Grandson Marie Curie came to Vietnam to pass on her passion for young people

The grandchild of the famous chemist Marie Curie has just arrived in Vietnam with the mission of transmitting her passionate scientific passion to young people through the model of ' Hands-on ' - a method to develop her ability to receive informal and creative for children.

He is Pierre Joliot Curie, a famous French biologist. An hour before leaving Hanoi for France, he gave Pioneers Online a conversation about his scientific research path.

Overcome the shadow of the famous family

At the beginning of the story, he could not help but be proud of his family, a famous scientific family whose grandparents and parents won Nobel prizes. He said: 'The popularity and researches of your grandparents are top notch'. However, to overcome the shadow of this popularity is not simple at all for Pierre Joliot Curie.

He was self-deprecating that he was the 'most ignorant ' of the family. Marie Curie - Pierre Curie and her parents Frédéric Joliot - Iróne Curie all received the Nobel Prize in Physics and Chemistry (in 1903, 1911 and 1935). Helen also inherited many dominant genes of the lineage and gained many achievements in science.

However, his parents did not force his only son, but his grandparents' scientific education method attracted him to scientific research from time to time. Unfortunately, when he was born, his grandparents (Marie Curie and Pierre Curie) were no longer available, so he had no chance to interact with his grandparents, but only to his grandparents through stories.

He said: 'When I was a student, scientific research made me have a lot of fun. I think, my parents gave me an education, helped me in creative research. Creative research in science is like the work of writers and poets. Don't be complacent, don't think you're born into a famous family. I solved that problem. I learned "how to play" with science. Until now, I still have the joy, the passion for scientific research '.

Pierre Joliot Curie talked passionately about the " Hand-molded " model. (Photo: Lan Anh)

Evidence for that statement, he said, this year he was 75 years old with 30 years of scientific research, but still " playing " in his laboratory as a child up to 8. Because he said, research only can be carried out like a game. Children are very capable of this, because it is unknown and creative. When you know a lot, it is time for creativity to decrease. And now, when he retires, he devotes his enthusiasm to creativity.

Pierre's view of this research has made colleagues feel ' shocked ' because according to them, research is serious, hard work, impossible as a game.

According to him, children need to be motivated to be creative right from the elementary school. His grandson, now 12 years old, has also begun to love the creativity of his teachers' lectures. He also felt satisfied when his two sons also followed the path of research.

To be able to succeed, he always brought with him the experience of grandmother Marie Curie and Albert Einstein: accepting defeat was the acceptance of prejudice, the outdated norms. A successful person is someone who knows how to overcome all prejudices.

'It took me 10 years to publish a research project. Thanks to those studies, I was selected as one of the two famous French scientists invited to the United States to attend the Scientific Conference '. Mr. Pierre said.

Model 'Hand molding'

In fact, the model La main a le parte, English is Hands On and is temporarily translated into Vietnamese. The hand is molded from a local locality to attract young people to scientific research.

The program focuses on developing children's cognitive abilities in the most scientific way, helping them find answers to their childhood questions by putting themselves in a real situation, from which to discover substance problem. Later, France grew up from this idea. In just five years, 12 countries have adopted this model.

"China is a well-known neighbor of Vietnam that has also successfully applied. Vietnam cannot stand outside," said Pierre. And his trip this time was to reach a concrete result. He said that he believed in the success of this model in Vietnam.

He also regretted that many good Vietnamese researchers were "seduced" by advanced countries in the world. According to him, if there is no special remuneration for researchers, they will go away. A country without talent is hard to do. Vietnam is developing rapidly, so right now must prepare good working conditions for scientists.

In fact, in Vietnam, the model of Hand-molding powder has been around since 2000. Vietnam and France have had cooperation projects to promote scientific research for 10 years. Thanh Van French Overseas Vietnamese Professor, author of Meeting Vietnam, applied this model at 4 pilot classes for 11-year-old children.

Many students of the Department of Psychology at Hanoi National University of Education 1 have also been trained in this model. Some people were sent to Paris, Marseille of France to learn this model from 1998, 1999.

In 2001, the Pedagogical University 1 officially adopted this model as a subject for pedagogical students who will be teaching children 11 years old later.

For the first time to Vietnam, this scientist of the famous family Joliot - Curie also felt the rapid development of Vietnam despite only walking on the streets. He hopes that in the next 2 to 3 years, he will be able to return to Vietnam so that he can witness the outstanding development of Vietnam.

Lan Anh

About Pierre Joliot Curie

He was a researcher from 1956. In 1974, he became a research director at the French National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS).He held the position of Head of Biology Department of the University of Education (Ulm) from 1987 to 1992 with other positions, before taking the position of Chairman of the Scientific Research Council of Lyon Teachers University.

He is an honorary professor of the " Collège de France " school, a former professor of bioenergy and specialized member of the French Academy of Sciences.

His career gained a lot of success. He has received numerous awards such as the award of the French Atomic Energy Commission in 1980, the CNRS gold medal in 1982; National Medal and North Legion.

Pierre Joliot is currently a professor at the Collège de France and a member of the French Academy of Sciences.In 2002, he published a book stating his view of the study entitled "Passion for Research".10 years ago, in 1998, in Hanoi, Helen Joliot, sister of Piere Joliot Curie visited and worked at the Vietnam Radiological Research Institute.