Award for outstanding female scientist of 2023 given to a female scientist from Hue University  

A cradle for training many talented individuals

Hue University, formerly the University of Hue, was established in March 1957 and reorganized in 1994 under Government Decree No. 30/CP dated April 4, 1994. Over the past 30 years since its reestablishment, Hue University has trained and awarded degrees to approximately 320,265 doctors, pharmacists, engineers, and bachelors; nearly 24,230 master's degree holders; and 678 doctoral degree holders.

Hue University is pioneering in restructuring its disciplines, innovating fundamentally and comprehensively to enhance training quality. Foremost is the launch of new disciplines to promptly meet the current and future needs of society, including interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary programs that enable students to transfer credits or pursue dual degrees. These include fields in science and technology, information technology, emerging technologies, automation, artificial intelligence, services, tourism, healthcare, marine science, and semiconductor chip technology.

From 2019 to the present, Hue University has introduced 15 undergraduate programs, 10 master's programs, and 5 doctoral programs aligned with these orientations. Currently, Hue University offers 18 programs across undergraduate to doctoral levels related to semiconductor chip technology. As of now, 20% of its undergraduate programs meet national and regional accreditation standards (AUN-QA).

Hue University has comprehensively reformed its training programs toward competency-based integration, adopting the CDIO (Conceive-Design-Implement-Operate) approach, ensuring standardized learning outcomes. It also focuses on optimizing program content, creating CDIO-compliant technical workspaces to foster active and experiential learning, increasing practice time, and encouraging self-study. Training activities are integrated with internships in enterprises for 6-9 months, helping students secure employment early. The employment rate of students within one year of graduation is relatively high, at over 80%, meeting labor market demands.

Leading the trend

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Le Anh Phuong, Director of Hue University, emphasized that Hue University consistently supports entrepreneurial and innovative activities, offering vocational and employment training for staff, lecturers, and students. It has established the Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation, invested in a co-working space, and organized training courses on entrepreneurship for faculty and students across the Central Highlands and nationwide.

Since 2018, Hue Universtiy has anticipated trends, with IT experts and faculty developing online teaching software. During the COVID-19 pandemic, adhering to the principle of "No school attendance but no interruption of learning," Hue University swiftly transitioned to online teaching, becoming one of the few universities to implement this early. It was also the first in the country to hold online defenses of doctoral dissertations, master's theses, and graduation ceremonies. Over two years, Hue University has refined its software to meet evaluation requirements and expanded its application to all training systems.

Hue University is a pioneer in digital transformation, partnering with Thua Thien Hue province to develop Hue as a smart city. This initiative supports the province in becoming a national leader in IT application, offering solutions for social management, environment, healthcare, education, tourism, and more, responding to the "National Digital Transformation Program to 2025, with a vision to 2030" of the government.

Hue University attracts a relatively large number of international students for undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral studies (from Thailand, China, Japan, South Korea, Cambodia, Laos, etc.). Currently, Hue University offers 17 joint training programs with partners from Austria, the US, France, Sweden, Belarus, New Zealand, Australia, Japan, China, Thailand, Finland, and Ireland, among others, along with 27 programs taught in English.

Since 2018, Hue University has promoted the establishment of "strong research groups". To date, 80 such groups have been recognized, with 60 receiving funding totaling 19.5 billion VND to foster international publications, train PhD students, and develop specialized and interdisciplinary programs and projects. Hue University is currently forming two groups for national-level strong research group registration.

Consistently ranked in QS Asia, Hue University remains among the top universities in Asia, reaching the top 351 in 2023 and 2024. In 2019, Hue University was one of the Vietnamese universities recommended by THE (Times Higher Education) for international students. In 2023 and 2024, Hue University was one of six Vietnamese higher education institutions listed in the world’s best universities, ranked in the 1501+ category. Additionally, THE's 2024 subject rankings saw Hue University ranked in 4 of 11 fields, three more than in 2023, including a first-time ranking in Clinical and Health Sciences at 801-1000.
Story and photo: Hoang Trieu