Feelings of the last

After six times of organizing, the Conference of Meeting Vietnam has broken up 'not to meet the reunion' because both conference co-chairs are Prof. Tran Thanh Van and Nguyen Van Hieu announced that this will be the last conference. their. It is considered the largest conference ever and is a rare opportunity for Vietnamese scientists to approach the world science, but will Vietnamese physicists seize this opportunity?

The last meeting .

Vietnamese young scientists exchange with foreign scientists.(Photo: ND)

Meeting Vietnam is considered by the scientific community as a " brand " created by Professor Tran Thanh Van in 1993 with the enthusiastic help of his great friend, Prof. Nguyen Van Hieu. Scientists in the world participate in this conference not only to present reports or receive new knowledge such as other international physics conferences, but also to meet and discuss exchanges in the future. Hybrid, and more importantly, to see how they can help Vietnamese scientists. That is also the meaning of the two words 'meet' (Originally in French: Rencontre).

Just hearing this " brand ", many world-renowned physicists immediately wrote their names when invited to participate, many of them did not miss a meeting for 14 years. over, although the cost of the trip was quite expensive when going to a distant Asian country and staying in five-star hotels. GS Van said that all scientists came to the conference because they felt it necessary for themselves, to register and voluntarily contribute to the cost. The organizers only pay airfare for physicists who won the Nobel Prize, but some of them also refuse to accept this grant with the reason for this money to help young Vietnamese scientists.

To create that brand, Prof. Tran Thanh Van had to have experience from 40 years to hold the Meeting of Moriond Meeting in France. Thanks to the professional and prestigious organization in international physics research, he has created rare opportunities for Vietnamese scientists to access advanced science.

But this year, Professor Tran Thanh Van, due to his advanced age, handed over the position of holding the Meeting of Moriond Meeting in France and also announced to withdraw from the position of co-chair of the Meeting of Vietnam Meeting.

Professor Van confided, people think that this organization is easy but the truth is not so. For example, the Nobel Prize-winning physics professor James Cronin came to the Moriond Conference since 1971, when he was still unnamed. After that, each time was invited by GS Van, he did not hesitate to refuse to participate. GS Van successfully organizes large physics conferences that are due to personal prestige that not every organization can get. He said the Vietnam Meetings conference was not a company that could be sold or transferred to others, but he hoped that there would be people capable of organizing the next conferences.

Prof. Tran Thanh Van, author of Meeting Vietnam (Photo: ND) The co-chair of the conference, Prof. Dr. Nguyen Van Hieu, when talking to the press at the end of the conference, also said that this is a conference. finally he sat in co-chair position. He said: I am old, it is time to rest. If there is a next conference, I will participate but as a presenter of the report.

Without missing out on any Vietnamese Meetings , Dr. Nguyen Trong Hien, working at the US Aerospace Agency (NASA), said: 'In terms of organization, no one Vietnamese can be good. like Prof. Tran Thanh Van. He is truly ' national property '. To continue his work is very difficult and I think no one can do it. ' But he also hoped, the conference will still be held in a different form, smaller and infrequent as it is now, or just encapsulated in small topics. A person cannot do it but ten people can work together.

As a person on the Vietnamese side participating in the conference organizing committee, Assoc. Prof. Vo Van Thuan, former Director of the Institute of Nuclear Science and Technology, also said that conferences to meet Vietnam are closely linked with the names of Professor Tran Thanh Van should be very short of him. But he believes that Prof. Tran Thanh Van will try to mobilize the French Government and international organizations to continue supporting and funding this activity. According to Associate Professor Vo Van Thuan, no matter who organized it, with the advice of Prof. Tran Thanh Van, it will be able to maintain.

Conference evaluation: Different feelings

Through our research, most scientists participating in Meeting Vietnam highly appreciate the quality of this conference and the values ​​it brings to Vietnamese science. However, each person stands at different perceived angles.

At the end of the conference, Professor James Cronin commented: 'The conference brought together the world's leading physicists, and here we have heard about the latest results in the field of nano physics and objects. astronomical We are in Vietnam for a whole week, so we have many opportunities to exchange and debate, including the participation of Vietnamese scientists. I think the conference was very successful and I am very pleased '.

Dr. Nguyen Trong Hien also said: No doubt, the problems presented at this conference are the most advanced knowledge of world physics.

Interview with Professor James Cronin (Photo: ND)

On the side of Vietnamese scientists, Prof. Nguyen Van Hieu said that, for Vietnam's physics, this conference has a great impact. People come to the conference to receive a lot of information and know where Vietnamese physics is standing. Before this conference, everyone had certain information, but because in Vietnam, scientific journals were too little, so they could not fully understand the information, each of them only knew a part. At this conference scientists presented many problems, showing more fully the physical picture in the world.

