Dr Do Quoc Tuan

The Ministry of Science and Technology (MST) has announced the three winners of the 2018 Ta Quang Buu scientific award. 

The main award will be given to Tran Dinh Phong of the Hanoi University of Science and Technology and Pham Van Hung of the HCMC International University. 

Do Quoc Tuan of the University of Natural Sciences under the Hanoi National University will receive the award for young scientists.

The Ta Quang Buu Award, named after a famous Vietnamese scientist, is held annually to honor scientists who have achieved excellent research achievements in natural science and technology.

Tuan has been working as a university lecturer since 2016. He studied for seven years at Chiao Tung National University in Taiwan for a master’s degree and doctorate. “Higher dimensional nonlinear massive gravity” published in Physical Review D 93, 104003 helped him receive the 2018 Ta Quang Buu award.

Recalling his overseas time, Tuan said he ‘sold his youth to do scientific research’. He only had time for eating, sleeping and working at the lab.

“I had to work from 12 pm to 4-5 am. The lamp was on throughout the night,” he recalled.

The young scientist began having a passion for physics when he was a high school student in the mountainous area of Ninh Binh province. 

Asked about his living conditions, Tuan said his monthly salary is VND6 million, or $275. 

“You can’t be well off with the pay, but it is high enough to cover basic needs,” he said. 

Tuan said there are students who have passion for research, but the number of such students is declining.

“In my current class, only two or three students have ability, passion and willingness to become researchers. Others don’t want to study basic sciences,” he said.

“To encourage students to study basic sciences, it is necessary to show the attractiveness and job opportunities,” he commented.

He said it is now the golden age of cosmology. There are many issues to study, including dark energy, dark matter, and the inflationary universe, which remain unsolved.

MST officially presented the Ta Quang Buu Awards 2018 to three scientists on May 19 for their outstanding works on physics and agricultural biology.

Phong got the award for his work “Coordination of polymer structure and revisited hydrogen evolution catalytic mechanism for amorphous molybdenum sulfide”.

Hung got the award for his work “In-vitro digestibility and in-vivo glucose response of native and physically modified rice starches varying amylase contents.

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