Provincial leaders presented flowers to congratulate Hue University at the opening ceremony of the new academic year

Step-by-step maturity

Deeply attached to the institution with a long-standing tradition of nearly 70 years, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Vo Thanh Tung, Rector of the University of Sciences, HU has experienced a prolonged period of multifaceted difficulties. His concerns, as well as those of the university, revolve around the growing demand for enrollment despite degraded and outdated educational infrastructure and training equipment. Over years of ups and downs, alongside the member and affiliated units of HU, the University of Sciences has gradually surmounted these obstacles, solidifying its stature as a distinguished educational institution in the Ancient Capital.

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Assoc. Prof. Dr. Vo Thanh Tung said that with the effort of the university’s leadership and support from HU, in recent years, the University of Sciences has made comprehensive improvements across all departments and disciplines. Facilities and equipment have been systematically and professionally modernized. Furthermore, the university has prioritized enhancing the qualifications and expertise of its academic and administrative staff, meeting the demand for high-quality human resources both for the university and HU in general.  Most of the university's staff and lecturers hold the academic titles of Professor, Associate Professor, and Doctor.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Le Anh Phuong, Director of HU, said that HU continues to maintain its core scientific disciplines, which constitute 30% of the country’s training disciplines to serve as the foundation for developing science, technology, and engineering. These disciplines are being trained at the University of Sciences and have become the traditional disciplines of HU, positively contributing to the national education system.

With nearly 70 years of development, the University of Sciences, HU is recognized as the third-largest center for basic sciences nationwide.  This is the recognition of the Ministry of Education and Training and the educational sector in general for the important achievements of the University of Science in response to the requirement of striving together with Hue University to become a National University.

Currently, the University of Education, HU, is demonstrating rapid transformation to meet the demand of becoming a high-quality educational institution nationwide. This is evidenced by the recognition of the University of Education by the Ministry of Education and Training as one of the top three centers for training and fostering teachers and educational management staff in Vietnam.

Dr. Le Ho Son, Rector of the University of Education, HU stated that while the universities of education nationwide have been providing multidisciplinary and multi-field training, the University of Education, HU specializes in training teachers in 23 different disciplines. These include natural sciences, social sciences and humanities, music, national defense and security education, political education, and economic and legal education. This is a source of pride for the university with an age-old tradition of training teachers in Hue in response to the demand for improving the quality of education.

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HU not only offers a diverse and rich array of disciplines across its institutions but is also unique among the five national and regional universities in Vietnam for providing training in the arts disciplines through its University of Arts. This institution has been training many generations of artists and artisans for the nation in general and the Central region and Central Highlands in particular, providing all disciplines in music and fine arts closely associated with the heritage values of the Hue Monuments Complex.

Additionally, HU is the sole university in Vietnam that provides tourism discipline training at undergraduate, master, and doctoral levels. These disciplines offer critical human resources for national tourism development in the period of promoting the tourism economy, industrial tourism, e-tourism, etc.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Le Anh Phuong affirmed that many alumni and students of HU have excelled in various fields and currently hold key positions that contribute to regional and national development, enhancing the prestige and pride of HU. Among them, some successful alumni and students occupy leadership and senior management positions in Central ministries, departments, and sectors, and lead local Party and government organizations at different levels.

Multidisciplinary, multi-field, and high-quality

In 1996, HU had only 60 undergraduate training majors and 30 master’s training majors with a training scale of tens of thousands of students and trainees. After 30 years of growth and development, by 2024, HU will have up to 142 undergraduate training majors, 88 master's training majors, 53 doctoral training majors, 63 training majors for level I and II medical specialists, and 12 training majors for resident doctors. The training scale in 2024 reaches 54,175 undergraduate students, 4,148 master’s students, and 602 doctoral students.

These figures not only reflect the strong training capacity of HU but also show the important impact of HU on training, developing, and providing high-quality human resources for the whole country.

HU has seen significant improvements in its rankings on global university rankings and continuously holds high positions. On the QS Asia rankings, it was listed among the top Asian universities (top 350 in 2016 and 2017; top 400 in 2018; top 450 in 2019 and 2020; top 400 in 2021 and 2022; and top 351 in 2023 and 2024). Its position on the Webometrics rankings tended to increase year by year. In 2023 and 2024, HU was among the six higher education institutions in Vietnam listed in the world’s best university rankings, at 1501+.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Le Anh Phuong said that Hue University's achievements during its establishment and development have always received special attention from the Party and State leaders. They have also enacted the policies commensurate with HU's position in the national education system. After a decade of implementing the Politburo's Conclusion 48, in Resolution 54 on building and developing Thua Thien Hue Province until 2030 with a vision to 2045, the Politburo agreed to the policy of developing HU into a National University.

The Government issued Resolution 83 to concretize Resolution No. 54-NQ/TW of the Politburo with a specific action plan. In Resolution No. 26 of 2022 on socioeconomic development and ensuring national defense and security in the North Central and Central Coastal regions until 2030 with a vision to 2045, the Politburo once again affirmed the policy of developing Hue University into a National University.

According to the 2024 Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings by scientific subject, among 11 fields, HU is ranked in 4 fields: clinical and health (at 801-1,000), engineering (1,001+), life sciences (1,001+), and physical sciences (1,001+), an increase of 3 fields against the 2023 rankings. Notably, in its first ranking in the clinical and health field, HU achieved an official position of 801-1,000…
Story and photos: Hoang Trieu