Research promotion in Vietnamese higher education: how to enhance research activities at a young and dynamic university

SHS Web of Conferences 124, 06003 (2021) ICMeSH 2020 https://doi.org/10.1051/shsconf/202112406003 Research promotion in Vietnamese higher education: how to enhance research activities at a young and dynamic university Anh Le Thi Phuong1, Huyen K. Pham1 1FPT UNIVERSITY, HA NOI, VIETNAM Abstract. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the development of research on higher education in Vietnam. A case study research approach was utilized to examine the quality growth of a private Vietnamese university in terms of research for the past six years. The number of international publications and researchers are analyzed in order to evaluate the effectiveness of the university's research-enhancing activities. The results will contribute to improving the quality of training and further contribute to the vision of bringing Vietnamese universities upon the world's educational ranking. Although this research is limited from the perspective of Vietnam, it provides a good illustration of sustainable development of quality in higher educational systems, especially for young universities in developing countries. 1 Introduction The world's educational activities have long been paying much attention to teaching and training. However, with the current digital age's developments, information could be accessed in minutes, even seconds. According to Vuong (2019[1]), asking students to rigidly rely on textbooks will limit their ability to access knowledge. Research has thus created a reasonable ecosystem to support teaching and training. Through research, the faculties are constantly updated with new results and methods that are produced every minute of a day. © The Authors, published by EDP Sciences. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). SHS Web of Conferences 124, 06003 (2021) ICMeSH 2020 https://doi.org/10.1051/shsconf/202112406003 This new knowledge will help them adapt the curricula and training programs so that students have continuous access to important sources of knowledge. In addition, postgraduate education or mentoring doctoral students also requires the faculty to have a certain understanding of research activities. In this sense, several studies have considered research as a backbone of university ranking and its outcomes. However, if university academics are not adept in conducting research, this undertaking will not live up to its name and nature. Hence, it is important to look into two things when dealing with research in higher education: 1. the capability of the faculty members and students to conduct research; and 2. the quality of research being conducted by faculty members and students. The second point could be expressed through a product called international publication. [2]The publication of research results in international refereed journals is used as an indicator of research strength and quality in institutions and countries. [3]In particular, Vietnamese education has long been dominated by a model that separated higher education and research. In this model, universities oversaw higher education and training while research institutes focused on research. At the present time, this model has been adjusted, and the two functions are now assigned to both universities and research institutes. Nevertheless, where would Vietnam stand on the world education map for its research given such a late starting point? Are Vietnamese universities, especially young ones who lack the backing up from the Ministry of Training and Education and government bodies, finding ways to make sure the young generations of students they serve will not miss out on opportunities to develop their own research skills and results? These are the matters that this paper is set to find out. In the next sections, the big picture of research in higher education worldwide and in Vietnam is described as an overview for the paper's main objective. A case study research approach is used to show how a young and private Vietnamese university strived to develop its research capacity and results by implementing several notable research-enhancing policies. Then, data on the growth is analyzed and discussed based on such implementations. Finally, we take it a step further to look at the future of research activities of this university in particular and the whole Vietnamese higher education in general, suggesting changes that need to be made in order to ensure sustainable development in Vietnamese higher education in terms of research activities. 2 Literature Review 2.1 The role of research in higher education Higher education institutions are expected to create and disseminate knowledge with the contributions of students and professionals through instruction, extension, outreach, production, or research. While teaching has long been the primary way to pass down knowledge, research and international publications are becoming more and more critical to universities (Vuong, 2019[1]). Scientific research, with the most specific goal of creating a new amount of scientific information of a quality that can surpass critics for international publication, move towards knowledge, raise questions, and even solve problems. Research creates original knowledge, contributing to each individual's understanding of life and society. The creation of original knowledge also improves the professional capacity of each faculty, adding to the development and training of future generations. Research also contributes directly to building brand and trust in the education sector. 2 SHS Web of Conferences 124, 06003 (2021) ICMeSH 2020 https://doi.org/10.1051/shsconf/202112406003 It has become quite common for a university to have two important functions: training and research (Tran, 2013[4]). These two functions share an organic relationship, in which the active participation of the university faculty in scientific research activities is one of the important measures required and necessary to improve the quality of training. When a university's faculty participates in research, they will gain benefits including but not limited to deepening knowledge, updating knowledge, developing critical thinking and effective analytical skills, and creating an environment that increases the research capacity of the university itself. The latest could be linked to improving essential social relationships on exchanging knowledge among peers and universities. [5]Currently, the task of improving research capacity for lecturers is still not an attractive investment option for universities, especially in developing countries where universities often put more importance on the teaching function of faculty members (Pham & Hayden, 2019[6]; Salmi & Pham, 2019[7]; Tran & Nghia, 2020[8]). Around the world, organizations, and scientific circles in Asia, Africa, and even Europe still face obstacles in their scientific publication process. Whi (...truncated)