Scientific research is a field that requires a lot of qualities and hard work even for those with an abundance of passion. And for women, to be successful in this particular field, it takes much more effort because they also have the role of being a wife and a spiritual mother in addition to their work.For more female scientists to be successful in research, in the opinion of Professor, Doctor of Science Nguyen Thu Van, Chairman of the National Vaccine Product Program for human use, we need remove the inherent bottlenecks that have existed in the field of scientific research for a long time.

Professor, Doctor of Science Nguyen Thu Van, Chairman of
the National Vaccine Products Program for human use

As a scientific researcher, especially researching, exploring and producing vaccines, can you tell us the hardships and difficulties that female scientists have to overcome?

When talking about scientific research, whoever chooses it will be hard, have days of forgetting to eat, losing sleep in the lab, worrying about results when the research has not been done as expected. However, besides the difficulties, the joy of those doing scientific research is that when their research has positive results, meets expectations and is practical in practice, it helps human life.

Many people say that when women do scientific research,they have many limitations, which is true because they still have the burden of a husband and children on their shoulders, but in my opinion it is not enough because women inscience have certain strengths like persistence and an optimistic spirit. They are not pessimistic about unsatisfactory research results because the majority of Vietnamese womenhave endurance, especially in the face of difficulties.

After a long period of doing scientific research, I realized that there is no happier or more rewarding result when seeing that my research achievements welcomed by the community and becoming useful for life.

When women do scientific research they have certain strengths, in fact, there are not many people who choose to pursue their passion for life, does this stem from the fact there islimited investment in scientific research?

In my life, I have repeatedly witnessed my colleagues stop in the middle of the road because of worries about their meals, or because of family burdens. But there are people who stop because theirpassion is not enough. I think that is quite normal for any job or any field in life, not only in the field of scientific research.

However, talking about the shortcomings and limitations in the field of scientific research, I mention that the financial policy mechanism is quite restrictive and the investment in scientific research is still limited. The conditions to serve scientific research in our country are still inadequate, not meeting the necessary research needs.

Although the Party and State always sets a target to consider science the top national policy,investment in the budget for science and technology from 2001 to now is decreasing, from 1.8% now down to just over 1.4%. Therefore, the state management agencies should have specific solutions to invest in science. It is also advisable not to let science be the top national policy in which scientists have to worry and struggle to prove and split the expenses in their research.

For example, in the field of vaccine research, for many years, despite being paid more attention than before, the difficulties in funding persist. We do scientific research just to have research funding equal to one kilometer of highway.

Despite being proud of what scientists have done in the past in the construction and development of the country, many of them are still wasted, what can you say about this?

There is a long-standing fact in the work of scientific research in all fields that the research investment is spread and there is no focus, so it has not taken advantage of the research results in the best way.

Not only myself, but many other scientists feel anxious and painful when many research projects are invested in but are left unfinished for some objective or subjective reason. The situation of scientific research that takes a lot of time and money but has no practical application, cannot be commercialized, it is really wasteful.

Therefore, when deciding to invest in a certain scientific research topic, the management agencies should consider, invest in more focus, have a strategic vision, and evaluate the effects thatscientific research gives the community to deserve investment.

With the young generation, it is a fact that not many female students choose the fields related to scientific research because most of them think that this is hard work, what can you say about this? And what should we do to have more classes of female scientists?

Unlike the outside working environment when women can wear dresses, in the office environment, scientific research is very strict, so it can cause a feeling of bondage. Therefore, the external visualization of the scientific research work is not easy, so the choice is of course not in the majority.

In order to have a contingent of female scientists, in addition to overcoming the difficulties and objective limitations of the financial mechanisms and investment, each female student, when sitting on a school chair, must identify the goal and the path to follow.

If you choose to study science to stick with your whole life, the female students need to study hard, read many science-related documents and books. Then you see whichfield you love. In addition, students need to actively register to participate in student research groups and take advantage of the guidance of teachers.

In the current development of information technology, in order to do research, as well as gain international knowledge and experience, female students need to forge their science and technology skills, as well as foreign languages. These are important skills so that students can master their scientific research activities in the future.

It can be seen that not all women do scientific research, but choose to do scientific research, the success only comes with passion. No matter how difficult, how hard it is, we will also overcome because we have chosen the path of scientific research with passion and aspiration, with all our beliefs when they reach the destination of the road, everyone will see great glory and pride.

Thank you very much!