10 outstanding national science-technology events in 2023 announced

This annual voting event has the collaboration of other functional units under the Ministry of Science and Technology, Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology, and many scientists and experts. Following is the list of 10 outstanding science-technology events in 2023:

1. Resolution No.45-/NQTW on ‘continuing to build and promote the role of intellectuals to meet the requirements of rapid and sustainable national development in the new period’ was issued on November 24, 2023 in the 8^th session of the 13^th Party Central Committee. This is based on the summary of 15 years implementing Resolution No.27-NQ/TW on ‘building the intellectuals in the period of industrializing and modernizing the country’, issued on August 6, 2008 by the 10^th Party Central Committee.
   
   
2. The Science and Technology Ministry transferred the management of Hoa Lac Hi-tech Park to the Hanoi People’s Committee on November 24, 2023. Created in 1998, Hoa Lac Hi-tech Park, the first of this kind in Vietnam, is a key project assigned by the Government to the Science and Technology Ministry to implement and manage in order to increase the national science-technology potential.
   
   
3. In 2023, the IT Institute (under Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology) successfully developed a translation system based on Vietnamese. It can precisely translate from Vietnamese to poor-resource languages in the Southeast region (Laotian, Khmer, Thai, Malay, and Indonesian) and vice versa.
   
   
4. The Institute of Imperial Citadel Studies (under Vietnam Academy of Social Science) announced its ‘Decoding and successfully reconstructing the 3D image of Kinh Thien Palace in the early Le period’ at the end of November 2023. This is the most elaborate and serious research, lasting three years, on the structure of Kinh Thien Palace – the most important palace in the Forbidden City of Thang Long at that time, based on reliable archaeological sources.
   
   
5. Learning and inheriting cutting-edge scientific-technological advances in the world and in Vietnam, in 2023, the Institute for Tropical Technology (under Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology) successfully developed a heat-reflective paint. This institute has fully mastered the technology of manufacturing heat-reflecting additives based on nano-sized materials to be used in producing heat-reflective paint effectively. The paint satisfies strict technical criteria in the world and has the same quality as its international counterparts but is more cost-effective. It has been used in both civil and national-defense constructions.
   
   
6. Vietnam has successfully performed many organ transplants this year, several of which are particularly challenging cases. This has earned Vietnam a reputation in the Southeast region and the whole Asia. The most prominent ones are the case of heart-kidney multi-organ transplant, done by doctors in Vietnam – Germany Hospital in the middle of February 2023, and the tran-Vietnam organ transplant at the end of February 2023, co-performed by doctors in Cho Ray Hospital (HCMC) and Vietnam – Germany Hospital (Hanoi).
   
   
7. The alum-salinity water filtering system has been co-developed by the Vietnam – Korea Institute of Science and Technology (VKIST) and the Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST). After various trials on different water types, in September 2023, VKIST finished optimizing this technology to process alum-salinity water in the Mekong Delta. Following Dong Thap Province, others are going to install this useful system in their area in 2024.
   
   
8. In November 2023, Viettel High Tech (member of Viettel Group) announced the successful installation of its first 5G station using ASIC chip that supports the Open RAN standard for Qualcomm's 5G radio equipment. Viettel is the first in the world to apply Qualcomm products in the network with real users to download real data. This is a great breakthrough because the time from technology research to successful application in the real network is only 8 months (from the strategic partnership of the two companies in MWC 2023 Barcelona in February 2023). This result will contribute to promoting the process of commercializing 5G networks in Vietnam and the international market with a portion of domestically produced 5G equipment by 2024.
   
   
9. Research.com – a reputable e-Portal for international scientists – announced its Best Rising Stars of Science in the World 2023 Ranking. In the list are seven scientists now working in Vietnam, including five Vietnamese ones. They are Prof. Dr. Tran Xuan Bach from Hanoi Medical University – 2^nd position; Dr. Tran Nguyen Hai from Duy Tan University – 603^rd position; Dr. Thai Hoang Chien from Ton Duc Thang University – 621^st position; Dr. Phung Van Phuc from HCMC University of Technology (HUTECH) – 762^nd position; and Dr. Hoang Nhat Duc from Duy Tan University – 968^th position.
   
   
10. The new operation facility of the National Innovation Center (NIC) – under the Science and Technology Ministry had its grand opening in Hoa Lac Hi-tech Park (Hanoi) on October 28. This shows a great effort of the Science and Technology Ministry in turning NIC into a core part to boost the national economic growth. On this occasion, NIC held Vietnam International Innovation Expo 2023 (VIIE 2023), including a series of scientific seminars. The most important of them were activities to attract international investments and collaboration, particularly from the US, in the semiconductor industry in Vietnam. At present, NIC and its domestic and foreign partners are offering training in this field, especially IC designing.