Faculty of Chemistry, VNUHCM ‐ University of Science (VNUHCM‐US) 70 years of founding and development

Field: Chemistry (Physical Sciences)

Previously known as the Chemistry Department at Saigon College of Science, the Faculty of Chemistry at University of Science - Vietnam National University Ho Chi Minh City (VNUHCM - US) was established in 1954. Organic Chemistry, Physical & Organic Physical Chemistry, and Inorganic and Applied Chemistry were the three divisions that the Chemistry Department underwent in 1969. The Faculty of Chemistry was incorporated into the Ho Chi Minh City University after Viet Nam's reunification in April 1975. Vietnam National University - Ho Chi Minh City (VNUHCM), one of Vietnam's two national multi-disciplinary university systems, was founded in January 1995 as a result of the amalgamation of many pre-existing universities in the city. The University of Natural Sciences (UNS) was once more given a new name in 1996 for Ho Chi Minh City University. In 2007, the University has officially renamed the University of Science (US). Since then, the US has joined the other nine universities at Vietnam National University in Ho Chi Minh City. From this point forward, the Faculty of Chemistry will be one of the nine faculties in VNUHCM – US (figure 1). The Faculty of Chemistry was one of the original three departments when it was founded in 1954. The Department of Inorganic and Analytical Chemistry was divided in 1987 into the Department of Inorganic Chemistry and the Department of Analytical Chemistry, which was renamed to the Department of Inorganic and Applied Chemistry in 2004. The Department of Polymer Chemistry was formed in 2012, and in 2014, the Department of Medicinal Chemistry major was established under the faculty. The Department of Organic Chemistry, the Department of Inorganic and Applied Chemistry, and the Department of Chemistry are among the six departments, six majors, and three research laboratories that make up the Faculty of Chemisry today, some 70 years after its founding. Physical chemistry, analytical chemistry, polymer chemistry, medicinal chemistry, and three key-research labs, including the labs for natural compounds, cancer, and computational chemistry. Our goal is to provide undergraduate and graduate students with the knowledge and skills necessary to do top-notch research in chemistry and chemical technology. The primary goal of the Chemistry Faculty's training program is to support student's academic and future professional success. One of the best sites in the south to study chemistry for a bachelor's, master's, or Ph.D. degree is the VNU-HCM - US Faculty of Chemistry. Our students are well-equipped with the knowledge and abilities to contribute to the field's future as academics or researchers in institutions of higher learning, medicinal firms, and the food industry, etc. Chemical knowledge, which is regarded as the core of the natural sciences, aids students in integrating and adapting quickly to careers that require practical applications, such as those in the pharmaceutical, food, and cosmetic industries, as well as other related science fields like biotechnology, the environment, geology, and materials science. The Faculty of Chemistry offers two majors in chemistry and chemical engineering technology, as well as the following training programs: a regular higher education program, an honors bachelor's program, a high-quality training program, Vietnamese-French double diploma program. The Faculty of Chemistry's bachelor's degree programs are designed to provide students with the technical and practical skills they need to apply their chemical knowledge effectively in training, research, and production. The training programs are adaptable, giving students access to a wide range of multidisciplinary knowledge in addition to providing them with a foundational understanding of chemistry. Graduate education is divided into two levels, master's and Ph.D. along with 04 master's degree programs (Master of Organic Chemistry, Master of Analytical Chemistry, Master of Theoretical and Physical Chemistry, Master of Inorganic Chemistry, and Master of Organic Chemistry - majoring in teaching experimental chemistry). The Master's Accelerated Program, which we launched in 2021, allows academically qualified undergraduate students to start studying toward a master's degree during their senior year while finishing a bachelor's degree, was launched by the Faculty of Chemistry in 2020. There are three Ph.D. training programs available, including ones in theoretical and physical chemistry, analytical, and organic chemistry. In accordance with VNUHCM - US' vision and mission, the graduate program at the Faculty of Chemistry has undergone significant change, with the primary objective of developing human resources whose output quality will match the needs of society for high-quality human resources. The curriculum matches the school's stages of development. The training curriculum was developed after six iterations of