After six months evaluating nearly 200 nominated science-technology projects, the science-technology council of VINIF was able to select the 20 excellent ones to receive financial support. The largest amount for one project reaches VND10 billion ($430,000). This sum will be used to pay salary for all members of the project, to hire both local and international experts, to buy necessary materials and equipment for research, and to register for a patent as well as international announcement.
In addition, VINIF will also help these wining projects via introducing or providing consultation experts, big data, and intellectual properties owned by Vingroup.
It will then assist to implement research solutions or results in the reality, to sign up for a formal patent, to seek investment in order to further develop research products.
In this August 2019, the above projects is going to receive sufficient finance to reach at least one of the four targets: having an article in an international journal or any equivalent prestigious research organization that is classified as Q1; having a product, a service, or a solution that is practical for the community; beginning the intellectual property right registration process; or training masters and supporting the training of doctors in the country.
To encourage the development of science and technology in Vietnam and to satisfy the goal of operating on a non-profit basis, all purchased properties as well as those created by these projects (such as products, solutions, services, intellectual property rights, research results) belong to the project head, the research team, or the chair-organization.
In order for any project to receive this financial aid, the project head must be a doctor of science, with proper experience and achievements, while the number of foreign members should not exceed 30 percent of the total staff. In case the project head is a Vietnamese who is permanently living in other countries, he or she must work in Vietnam for at least 3 months per year while they are selected as the project head. This is to ensure that the aid is for Vietnamese scientists and the scientific development of the nation.
This is the first year that VINIF has officially operated, and via this program, it wishes to promote basic research directing at Big Data and having significant effects on the society. It also hopes to attract high-quality human resources from other countries to help Vietnamese people.
Established from August 21, 2018, VINIF wants to contribute its part to the establishment of an ecosystem to boost applicable research and to connect researchers – research institutes, universities with businesses in order to make positive and sustainable changes to Vietnam.
