A Review of University Research Development in Vietnam from 1986 to 2019

Abstract

In many advanced higher education systems, alongside teaching, universities undertake research as their core mission. In Vietnam, not until the early 1990s did universities take up research as their main task. This chapter reviews the historical context, government policies, and capacity and performance of university research in Vietnam since the Doi Moi (Innovation) policy and suggests some avenues for future development. Through a critical review of relevant government policies during the 1986–2019 period, the study finds that in the past four decades, particularly in the last 10 years, the Vietnamese government has created some favourable policies for university research development. However, with limited resources and a huge expansion in student enrolments, Vietnamese universities are still at their early phase of research capacity building. To boost university research development in Vietnam, the chapter suggests that the government should invest more in university research, re-structure the state Research and Development (R & D) system, extend the application of a competitive performance-based research funding allocation mechanism to the entire national R & D system, and further develop the national academic workforce. In the higher education context of Vietnam, research should no longer be a desirable value but a mandate and a culture.