Prof., Dr. Phan Hong Khoi, Chairman of Vietnam Physics Association evaluated: In the Conference to meet Vietnam, this is considered the biggest conference because of the combination of two small conferences on nano physics and celestial valve. Our country has held several conferences on nano physics and nanotechnology, but perhaps this is the largest conference with a large number of international scientists from countries with research degrees. High rescues such as the US, France, Japan, South Korea . There have not been any meetings lasting up to six days like this time, usually only about 3.4 days, there are many good reports presented at this conference. .

'I think it's important to maintain conferences like this because it's useful. There are many people who think that it is too far away from the scope of Vietnamese science so it is worthless. But in my opinion, this cost is nothing compared to the effects it brings to Vietnamese scientists. There are Vietnamese people who think that Vietnamese science will never be exposed to Nobel laureates, but clearly we have just met and talked to such people at this conference. ' Prof. Vo Van Thuan said.

According to him, for every Vietnamese scientist, the values ​​that the conference brings to them are at different levels. Those who are interested in understanding are very helpful. People who are not interested will also find it very interesting to sit and listen, although they will not understand. He himself is a researcher in basic particle physics and attended a seminar with astrophysicists, but he has not covered all the content presented by scientists in this area.

It is known that participating in this conference has 70 Vietnamese scientists in the field of nano physics. They are all working for the national nanotechnology program. In the field of astronomical particles, Vietnamese people participate less, only 18 people from three groups: Pierre Auger group, group of basic particle physics of Prof. Nguyen Mong Giao in Ho Chi Minh City and group of Astronomical Department of University Hanoi Pedagogy.

As the commander of a group of Vietnamese scientists participating in the Pierre Auger project on cosmic rays introduced by Prof. Cronin, Mr. Vo Van Thuan said his group is particularly interested in the achievements in scientific research of Pierre Auger group worldwide that Vietnam is one of 14 members. This is also one of the most important contents of the astronomical conference.

Prof. Phan Hong Khoi said that more participation in the field of nano physics, Vietnamese physicists have presented some relatively valuable reports in the difficult research conditions of Vietnam. Besides, there are a number of joint research projects jointly implemented between Vietnam and South Korea, in which the part of Vietnamese is mainly done.

Prof. Khoi said, through this conference, Prof. Lee, Vice Chairman of the Korean Physical Society, Director of a very large laboratory of nano physics has received some Vietnamese students to study and study. .

As an expert in the field of biological physics, Mr. Trinh Xuan Hoang of the Institute of Physics says: Although the two topics discussed in this conference (nanotechnology and astrophysics) are not directly related to the field of research. My rescue, but I still come to participate to have more information.

However, there are also foreign scientists, who come to Vietnam with the intention to find ways to help Vietnamese scientists in a practical way, but still wonder what has not been done much, because according to them scientists. Vietnam participates less.

'Don't let people leave me .'

Prof. Dr. Nguyen Van Hieu: "Don't let people leave me .". (Photo: ND)

With the experience of those who organized these conferences to help domestic scientists have the opportunity to approach the world science, the two co-chairmen Meet Vietnam in more expectations. that the Vietnamese scientific community has obtained.

Whether Vietnamese scientists have access to new knowledge, we cannot know in day one or two. The core problem is that in the next years they will take advantage of that knowledge to go further. They heard the report presented not only to know, but to listen to think in the latest works presented there is nothing unclear from which to study in depth and propose better solutions, Prof. Tran Thanh Van to speak.

It is not enough to just listen to the new, good, because the new one will be old tomorrow. Without creative minds, throughout the life of their research, Vietnamese scientists can only have enough time to learn new things without doing anything more meaningful.

Professor Van also expressed dissatisfaction with the young people who came to the conference but only knew the three years, did not take the initiative to seek opportunities to contact and learn for themselves. "I only know how to create conditions for them, but they can make use of it, depending on themselves," GS said.

Learn new things to realize that you have to speed up, work hard. Not to mention the comparison of the shoulders and slogans of Vietnamese physicists is 'don't let people lose themselves,' said Professor Nguyen Van Hieu. The risk of Vietnamese physics is about to 'lose the ball' of advanced science. We must how to go after people but still see their 'shadow' to follow, Professor Hieu simulates a symbolic way.

Being knowledgeable in the field of nano physics, Prof. Phan Hong Khoi also said: Can not keep up all because we are poor, investment in nanotechnology is very low. Most advanced developed countries have a national program on nanotechnology development, our country does not yet have. We only started from nanotechnology in physics, then chemistry. A few years ago, the Ministry of Science and Technology introduced a priority program for nanotechnology but the investment budget was still limited.

Therefore, Vietnamese scientists only focus on issues that can be implemented in Vietnam and reach the world level. Nanotechnology covers all industries not only in physics, but also on older technologies. Vietnamese scientists in universities have created nanofibers just like abroad. But in order to achieve the international level, we have to invest more, especially to train the generation of young, capable scientists.

In the field of astronomy, we are going from zero, so the expectations of the two GS are even more remote. However, we still hope that there will be such large international physics conferences held regularly in Vietnam so that Vietnamese science will never be 'sucked'.

HONG VAN - TRUONG SON