The Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology (VAST) has received several notable awards such as Vietnam Talent Award, Kovalepskaia Award, Ho Chi Minh and State Awards for Science and Technology. More importantly, many highly effective research projects carried out by VAST have been applied in practice, contributing to the country's socioeconomic development. VAST has become a leading science and technology organization nationwide in terms of scientific research, patents and useful solutions.
VAST currently consists of 47 research units with 2,563 researchers. Last year, the academy announced 1,612 scientific research projects (in 2010 the number was 1,575), many of which have been published on magazines with a high coefficient of influence. VAST has taken the lead in terms of the number of scientific projects announced on science and technology magazines. Many scientific research projects carried out by the academy have had good effects.
Professor Nguyen Van Do, the president of the Scientific Council at the Institute of Physics, and Professor Tran Duc Thiep, the president of the Vietnam Nuclear Association, have carried out studies on nuclear structure and nuclear reactions induced by neutron, photon and photofission reactions, nuclear spectroscopy, using electronic accelerators such as Mircotron and vertical acceleration methods. Made-in-Vietnam NA-3-C neutron generator and Microtron MT-17 electron accelerator have been used widely in basic, applied research and human resource training over the last more than 30 years. With these and some other types of equipment, Vietnamese researchers have carried out successful basic experimental studies on nuclear reaction. They have also introduced many activation analysis and X-ray fluorescent analysis processes which can be applied for purposes such as identifying the content of protein in grain or single/poly elements in geological samples. The results of nuclear reaction researches carried out by Professor Nguyen Van Do and Professor Tran Duc Thiep have been recognized by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). The data they obtained through research will be used to design nuclear reactors.
Scientists from the Institute for Material Sciences have created large volumes of high-quality nickel by using the method of eliminating impurities from electroplating industry waste. With this project, they have received a patent from the National Office of Intellectual Property of Vietnam. Nickel products created by the Institute for Material Sciences have the highest liquidity of 99.9 percent. When they are mass-produced, these products have a stable liquidity of 99.5 percent. The content of nickel in raw waste from electroplating industry is 3-5 percent and 10-20 percent in dried waste. Every year, tens of tonnes of nickel worth tens of billions of dong can be recovered from waste of the Goshi - Thang Long Auto Parts Company Limited, generating more jobs for workers. Waste recycling allows businesses to reduce expenditure on waste treatment.
Associate professor, Dr. Le Mai Huong and her colleagues at the Institute of Natural Products Chemistry, a member of VAST, have successfully created a new kind of dietary supplement from heriglucan which helps strengthen the immune system, improve memory, prevent alzheimer, delay senescence, provide better care for hair and skin, improve patient health after surgery, prevent radioactivity, prevent and facilitate the treatment of digestive system cancers, especially liver and stomarch cancers. Heriglucan has been certified by the Vietnam Food Administration as meeting standards. During the research process, scientists have successfully experimented on growing heriglucan in a liquid medium. The cultivation time has been reduced from eight weeks to 4-6 weeks.
Recently, for the first time in Vietnam, scientists from the Institute of Chemistry successfully processed red mud to produce steel, cement additives and substances that can be used to consolidate road surface. This helps utilize large volumes of red mud discarded during the process of extracting aluminum from bauxite ores, reducing environmental pollution. Approximately 3.9 tonnes of steel were recently recovered from 10 tonnes of red mud at the Thai Hung Steel Factory in Kim Thanh District, Hai Duong Province.
This year, VAST concentrates on implementing its master plan for development to 2020 with a vision towards 2030 which was approved by the Prime Minister on December 1, 2011. In 2012, VAST will carry out major projects in fields such as space technology, earthquake and tsunami warning, national specimen collection and research on Tay Nguyen (Central Highlands). VAST considers 2012 as an important year that opens a new development period of the academy./.
