Vietnamese female scientist in the most influential list in the world

My childhood followed my mother everywhere to make a living, when I came to the United States, my friends laughed at me because I did not know English, but Nguyen Thuc Quyen surpassed it all and became one of the most influential scientists in the world.

Professor Nguyen Thuc Quyen was born in Buon Ma Thuat (Dak Lak) in an upper family of 5 brothers and sisters. After 1975, his father went to re-education, her mother - a middle school math teacher, led her children to new economic areas such as Phuoc Lam, Long Dien, Dat Do, Phuoc Tinh and Vung Tau to make a living.

At 5-6 years old, she must help her mother clean the house, make firewood to cook, dig up potatoes, fish, carry water . Life, clothes, rice money kept clinging until 1986 when she joined Open a noodle shop in Ben Da - Vung Tau, Quyen was able to attend Tran Nguyen Han High School.

Professor Nguyen Thuc Quyen.Photos provided by characters.

Hardship in human land

In July 1991, she and her parents and 5 brothers and sisters settled in the United States. For the first two years, Quyen's siblings insisted on returning to Vietnam because they did not know English and American customs. But she felt good because she could do what she liked without being afraid of other people.

" When I was in Vietnam, my family was already struggling, so when I came to the US, I had to try harder to get a better life ," said Quyen. In order to assert herself in her native land, she was determined to learn English quickly by enrolling in three high schools in three cities. In the US, English is free to learn.

Strenuous with humiliation when being looked down upon by many people, she has the motivation to rise up."There was a teacher mocking me in front of the class because of the ability to speak English poorly. An American man told me straight away about her country , " she recalls and said there are still some people in the United States who discriminate. Such discrimination. " Even colleagues at school never talked to me even though I tried to talk to him a few times, " the professor said.

In September 1993, her aunt gave her a house, but she had to clean, cook, go to the market and run errands for her. At this time, she applied to study at Santa Monica University but was not accepted because of poor English. She pleaded with the school for a trial period and promised that if she could not learn, she would return to high school to learn more English. During the day, she goes to school, she seeks extra classes at the free English teaching center at night. With her relentless efforts, she was finally accepted to study.

Seeing how hard it is for parents to work in a restaurant and at a garment company, she does not allow herself to fail and tries to double or triple the size of her peers. In order to have money to study, she would like to work more in the school library from 17h to 22h every day, but still not enough, so she has to borrow more money from the Government.

In September 1995, she applied for a transfer to the University of California , Los Angeles and worked in a laboratory with a tool to wash tools. She asked to do research but did not have any lab. After graduating from Chemistry University in 1997, she applied for a master's degree. In just one year, she had a master's degree in Physics - Chemistry and decided to continue her doctorate. Unexpectedly, at the end of the year, she was a 7 excellent graduate student from California University, Los Angeles awarded a scholarship.

In June 2001, she received her doctorate and graduation before the students she had ever washed the experimental tools for them before. She graduated with an outstanding award in Physics - Chemistry. In September 2001, she received a federal award to study at a national laboratory, but she refused and went to work at Columbia University, New York.

Three years later she began working at the University of California , Santa Barbara and it took more than two years to build two separate laboratories. After 11 years, she had 7 separate laboratories for the research team. She also asked for more than 10 million USD for research projects, invited to more than 200 locations around the world to give presentations as well as receive many great prizes for research projects.

" My friends in Vietnam often told me back when I was so stupid in my hometown, how good it was to go to America to study. I replied that there was no time to study because I had to support my family , " said the professor. to speak.

Solar battery made from electrically conductive plastic Research in the laboratory of Professor Nguyen Thuc Quyen.Photos provided by characters.

Women's struggles when doing science

Professor Quyen confided that it was today thanks to the guidance of her mother and her uncle when she instructed her to follow the best path possible. While Dad said that girls should get married, do not need to study, then the mother is the opposite. She remembers the day when she finished 12th grade, she determined to stay at home and consider getting married, but she still took her to Saigon to take the university exam. " Mom took me to Saigon at my grandmother's house to take college exams, but I didn't want to. Growing up and studying at the village school I found that at the age of 18 people got married and had children," she said.

His uncle called her to talk for more than two hours, with the purpose of advising her to take the exam and try to go to college. " Why do I have such an opportunity, but I refuse. After college, I will have a stable job, a career, if I can get good people . ", she recounted uncle.

Growing up, that fan sister was Marie Curie , because at that time, scientists were very few women. She is an example to overcome difficulties for her to continue trying for scientific research.

Over 11 years working at the University of California, Santa Barbara, she works for about 15 hours a day. In addition to teaching, she also does many other jobs such as editorial journalism, international scientific conferences, applying for research projects to pay salaries, tuition, and health insurance for students ( Each study costs about 100,000 USD per year), instructs students to do research, helps students write newspaper articles, works in the salary review and promotion department for all professors in the school, professor recruitment board. .

She shared that it was difficult to do science, but women in this field were even more strenuous, because outside their careers, they had to take care of their families. Even herself, though she has tried a lot but sometimes still does not receive the respect of male colleagues. " Fortunately, I have a mentally and sympathetically husband, he teaches organic chemistry at the same school, always supporting me so I have more motivation to teach and research ," the professor said.

" Most people think girls should take care of their husbands and children, clean the house and not have their own careers. I want to let other women know they can do both. I want to do things. useful for society, " she said.

She still remembers the time when she started school. At that time, she asked to go to the laboratory but it was not possible because many people thought she could not do anything and advised that " research is not easy and not everyone can do it. You should concentrate to learn English ". Later on, there was a professor who found that she had good questions in class and encouraged to follow the research path. Knowing this news, she is happy because she likes to explore new things since she was young.

In early 2004, she interviewed for chemistry in some universities. She is also very afraid because these schools have very little chemistry or no female professors. " The path to success in the US is not easy because the country often attracts top scientists in the world but the nature of Vietnamese people is smart and hardworking ," said the professor and said that there was merit. tomorrow iron has days so kim.

Like to go to Vietnam

" I miss Vietnam very much. If I have time, I will return immediately, because now my cousins, especially my grandfather - who laid the first brick in my scientific life are still in my hometown" , the female teacher Professor confided.

The first time she and her mother returned to Vietnam was in 1999 to visit her grandmother in 3 weeks. 9 times abroad to attend scientific conferences, she took the time to visit her family.

She said that for 21 years, she lived in Vietnam, she remembered the pure Vietnamese food and Vietnamese songs, so every time she came back to her country, she asked her husband to go see the music. " I like folk music like the song Homeland, Ai put the flute to the river , " she said.

When asked about her intention to live in Vietnam, she said: " Maybe when I retire, I will return home, because my country still does not have enough good facilities and conditions for me to study , " she said. said her own 7 laboratories are worth about $ 4 million.

Besides being one of the most influential scientists in the world of materials science, she also received many other awards such as the German Alexander von Humboldt-Foundation Science Research Award in 2015; Scientific Research Award of the US National Science Foundation 2010, Scientific Research Award by Alfred P. Sloan Foundation 2009; Scientific Research Award of Camille Dreyfus Foundation 2008; Harold J. Plous Memorial Award and Lectureship 2007 Scientific Research Award.