy of Sciences as academicians, namely Professor Ha Huy Khoai, Professor Ngo Viet Trung and Professor Le Dung Trang. Most recently, the academy has recognized Vietnamese Mathematician Phung Ho Hai as its young member.
Scientific research works at international level account for 57 percent
Professor Khoai said that the institute experienced a difficult period in the first years of the doi moi (renovation). At that time, people’s viewpoint was that it would be better to spend money on developing other areas rather than mathematics.
However, the institute of mathematics still functioned and developed, thanks to the outstanding people, stilldevoted to mathematics, despite great difficulties.
In the last 10 years, according to Professor Ngo Viet Trung, Director of the Institute of Mathematics, with only 70 members, the number of published research – at internationally recognised level – account for 57 percent of all publications in the country.
The publications by the institute members account for 2/3 of the total number of Vietnamese research works listed in ISI, the list of high quality scientific journals in the US. In the past 10 years, the number of articles that made it to ISI list has doubled compared to the period before 2000.
Where is Vietnam’s mathematics heading?
“Half of excellent Vietnamese mathematicians are living and working abroad. If Vietnam does not have suitable policies to attract them back to Vietnam, so that they stay abroadforever, this would be a disaster,” Professor Khoai said.
Professor Ngo Viet Trung said his institute is now trying to attract young people. Every year, the institute sends one or two members abroad to study, and hopes that they will return to Vietnam after they graduate. However, Trung admits that no one knows for sure if they will return.
Many outstanding Vietnamese mathematicians have grown old. In global optimization mathematics, of which Professor Hoang Tuy is the father, the youngest mathematician is already nearly 50 years old. The only people working onrobability-statistics and applied mathematics are going to retire in the near future.
According to Professor Trung, the total number of Vietnamese mathematicians is only equal to a mathematics faculty of a medium class university in Europe.
In Vietnam, a mathematician can earn 35 million dong a year ($1750), while the average income of a mathematician in the US is $100,000.
Young mathematician Phung Ho Hai is one of the few mathematicians who returned to Vietnam where he receives a modest salary, even though he could have had much better opportunities staying abroad. “Teaching mathematics to Vietnamese students and lecturers appeals to me more than teaching foreign students,” he explained.
Tu Uyen
The eldest Director, Professor Hoang Tuy, related that forerunner of the institute was a division of mathematicians, a group of 5-6 outstanding students, who were sent to attend training courses at the Science Committee. Later, the group grew to include 10 members.
“I think that there is no other mathematics institute elsewhere in the world, which had to operate in such difficult circumstances as our institute. Le Van Thiem, the first director, many people’s idol when they were young, once had to return to his home village where he worked as an ox-herd. However, Thiem did not lose hope andstrongly believed that the country would eventually escape from difficulties and prosper,” he related.
In the 40-year history of the Mathematics Institute, mathematicians believe that the most outstanding personality, who could represent Vietnam’s mathematics in the world, is Professor Hoang Tuy. He is the author of nearly 150 research works published in prestigious international journals.
To date, three Vietnamese mathematicians have been recognized by the Third World Academy of Sciences as academicians, namely Professor Ha Huy Khoai, Professor Ngo Viet Trung and Professor Le Dung Trang. Most recently, the academy has recognized Vietnamese Mathematician Phung Ho Hai as its young member.
Scientific research works at international level account for 57 percent
Professor Khoai said that the institute experienced a difficult period in the first years of the doi moi (renovation). At that time, people’s viewpoint was that it would be better to spend money on developing other areas rather than mathematics.
However, the institute of mathematics still functioned and developed, thanks to the outstanding people, stilldevoted to mathematics, despite great difficulties.
In the last 10 years, according to Professor Ngo Viet Trung, Director of the Institute of Mathematics, with only 70 members, the number of published research – at internationally recognised level – account for 57 percent of all publications in the country.
The publications by the institute members account for 2/3 of the total number of Vietnamese research works listed in ISI, the list of high quality scientific journals in the US. In the past 10 years, the number of articles that made it to ISI list has doubled compared to the period before 2000.
Where is Vietnam’s mathematics heading?
“Half of excellent Vietnamese mathematicians are living and working abroad. If Vietnam does not have suitable policies to attract them back to Vietnam, so that they stay abroadforever, this would be a disaster,” Professor Khoai said.
Professor Ngo Viet Trung said his institute is now trying to attract young people. Every year, the institute sends one or two members abroad to study, and hopes that they will return to Vietnam after they graduate. However, Trung admits that no one knows for sure if they will return.
Many outstanding Vietnamese mathematicians have grown old. In global optimization mathematics, of which Professor Hoang Tuy is the father, the youngest mathematician is already nearly 50 years old. The only people working onrobability-statistics and applied mathematics are going to retire in the near future.
According to Professor Trung, the total number of Vietnamese mathematicians is only equal to a mathematics faculty of a medium class university in Europe.
In Vietnam, a mathematician can earn 35 million dong a year ($1750), while the average income of a mathematician in the US is $100,000.
Young mathematician Phung Ho Hai is one of the few mathematicians who returned to Vietnam where he receives a modest salary, even though he could have had much better opportunities staying abroad. “Teaching mathematics to Vietnamese students and lecturers appeals to me more than teaching foreign students,” he explained.
Tu Uyen
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