‘My glory is for Vietnamese youths’

Ngo Bao Chau (2nd from left) poses with other mathematicians in a ceremony of the International Congress of Mathematicians in Hyderabad, India on August 19, 2010. Photo: Tuoi Tre/Hoai Linh

Vietnamese mathematician Ngo Bao Chau, who won the maths world's version of a Nobel Prize, the Fields Medal, speaks to Tuoi Tre.

Now that you have the proof of a 30-year-old mathematical conundrum known as the Fundamental Lemma, what is your next job?

Science is infinite, and maths is not an exception. The Fundamental Lemma is just one mission accomplished, and I will continue a lot of work ahead…

Would your work and life change after you were awarded the Fields Medal?

It made no differences to me. I will go to work at the University of Chicago, but this plan has been announced before I was given the Fields Medal.

But my work will never be the same. The prize has given me fame to do more, helping me to fulfill my plans such as helping the Vietnamese youths to pursuit their career in maths and support the maths sector.

I also believe the prize will encourage Vietnamese talented youths to get to know maths in the near future.

So the prize will give you both glory and responsibility?

Yes it will. I think I should be more responsible for contributing to the maths in general and maths sector in Vietnam in particular. I will join my co-workers at the maths institutes and other universities to help boost the maths development.

What are your specific plans in Vietnam?

My top priority is to join the building of and managing the Institute for Advanced Maths Studies in Vietnam. The purposes are to establish student exchange programs and research groups and to attract more maths students.

On the other hand, I will continue my teaching for maths master training courses at the Hanoi Pedagogy University and my research at the Maths Institute.

Will you keep the Vietnamese nationality after being claimed the world’s top mathematician and moving to work in the US?

I will keep the Vietnamese nationality and I will always do. Earlier this year I became a naturalized French citizen, but I will always be a Vietnamese national no matter where I am.

Who would you give the glory of this prize to?

I want to give the glory to Vietnamese youths and I wish it would give them more strength to study, to desire, and to strive for victory, not only in their career of maths and other sciences but also in their lives. I wish Vietnam will win world prizes in other fields someday.

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Gov’t approves $33.4 million for maths development

Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung has approved a VND651 billion (US$33.4 million) maths development program during the 2010-2020 period.

The program focusing on maths research, application and lectures aims to bring Vietnam maths to the 40th position in the world’ rankings by 2020 from the current 50-55th position.

By 2020, Vietnam strives to have enough qualified maths lecturers at universities and colleges, more than 70 percent of whom are PhD degree holders. Maths institutes and a number of major universities’ maths faculties are expected to become regional maths training and research centers by that year.

The program aims to improve the quality of maths training and broaden its scale at general education and higher education as well.

Under the program, the number of internationally announced maths publications is expected to double from the 2010 figure.

To achieve these targets, the program will build the Maths Research Institute (MRI), to assist key maths application schemes, send maths researchers and teachers overseas for further training and organize domestic and international maths conferences.

Maths is among basic sciences that have developed well in the country since 1954, said Prof Le Tuan Hoa from the Vietnam Maths Association, adding that Vietnam won one gold, four silvers and one bronze at the International Mathematics Olympiad (IMO) 2010 in Kazakhstan.

Vietnam has attended the IMOs 34 times since 1974 with 45 golds, 82 silvers and 63 bronzes. The country has been among the top 10 countries of almost 100 countries and territories over the past 10 years.

Noteworthy, Prof. Ngo Bao Chau, who is the country’s youngest maths professor and famous for the Langlands’ fundamental lemma project, is a candidate for the Fields prize. The prize will be announced at the International Congress of Mathematicians in India on August 19, 2010.

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Viet Nam determined to be a maths powerhouse

HA NOI — Viet Nam will spend about VND650 billion (US$34.2 million) to develop its expertise in mathematics during the next ten years.

A national programme aimed at fostering maths research, application and teaching, both qualitatively and quantitatively, has been approved by Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung.

Viet Nam aims to be one of the top 40 countries in relation to maths by 2020, a big leap forward from its current rank of 54th.

The programme sets detailed goals, which includes substantially boosting the ranks of qualified university maths lecturers. Authorities hope that more than 70 per cent of maths lecturers at large universities will be PhD degree holders by 2020.

Twice as many

The number of internationally declared research projects by Vietnamese mathematicians is expected to double over the current number, which accounts for only 0.21 per cent of the world's maths research.

An Advanced Mathematical Research Institute will also be built as the first step to achieve the plan's targets.

The institute will provide support to mathematical research projects and top-level mathematical training to university lecturers, mathematicians, new PhD degree holders and researchers. It will also implement outstanding, highly-applicable mathematical research projects and ideas.

More efforts will be spent on improving classes specialising in maths at the secondary and tertiary level, with exams held to select outstanding maths students for scholarships and training to raise the quality of maths teachers.

University Maths lecturers will also be encouraged to focus more on research and mathematical researchers and lecturers will be offered opportunities to study abroad on exchange programmes.

World-leading mathematicians, including Vietnamese living overseas, will be invited to come to Viet Nam for training, research and implementation of key mathematical research.

Funding will focus on major mathematical research projects that have practical uses, while authorities will also prioritise the hosting of international and national mathematical conferences, including the Asian Mathematical Congress, which Viet Nam will host in 2017.

Tran Quoc Huy, a mathematics degree holder working at an IT company, said the prog-ramme addresses the neglect of maths.

"I'm glad that the country has recognised the importance of maths, which has been seen as less important than many other modern sciences in Viet Nam during the past decade," Huy said.

Minister of Education and Training Pham Vu Luan said excellence in maths is prized around the world.

Therefore, Viet Nam needed to follow the lessons learned at the world's mathematical institutes.

Mathematics is already one of the country's most developed basic sciences, which Viet Nam has developed since 1954, which is reflected in the country's strong performance at International Mathematical Olympiads for students.

Among the latest efforts, six Vietnamese students attending the 51st International Mathematical Olympiad in Astana, Kazakhstan last July won one gold, four silver and one bronze medals.

Other success stories include renowned professor Ngo Bao Chau, who will be a plenary speaker at the 2010 International Congress of Mathematics, held in India today. He is a strong candidate for the Fields Medal, the ‘Nobel prize of mathematics', at the event.

Not modern

However, no current mathematics faculty at Vietnamese universities uses modern mathematics teaching methods, according to Professor Le Tuan Hoa, deputy head of the Mathematics Institute.

Meanwhile, the number of good students who choose to pursue mathematics as their first degree was on a decline, he said.

Only 850 Vietnamese scientists have ever completed a mathematical research work.

The total number of Vietnamese mathematicians still pursuing a mathematical career was now less than the size of a mathematics faculty at a university in developed countries, said Hoa. —VNS

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