ENHANCE PROJECT – 1ST ROUND TABLE, PROJECT COORDINATION MEETING, AND TRAINING WORKSHOP IN HANOI

On October 3-5, 2016, all partners of the ENHANCE Project attended the first round table, project coordination meeting and training workshop hosted by the Hanoi University of Social Sciences and Humanities. After 3 days of working together, the project members reviewed the relevant activities of the past 6 months and proposed an agenda for the next 6 months. Dr. Tran Dinh Lam, Director of the Center for Vietnamese and Southeast Asian Studies, and Dr. Bui Anh Tien, Deputy Head of the Office of Scientific Research and Project Management, represented the HCM City University of Social Sciences and Humanities at this important conference.

During the project coordination meeting, the project’s member universities in Vietnam presented research and innovation activities at their own institutions. This is the second work package of the ENHANCE Project under the management of the Slovak University of Technology in Bratislava (Slovakia), which is in charge of designing the questionnaires, gathering and presenting the results attained by the member universities. The survey was administered from early March to August 15, 2016, collecting over 1,000 survey responses from around 66 universities and institutions, 42 research institutes and 18 enterprises nationwide.

Representatives of the ENHANCE Project partners

Based on the initial analysis, all universities, institutions and research institutes put emphasis on the importance of scientific research and innovation, capable researchers and potential of strategic policies to support scientific studies from the State and other organizations. However, a number of institutions still have difficulties in carrying out research and innovation programs due to the lack of facilities, professional expertise and financial resources as well as restricted access to knowledge from the outside. In addition, although businesses have formed links with universities in order to examine the product output and applications in their own fields, many of them have not established any formal networks and do not know how to search for suitable universities to cooperate with.

The above-mentioned preliminary findings are the foundation for more practical activities of the ENHANCE Project with the aim of strengthening research and innovation capacities at universities, colleges and research institutes as well as building a connection between those institutions and enterprises.

Dr. Roberto Escarre was presenting “Fundraising strategy for research and international cooperation”.

After the project coordination meeting, the member universities participated in a round table, aimed at exchanging information and ideas about the importance of universities and colleges to a country’s economic development of, particularly of Vietnam. More specifically, the conference encouraged dialogue between the school members, worked out the way to establish connections of scientific research in Vietnam and promoted cooperation between institutions and enterprises under the State’s support.

The first training workshop was held with the theme “Innovation Theory and Practice & Research Funding”. Dr. Roberto Escarre, Head of the Office of International Project Management, University of Alicante (Spain), had lectures with various topics such as research and innovation models in Europe, basic concepts of business cooperation, strategies for regional innovation, scientific research and technology centers at European universities, and strategies to seek funds for research. The workshop attracted a large number of researchers, lecturers and representatives of businesses in Hanoi. They are senior managers and leaders in their organizations, and will be in charge of expanding this training model to their staff.

Where the meeting took place

ENHANCE (strEngthening   National researcH And iNnovation Capacities in viEtnam) is a 3-year project (2016 – 2018) under the main coordination of the University of Alicante (Spain) with the support funded by the Erasmus+ Program of the European Union. The project partners will be responsible for different work packages with the shared goal of promoting and strengthening research and innovation capacities in technology transfer and knowledge transfer at universities, colleges and research institutes in Vietnam, contributing to developing the research environment in the country. The HCMC University of Social Sciences and Humanities is mainly in charge of building connections among research communities and disseminating the ENHANCE Project to them. Other partners of the project include the Glasgow Caledonian University (Scotland), Slovak University of Technology in Bratislava (Slovakia), Can Tho University, An Giang University, Hue University of Agriculture and Forestry, Thai Nguyen University, University of Social Sciences and Humanities – VNU Hanoi, Ministry of Science and Technology and Ministry of Education and Training.

Recent news

Same category