“Vietnamese scientists can compete with the world’s leading minds”

Deserved recognition for groundbreaking innovations

– Professor, what is the reason why VinFuture awarded the highest award to the invention of clean energy production with solar cells and storage with lithium-ion batteries?

The victory of this nomination is completely convincing! 2023 is recorded as the hottest year in history in the past 125,000 years. The United Nations has also warned that the world has officially entered the “era of global warming”. Fighting climate change has never been more urgent than it is today. Now is also a pivotal time for climate action.

Fortunately, we are seeing great progress in the production and use of clean energy – the key to reducing global emissions. About 10 years ago I thought this idea was not feasible because it was too expensive. But now, everything is changing very quickly.

We have reduced costs and improved efficiency in two important areas – clean energy generation and storage. Solar cells are becoming one of the mainstream methods of energy production. At the same time, lithium-ion batteries have become light enough and reliable enough to be integrated into every type of device, present in every home, with 15 billion mobile devices and 26 million electric cars in the market. around the world.

Breakthrough innovations in green energy production with solar cells and lithium-ion battery storage have helped accelerate the transition to renewable energy, helping to mitigate global climate change; creating the foundation for a mobile, multi-connected world; and open up new opportunities for accessing clean, affordable energy. Through this, the project significantly contributes to equitable and sustainable development globally. That’s why the nomination deserves the highest honor at VinFuture this year.

– Research on lithium-ion batteries won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2019. Does VinFuture not have any truly outstanding records this year, so it honors such an old work, Professor?

The two winning projects are not the same. VinFuture places research in a broader overall picture. In many cases, fundamental advances may have been discovered some time ago. But they only truly prove their importance and create breakthrough value when combined with other advances, in a special context.

To put it into perspective, the 2021 Major Award winning study has two elements, mRNA and lipid nanoparticles, and we need both to create an mRNA vaccine. In 2022, with Global Network Technology, we not only honor software or protocols but recognize the importance of both infrastructure and the ability to transmit information over long distances and at very high density. .

Similarly, the VinFuture 2023 Main Prize is not awarded to individual inventions of solar cells or lithium-ion batteries. VinFuture honors the combination of inventions that create a sustainable foundation for green energy.

Through the 3 Main Awards that have been awarded, we want to reaffirm the view that, although there are many initiatives in different fields, at different times, we always need more than one element to create success. landmark change. That lens makes VinFuture very different from many other awards.

– This year, for the first time, a Vietnamese scientist was honored by VinFuture. Does this result come from the pressure to award the award to the host country, Professor?

Absolutely no pressure at all! The Special Award for scientists from developing countries clearly demonstrates two of VinFuture’s core values ​​- “Equality” and “Global”. This year’s awarded project has excellently met those criteria.

The field we have chosen is a very important part of the Green Revolution. The innovations in this work have dramatically increased agricultural productivity, helping millions of people escape poverty. And more importantly, rice feeds billions of people on earth and Vietnam is one of the three largest rice exporting countries globally.

The landmark change that transformed Vietnam from a hungry country into a rice bowl of the world had important contributions from pioneering scientists like Professor. Gurdev Singh Khush and Prof. Vo Tong Xuan. A person who made great contributions to the development of superior rice varieties, a person who made important contributions to popularizing them in the fields. Therefore, I think VinFuture’s recognition is correct and accurate. The award also shows that Vietnamese scientists can completely compete with the world’s leading minds.

Encourage pioneers who are brave enough to do things differently

– VinFuture Awards has officially entered its fourth season. How do you evaluate VinFuture’s international reputation and global impact?

I think VinFuture’s reputation and impact on a global scale are very good. In the first season, we received 599 nominations, in season 2 there were 970 nominations, in season 3, the number increased sharply to 1,389, nearly 3 times more than season 1.

Besides, the number of VinFuture’s nominated partners has increased more than 4 times compared to the first season, from nearly 1,200 to more than 5,200. A special point is that 1/5 of VinFuture’s “companions” are scholars in the Top 2% of the world’s most cited researchers. That shows the prestige and stature of VinFuture as well as the attention and warm reception that the world scientific community has for the Award.

– VinFuture has set itself a great mission to promote science to serve humanity. How do you evaluate what VinFuture has accomplished over 3 seasons?

By attracting thousands of quality nominations each season and gathering outstanding scientific minds to Vietnam to participate in events during Science and Technology Week, VinFuture has truly become a “red address”. ” with global researchers. The VinFuture Awards ceremony has also become an event eagerly anticipated by the international scientific community at the end of every year.

Perhaps one of the things that makes VinFuture attractive is the unique vision of its founders – honoring innovations that make the world a better place.

Global researchers often have pressure to participate in a “hot” field. In fact, if we look at the scientific journey of the VinFuture Award winners, we can see that they do not necessarily need to be honored early. But they are all pioneers, brave to do different things. In that way, VinFuture is making an important contribution to promoting and encouraging research and innovation for good goals for humanity.

Additionally, today we tend to separate those who work in industry from those who just do research. This is a phenomenon that has only appeared in the past 50 years. I think for everything to work well, the two need to be connected. VinFuture’s very different interdisciplinary lens has created a new breeze, contributing to gradually changing research thinking globally.

– Thank you professor!