The Competence Center for Development of Sustainable Tourism under the Tourist Project born is one of the successes from the international cooperation.
Giving a boost to training
For 7 years, the VLIR – IUC program in 2013-2023, sponsored by VLIR-UOS, Belgium, has directly supported the management and improvement of Hue University's leadership capacity and the staff’s capacity. It has especially opened up opportunities to access, exchange and develop training program, training method and connection in training as well as enhancing cooperation in the technical fields between Hue University and the partner universities of the program.
“Over the past 7 years, up to 14 postgraduates have been supported by the VLIR Program. This IC program brings many values, including staff capacity building”, Dr Nguyen Xuan Huy, Deputy Head of Science, Technology and International Relations Department of Hue University said.
Currently, aside from the VLIR-IUC Program, Hue University and its member units under Hue University have had many international cooperation programs and projects in training, which shows many positive signals.
For example, from the IC, the University of Agriculture and Forestry has successfully developed a PhD program in the livestock sector in English, with the students from not only Vietnam but also Laos, Cambodia with the Sweden-sponsored scholarships. To date, 4 postgraduates have graduated, and 8 other postgraduates have prepared to defend their doctoral theses
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Le Dinh Phung, Vice Rector of the University of Agriculture and Forestry said that through IC, the university has successfully organized international student exchange activities and international internship, contributing to the development of the "global citizen" output benchmark for students to meet the international integration of labor.
Hue University is developing 17 joint training programs for undergraduates and postgraduates with the partner universities in France, Italy, Japan, Australia, the United States, and Austria... in the fields of environment, medicine, biotechnology, medicine, economics, finance and banking, food technology...
According to Dr Nguyen Cong Hao, Head of Training and Student Affairs Department of Hue University, the new programs cooperating with foreign partners to receive foreign programs or design the program according to the international standards but in accordance with Vietnamese education practice have created high-quality training disciplines, helped graduates have the environment to continue studying at the world's major universities or working abroad. A special feature of the joint training programs is that tuition and expenditure are more reasonable and suitable for students in Central Vietnam facing many difficulties.
Prof. Finn E. Kydland (winner of the 2004 Nobel Prize in Economics) visited and worked at University of Economics, Hue University
According to Hue University representative, each year, Hue University attracts more than 1,000 foreign students to study and exchange students. That is attributed to good association and cooperation with the partners. Dr. Nguyen Cong Hao affirmed that a university that attracts many international students enjoys a high reputation, and it is also a measure of university ranking.
Focusing on research cooperation
In the university environment, research activities are put on par with training activities. Hue University aims to become a research university, so the international cooperation to improve research capacity, research products and research staff capacity is of critical importance.
Dr. Do Thi Xuan Dung, Deputy Director of Hue University, said that IC is one of the key points and one of the strategic goals and solutions of Hue University until 2020, with a vision to 2030, so Hue University will always have the flexible strategy. With the IC alone to promote scientific and technological activities in 2009-2019, Hue University developed its cooperation tie through signing 350 cooperation documents with more than 200 educational institutions and international organizations from over 30 countries and gained many achievements.
The Entrance Ceremony of Okayama-Hue International Master's Program on "Sustainability of rural and environmental systems"
Hue University is devising many solutions to achieve more efficiency in the IC field, in both training cooperation and research, including partner development. Currently, Hue University is joining in the international network and is a full, associate member of many organizations such as MI (Mekong Institute - Mekong Research Institute), AUN (ASEAN University Network), WUN (World University Network)...
According to Dr. Nguyen Xuan Huy, for good international publication, we need to cooperate with foreign countries to create an international research network. This issue has many benefits because in the university ranking indexes, all articles in the network connected with the world are scored. Hue University is also focusing on the solutions for implementation.
In the coming time, Hue University will continue to sign cooperation agreements with many international partners and organize many exchange activities, strengthen cooperation relations, and attend sessions in the framework of ongoing programs and projects as well as high-level international workshops. Simultaneously, through IC ties, we will connect and find the projects to develop the targets in the field of research
Story and photos: Huu Phuc