We are pleased to share here below the transcript of a report by NetViet VTC10 TV channel.
Speaker
In late July 2018, the Vietnamese team attending the 2018 International Biology Olympiad returned to Hanoi as the world’s number one. All 4 members of the team won medals, specifically 3 gold medals and 1 silver medal. Particularly, Nguyen Phuong Thao achieved the highest total score among the 261 candidate worldwide, and became the very first Vietnamese student to achieve the highest score at the Inernational Biology Olympiad.
In addition, all 5 members of the Vietnamese team attending the 2018 International Physics Olympiad won medals, including 2 gold medals, 2 silver medals and 1 bronze medal. Accordingly, Vietnam made it to the world’s top 10 countries with at least 2 gold medals in Physics. Besides, the Vietnamese teams attending the 2018 International Olympiads in Maths, Chemistry and Informatics won at least 1 gold medal each and maintained the achievement of having 100% of the contestants coming home with medals.
Such noble medals have affirmed the position and talent of Vietnamese students in the international arena.
You are watching Vietnam’s integration, broadcast daily on VTC10-NETVIET channel! The victory of the Vietnamese teams attending the 2018 International Olympiads has motived young people in Vietnam to dare to dream and make greater efforts.
In the future, the winning contestants at the 2018 International Olympiads will be the important factors that contribute innovation and inventions to the world’s cience and technology, especially in the current context when the Fourth Industrial Revolution is taking place vigorously.
To fuel their passion for science, the International Center for Interdisciplanary Science and Education (ICISE) has recently coordinated with the Ministry of Education and Training (MoET) to give them a chance to meet with leading professors of science, including a Nobel laureate.
Here are the 28 Vietnamese winning contestants at the 2018 International Olympiads. They got togheter at ICISE in Quy Nhon city, Binh Dinh province to meeet with leading professors of science, including Physics Nobel laureate 1990 Jerome Friedman and professor Dam Thanh Son, winner of the 2018 Dirac Medal, a prestigious international prize in Physics, and a gold medalist at the 1984 International Maths Olympiad.
At the meeting, all professors complimented on the remarkable achievements of the Vietnamese students. According to professor Jerome Friedman, they are among the most outstanding students in the world, not only in Vietnam.
They were described to be among the best students of Vietnam and my impression is that they are among the best students in the world. Their accomplishment in the Olympiads is outstanding. These young people, if they have the right opportunity, will become outstanding mathematicians and contribute a lot to Vietnam and the world.
Professor Jerome Friedmam
Physics Nobel Laureate (1990)
At the event, Professor Jerome Friedman told the preeminent students of Vietnam about his science career path, the challenges he faced and also the Nobel prize he won.
The meeting with famous professors really fueled their love for science and made them realize that curiosity and passion are the keys to success in scientific research.
This meeting is invaluable to us. We’ve dreamed of talking to the predecessors with such a great passion for science since long ago. I know that not only me but also other studens here highly appreciate this opportunity. We feel greatly motivated to pursue science further.
Nguyen Phuong Thao, gold medalist at the 2018 International Biology Olympiad
We’ve learned so much from the successfull professors today. They really inspire us not to stand back from difficulties in order to achieve success.
Hoang Minh Trung, Gold Medalist at 2018 International Biology Olympiad
Speaker
Sai Cong Hong, Deputy Head of the General Department of Quality Management under the MoET, believed that the meeting was a very meaningful event and expressed his appreciation for ICISE for connecting the preeminent students of Vietnam with their predeccessors and fueling their passion for science.
The meeting aimed to arouse the students’ passion for science. It was a great honor for them to talk to the leading professors of science including the Physics Nobel laureate. That may encourage other students to strive harder as well.
Sai Cong Hong, Deputy Head of General Department of Quality Management, MoET
The future of Vietnam is determined by young people, not by us. That’s why we try to create opportunities to evoke their passion for science. Professor Jerome Friedman said that he always nurtured the dream of becoming an artist, but his accidental meeting with renowned scientists made him so passionate about science.
Professor Tran Than Van
Now we want to do the same thing for young Vietnamese people.
Director of the International Centre for Interdisciplinary Science and Education
Speaker
On this occasion, the preeminent students also had a chance to visit the ExploraScience Center, where they saw interesting models with Maths and physics applications for the very first time.
As I can see, the models here are associated with real-life phenomena. There’s abundant knowledge behind each of them. I have never seen such interesting models in Vietnam. If they are promoted widely across the country, I believe that they will strongly stimulate young people’s passion for science. Some foreign countries like China or Russia have made large investiments in basic science and now their basic science is well-developed, helping them accelerate their economic development. I think science should be the foundation for the economic development of every country.
Hoang Xuan Nhat, Silver Medalist at 2018 International Olympiad in Informatics
I would had hoped that the very young people will come, get excited and be inspired to pursue science and technology as their careers. So I think this is type of Center is a really important resource for Vietnam to enhance its level of science and technology by attracting and inspiring students to pursue science and technology.
Professor Jerome Friedman
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At the meeting, many students said that were in two minds wheter to purse their passion for science abroad or in Vietnam. The pieces of advice from the professors were very useful to them and helped them gain more self-confidence.
They have to get support, I mean, I think that many of them would like to study abroad, and if that is their desire, I think the goverment should give them some support to study abroad and then to get give them the right tools to return to Vietnam.
Professor Jerome Friedman
Physics Nobel Laureate (1990)
Speaker
I think that the meeting with leading professors, including the Vietnamese professors that are working abroad, and the ones that received education abroad, and are now working at home, will help the capable students that they can contribute to the homeland in various ways no matter where they study or work.
Many renowned Vietnamese professors who won international prizes like Dam Than Son or Ngo Bao Chau are working abroad, but they always turn towards the homeland and have made significant contributions to Vietnam’s science.
I think students can feel free to decide whether to further their studies abroad or in Vietnam. They can go abroad to seek new opportunies if they want. The most important thing is that they should always turn towards the homeland.
Nguyen Phuong Thao
Gold medalist at the 2018 International Biology Olympiad
Speaker
That’s all for today. Thank you for watching and goodbye for now!