adjustment and change based on a review of the university's vision and mission, and market demands. The curriculum has undergone structural and content changes since 2013, and this is the sixth time that the curriculum has been modified to reflect the level of development of the institution. The CDIO approach served as the foundation for the creation and development of the undergraduate curriculum at the Faculty of Chemistry (Conceiving-Designing-Implementing-Operating). The Bachelor of Chemistry curricula are being evaluated and innovated once more in terms of how they are structured and the teaching strategies that assist students in thoroughly developing the information, abilities, traits, and competencies required for professional practice. The training program has modified and adopted a strategy in line with the CDIO model with the idea of preparing students to be ready for work, become successful engineers, have professional qualifications and social awareness, and be ready to integrate into the working world. Each of the three categories -knowledge, skills, and attitudes - will have training objectives examined, incorporated into the curriculum, and included. A list of anticipated learning outcomes that students should acquire upon graduation serves as the training objectives. At the course level, the desired learning outcomes are outlined, mapped to course materials, and evaluated. The Faculty of Chemistry's curriculum currently allows for integrating the output standards into each course. The current training program is established on benchmarking with training programs in the same field of chemistry and technology offered by several institutions in Vietnam and elsewhere, and it satisfies the needs of enterprises and learners. The Faculty of Chemistry offers training programs in chemistry, including a full-time Bachelor program, an honors bachelor program, Vietnamese-French double diploma program, program high-quality training program, and the master's accelerated program in six majors, including Organic Chemistry, Inorganic and Applied Chemistry, Physical Chemistry, Analytical Chemistry, Polymer Chemistry, and Medicinal Chemistry. These programs are designed to meet the demand for high-quality human resources for society. The master's accelerated program with three majors in organic chemical technology and medicinal chemistry, polymer chemistry technology, inorganic materials, and materials technology for energy storage and conversion is part of a training program in chemical technology that offers high-quality training. The AUN-QA standards' guidelines and quality assurance model are also the foundation of the training quality assurance process. The chemistry bachelor's degree programs in 2016 satisfied the requirements for AUN-QA accreditation. Since that time, all activities, including program reviews, adjustments, updates, material development, and teaching quality assurance, have been based on AUN-QA criteria for quality assurance. Every four years, the training program is examined and modified. Stakeholders, such as employers, alumni, faculty members, and students, are consulted before reviewing and making changes to the teaching structure and content. In line with current development, students who possess interdisciplinary knowledge can launch a firm and adjust to the working environment at businesses. Since 2018, the Faculty of Chemistry's training programs have been able to connect internship and applied chemistry subjects (theory and practice), where professionals from businesses and production units will teach. Students spend two to three months gaining real-world experience at businesses, factories, and production and sales facilities related to chemistry and chemical technology. Through seminars, internships, or field trips, subject modules help students learn by fusing academic knowledge with real-world experience. Experts from manufacturing businesses, business units, alumni, or employers are encouraged to serve as trainers and to share their practical production skills with employees or workers at manufacturing facilities. In order to further acquaint students with the working environment of the organization, short-term visits (1 or 2 days), hands-on production experience, and production line instruction are also periodically held twice per semester. Every year, at the beginning of September, the chemistry department invites eminent academics from universities collaborating on research to hold lectures on current scientific findings. Additionally, the Faculty of Chemistry hosts a monthly scientific seminar. The presenters include professors from National Tsing Hua University in Taiwan, Umeå University and Goteborg University in Sweden, NIMS Institute, and KIT Institute in Japan. They are also lecturers in the departments, lecturers at national universities or universities with which the faculty collaborates on research, and alumni from these institutions. The Faculty of Chemistry hosts a brief training session on the