Until now, HCMC University of Finance – Marketing has offered that highest financial bonus for job applicants with the title of Assoc. Prof. and under 50 years old (at VND300 million – US$12,150) and from 50-55 years old (VND200 million - $8,100). Those graduating as a doctorate from a foreign or domestic university receive financial support of VND100 million ($4,050) and VND60 million ($2.430) respectively.
At the end of February 2024, Vietnam National University-HCM (VNU-HCM) introduced its ‘Program to Attract and Maintain 350 Outstanding Young Scientists in Vietnam National University-HCM’ (VNU350 in short) as a plan to transform itself into a leading research university in Asia. Excellent young scientists eligible for this program enjoy the support from VNU-HCM itself as well as its member university which hire them.
Accordingly, they are financed from VND200 million – 10 billion ($8,100 – 40,500) to carry out their scientific research depending on the level of the project. In their fifth year working here, they are even aided to apply for the procedure to receive the title of Assoc. Prof. Leading scientists receive higher benefits besides financial support for their research, such as laboratory investments (no more than VND30 billion - $1.2 million) and research team establishment.
At the end of last year, Vietnam National University-Hanoi (VNU-HN) launched its own policy to attract outstanding scientists who wish to lead scientific-technological research team for topics of the university’s priority, regardless of their nationality. They are financed at least VND3 billion ($121,400) in three years.
Aiming at not signing a permanent unlimited contract but project-based one, VNU-HN can reduce unnecessary administrative procedures when entering a contract with excellent senior scientists or foreign ones (who require a labor permit for a normal labor contract). With this, the university can attract capable scientists who lead major research and carry out key scientific-technological missions, which will ultimately help to form strong research teams in the future.
The Industrial University of HCMC offers a salary rate of 3.0 to doctorates, along with a financial aid of VND7 million ($283) a month and a bonus of VND13 million ($526) per month if the employee has a published scientific article. Those invited by the university enjoy an extra bonus of VND100 million ($4,050) as well.
Nevertheless, to truly retain these valuable human resources, financial benefits are not enough as these people also consider working conditions, general development directions of the workplace so that they can grow to their fullest.
President Vo Van Thang of An Giang University (member of VNU-HCM) shared that the university used to run a program to finance its employees wishing to pursue higher degrees. Yet after the announcement, only one had applied and did not return after finishing the degree. Obviously, financial bonuses are attractive initially, but not sufficient to retain talented people for a long time if it is the only thing they receive.
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nguyen Thanh Binh – Head of the IT Applications Department (Faculty of Mathematics – Informatics, University of Science – VNU-HCM) – recalled that he obtained his bachelor’s degree in 2008, and then his master’s and doctorate degrees in 2010 and 2013 in France. When I decided to return to Vietnam for work, he encountered various difficulties in the first 4 years, like low salary, limited finance for research, and poor networking.
After some time, thanks to the improved working environment in his workplace and support from his colleagues, he has been able to achieve fruitful results such as 50 published articles, the Golden Globe Award 2021, the ‘Innovative Youth’ Title, the Outstanding Youth Award). The salary in Vietnam is certainly not equal to that in developed nations, yet he felt truly positive and satisfied in his career.
Prof. Dr. Vo Van Toi – former Dean of the Biomedical Engineering Faculty in International University (VNU-HCM) – happily shared that the VNU350 program and similar schemes in other universities are launched to attract and retain excellent scientists to become researchers or lecturers in those tertiary educational institutes.
15 years ago, he decided to return to Vietnam from the US without any support policy like today. But then he felt positive with the backup and trust he could sense from his employer and colleagues, which tremendously boosted his confidence to establish the Faculty of Biomedical Engineering only after three months working here. Until now, about 10 other universities in Vietnam have formed the same faculty or department. In his faculty, there are 28 current staff members, many of whom are talented people winning various prestigious awards in the world.
Dr. Thai Doan Thanh – Vice President of HCMC University of Industry and Trade – commented that this is a fierce competition to attract brainpower among training institutes in the context of international integration with the hope to improve the quality of training and researching.
As each educational organization has its own nature, its offered recruitment policies vary accordingly. even though money and fringe benefits are one key factor to consider when choosing a job, they are not the only one. A positive and comfortable working environment, a clear career prospective, a fair evaluation mechanism with corresponding incentives, and timely resource support for research activities as well as personal development are critical criteria.
More importantly, state-owned universities should not use bonuses as a way to attract the talented but then leave them on their own, which somehow forces them to move to private educational institutes for better environment for development.
