October Academic Engagement at VinUniversity

October did not only mark the 3rd year of VinUniversity going into operation, but it was also a month full of academic engagement activities with leading international partners for VinUni. Let’s go through some of the most notable activities!

1. The visit of the University of Technology Sydney (UTS)

On October 4, VinUni welcomed the high-level mission from the University of Technology Sydney (UTS) led by Prof. Andrew Parfitt, Vice-Chancellor, and President. UTS and VinUni have been long term partners and with this visit, the 2 institutes will continue to explore other potential collaborative activities. VinUniversity and UTS have established multiple academic collaborations including the Study Away Program, in which VinUni welcomed 50 students from UTS, Student Exchange Program, Integrated Bachelor’s – Master’s Program and Collaborative Doctoral Research Degree Program.  In terms of academic exchange, Spring Term 2023, VinUni will be sending 19 students across three colleges to UTS for a semester exchange.

2. The visit of the University of Queensland, Australia 

On October 7, the senior mission from the University of Queensland (UQ), led by Prof. Deborah Terry AO, Vice Chancellor & President, visited VinUni. During the trip, the team had meetings with VinUni leaders and senior faculty members from all four colleges to discuss potential aspects for collaboration. On this occasion, VinUni and UQ successfully co-hosted a public talk entitled “Women in Leadership”, which attracted more than 120 participants, consisting of faculty, staff, students, and researchers from both inside and outside of VinUni. The speakers include Dr. Le Mai Lan, Prof. Deborah Terry AO and Ms. Jennifer Bahen (Counsellor of Education and Research, Australian Embassy in Hanoi), who discussed a range of topics including the importance of gender parity/representation in leadership roles and the barriers women continue to face in professional environments, as well as the practical and structural changes that could help remove these barriers for the next generation.

This event was featured on the Facebook Fanpage of Australian Embassy in Vietnam HERE.

VinUni leaders and senior faculty members working with UQ Delegation

The public talk on “Women in Leadership” generated great public interest

3. Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signing ceremony between Queen’s University and VinUniversity

VinUni has recently reached a general collaborative agreement with Queen’s University (#1 in Canada and #5 in the world in global impact rankings – THE). The agreement covers a broad range of academic activities such as exchanges of faculty, research fellows, or postdoctoral scholars, undergraduate and graduate students, fundamental research collaboration, joint conferences, lectures, symposia, as well as joint research projects. With the signing of this MOU, the list of VinUni’s partner institutions has been expanded to 24, providing a broad range of global exchange opportunities for VinUni faculty and students.

MOU Signing ceremony between VinUni and Queen’s University with the witness of the representative of the Canadian Embassy in Hanoi

4. The visit of Cornell University 

From 5 to 12 October 2022, 2 experts from the Cornell University – Prof. Edward McLaughlin, Robert G. Tobin Professor of Marketing at the Charles H. Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management; and Prof. Mark Campbell, John A. Mellowes ’60 Professor in Mechanical Engineering at the Sibley School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering had a working week with VinUniversity College of Business and Management and College of Engineering and Computer Science. As part of the visit, the professors participated in organizing multiple academic and research activities for the students of the two colleges, including: 

• Discussed the training plan for the new academic year of the 2 colleges, as well as Faculty Standards and Review of Faculty Profile and Academic Credentials.

• Participated in specialized Guest Lectures and Public Lectures for students at and outside of VinUniversity.

• Joined with the delegation of the University of Pennsylvania to deliver some joint sessions on well-being for all VinUni students.
• Discussed with VinUniversity leaders on future joint research, designing and establishing new Master and PhD programs. 

5. The visit of the University of Pennsylvania

During a period from October 5-12, 2022, two experts from the University of Pennsylvania, including Prof. Glen N. Gaulton, Vice Dean and Director of Global Health and Assoc. Prof. Julie Sochalski, Nursing Curriculum Director of Vingroup-Penn Alliance had a successful working week with the VinUniversity and the College of Health Sciences with highlight sessions as below:

• Worked with all GME, MD and BN programs to discuss annual plan and review.
• Met faculty and students of MD and BN program to get feedback about the curriculum then review and prepare for the edition and improvement of the curriculum.
• Joined the Convocation Day of the VinUniversity and the White Coat Ceremony of the College of Health Sciences.

• Joined with the delegation of Cornell University to deliver some joint sessions on well-being for all VinUni students, and the session of Faculty Standards and Review of Faculty Profile and Academic Credentials
• Signed the official agreement between VinUniversity and the University of Pennsylvania on the integrated bachelor’s – Master’s program in nursing on Oct 10, 2022

6. MOU signing ceremony between the University of Illinois Urbana Champaign and VinUniversity

Also in October, representatives of the Board of the University of Illinois, Urbana Champaign (UIUC) visited VinUuniversity and officially signed the MOU for the integrated Bachelor’s-Master’s Program for VinUniversity students. UIUC is ranked 48th globally according to Times Higher Education 2021 and ranked 10th in Engineering in the US according to US News. Accordingly, VinUniversity is the only institute in Vietnam to establish this collaboration with UIUC. 

Through this collaboration, students will study for the first 3 years at VinUniversity and complete the next 2 years at UIUC. After 5 years, graduating students will earn a Bachelor’s degree from VinUniversity and a Master’s degree from UIUC. The program’s admission will officially open from the second semester of the academic year 2022-2023 for third year students of VinUniversity’s College of Engineering & Computer Science, who wish to pursue postgraduate study and receive a Master’s degree at UIUC, USA. The maximum number of VinUniversity students to be admitted in each academic unit each year will be five in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) and five in the Department of Mechanical Science and Engineering (MechSE).

VinUniversity is the only institute in Vietnam to establish this collaboration with UIUC. 

Especially, for the Master of Science Programs, UIUC will consider exceptional students from VinUniversity for graduate fellowships or assistantships. Furthermore, VinUniversity students also have the opportunity to apply for Vingroup’s 1,100 Science and Technology Scholarships Program for Overseas Study for Master’s and Doctoral Degrees and earn full-aid scholarships for 2 years of studying at UIUC.