application areas of chemistry and chemical technology, such as "Packaging technology, film processing" and the "Surface and Coating Technology" courses, every April. Both faculty lecturers and subject matter specialists from fields like packaging and paints are used to provide short-term training programs. Organic synthesis and green chemistry: Develop innovative processes for producing medicines, insecticides, insect attractants, growth regulators, dyes, organic materials, electrolytes for solar cells, bioactive chemicals, luminescent molecules, and UV stabilizers for the cosmetics industry using organic synthesis and green chemistry, utilize green chemistry to synthesize organic molecules. Natural product: Obtain organic chemicals from natural sources, partially synthesize these compounds to create derivatives that are bioactive, and then measure the bioactivity of the derivatives. Technology for using essential oils: extracting them, determining their bioactivity, and partially synthesizing perfumes. Medicinal chemistry: Discovering and creating novel pharmaceuticals from herbal remedies is the goal of medicinal chemistry. Synthesize or partially synthesize physiologically active chemicals; research the links between these compounds' structures and activities. Develop marker compounds for herbal drug standardization. Create a method for evaluating raw resources. Drug creation. Inorganic materials: Develop and prepare a new generation of porous materials (MOFs, ZIFs, COFs, etc.) for gas storage-separation, catalysis, and conversion applications energy, nano-materials. Synthesize and apply inorganic materials in environmental remediation, ion-exchange and absorption materials, energy-converting application materials, industrial application materials (pigment in paints, ceramics, porcelain, glass, adhesives, coatings, fertilizers, slow-release fertilizers, etc.). Theoretical and computational chemistry: Design and predict the structure and properties of drug molecules, new materials. Study on the kinetics of reactions. Electrochemistry and renewable energy: Rechargeable batteries, fuel cells, supercapacitor, and photoelectrochemical: New generation of solar cells (DSSC, QDSC, PSC), water splitting, electrochemical probes for environmental investigations, capacitive deionization for water treatment applications. Catalysis: Synthesize catalysts and green catalysts for organic synthesis, petrochemical industry, and energy conversion. Polymer: Modify and apply natural polymers and biodegradable polymers. Recycle and synthesize new polymers, rubber, and composite materials. Synthesize and develop additives for plastics. Analytical chemistry: Develop analytical tools and methods used to identify inorganic and organic substances in environmental samples, food, cosmetics, fuel, and biological fluids. Use of hydration technology in the transportation and storage of natural gas and liquefied petroleum gas as well as the treatment and recovery of precious metals, greenhouse gas separation, and greenhouse gas recovery. Academic personnel and support staff: The Chemistry faculty has roughly 98 employees, comprising 16 teaching assistants, 5 core staff, and 77 professors (1 professor, 17 associate professor, 28 PhD, and 31 MSc). 45 visiting lecturers, who are retired or experienced professionals working in businesses and research institutes, are also invited by the faculty to teach in both undergraduate and graduate programs. Additionally, we routinely offer academic seminars and applied chemistry courses that are taught by professionals from businesses (figure 2). Facilities: The classrooms on two campuses, Nguyen Van Cu and Linh Trung, are fully furnished for teachers to conduct their instructional activities. For teaching and doing research, the Faculty of Chemistry contains 32 laboratories, including 9 laboratories on the Linh Trung campus and 23 laboratories on the Nguyen Van Cu campus. To ensure the quality of instruction, each lab course is staffed by an instructor and teaching assistants who prepare the necessary tools and chemicals. There are currently 20-25 lab courses in the chemistry training programs, 19 lecturers serving as instructors, and 27 staff members working to prepare chemicals and equipment. The people who work in our labs have received training in laboratory techniques, safety regulations, and hazardous waste management practices. Six employees from three specialized research laboratories, including the Informatics Laboratory, the Natural Compound Chemistry and Medicinal Chemistry Laboratory, and the Cancer Research and Medicinal Chemistry Laboratory, are also employed by the faculty (figures 3 and 4). About 2000 undergraduate students, 150 master's students, and Ph.D. candidates specializing in chemistry and chemical technology are trained by the Faculty of Chemistry. 20% of students graduate within 4.5 to 5 years, while about 70% of students graduate on time (the average time to graduate is 4 years). The level of the training program's expected outcomes achievement is assessed to ensure the quality of the graduates. Employers place great value on the information and skill-based training that graduates of the chemistry department get. About 15% of students are accepted into graduate programs in Vietnam or overseas. The employment rate for students is 60% at graduation and 80% between three- and six-months following graduation. The HCMUS - US puts research and teaching at the core of its mission. All academic staff are encouraged to identify their research interests and objectives. The Office of Research and Development (ORD) manages research in the university under the supervision of a Vice-Rector. All research policies are disseminated and implanted by the ORD. The staffs and students of the Faculty of Chemistry are very active in their research activities, both in basic research and applied research. The faculty and staff obtained many grants from Vietnamese institutions and agencies such as HCMUS, VNU-HCM, Department of Science and Technology (DoST) in HCM or provinces, and NAFOSTED. The Faculty of Chemistry continuously enhances the standard of instruction and scientific research while expanding collaboration with domestic and foreign universities, research institutes, and businesses to meet the needs of enterprises, training institutions, research institutes, and other organizations. This is done to provide society with high-quality human resources. A fundamental mission and a very active activity of faculty is scientific research. The average number of publications per professor is 1.5, and each year faculty members work on roughly 10 scientific research projects at various levels and take part in several national and international scientific conferences. Faculty members regularly report their research results to international and national journals. Types and Number of Research Publications are shown in table 1. The University hosts a collegiate-level symposium on scientific research every two years. The majority of scientific reports (oral and poster presentations) contain the findings of student-produced scientific research and are composed of scientific research findings. The project and research effort of the student are the results of scientific research. Numerous student research findings have received rewards at various levels. The percentage of undergraduate students who engage in scientific research is 70%, and the percentage of graduate students engaged in research is 100%. About 3-5 student research projects have earned Scientific Research Student Award - Euréka awards each year. In the previous five years, the Vietnam Science and Technology Innovation Award (VIFOTEC), which is given annually in Ho Chi Minh City, has recognized the Faculty of Chemistry with two awards and four "Golden Globe" honors for scientific and technological achievement. To honor collectives and individuals who are women scientists with outstanding achievements in research and application of science in real life, two outstanding female scientists of the Faculty of Chemistry awarded the Kovalevskaia Awards (2016 and 2021). The faculty has received praise from society for its accomplishments in undergraduate, graduate, and scientific research. The majority of the graduates have found employment in production facilities, research institutes, or teaching positions at domestic and international training institutions, and they are highly valued for their competence. In the domains of chemistry and chemical technology, we frequently work together with universities, research institutions, alumni, and business communities to tackle real-world problems that translate theoretical knowledge into useful advancements. We also take part in student exchange programs with some of our research partners, including the Faculty of Chemical Engineering and Faculty of Materials Science at National Tsing Hua University in Taiwan, Umea University in Sweden, NIMS Institute, KIT Institute and Hiroshima University in Japan, Le Man University in France. Additionally, our students can complete an internship with one of our industrial partners, such as The Center of Analytical Services Experimentation of HCMC (CASE), Nike Inc., Shiseido Vietnam Cosmetics Co., Ltd., Nisei Electric Vietnam, Dow Chemical Vietnam Co., Ltd., Ajinomoto Vietnam, Yakuit Vietnam, Hyosung Vietnam Co., Ltd., In carrying out the objective of training, scientific research, and technology transfer, the Faculty of Chemistry is one of the leading faculties of VNUHCM - US. The Faculty of Chemistry continuously raises the standard of instruction and scientific research out of a desire to consistently satisfy businesses, research organizations, training institutions, etc. With more than 70 years of experience conducting research and providing training in the field of chemistry, the Faculty of Chemistry's brand and reputation are being increasingly validated in terms of quality in the fields of providing instruction and conducting research in Vietnam and elsewhere.