Call for applications to USTH doctoral program for the year 2023 – Second wave

USTH follows the European Bologna Process with LMD system: Bachelor (3 years, 180 ECTS), Master (2 years, 120 ECTS), PhD (3 years, 180 ECTS). The doctoral program at USTH was built with the philosophy that the scientist is the essential part of the society. The PhD student will be able to do the research and create new values ​​serving for the development of the society and the scientific community.

The doctoral program was developed by Vietnamese and French scientists based on the demand of society and prioritized research fields at USTH, which allows PhD students to study in an international environment and to prepare for their future careers. Upon graduation, the PhD students are awarded the doctoral degree which is recognized by international institutions.

1. Research fields

• Pharmacological, Medical and Agronomical Biotechnology
• Advanced Material Science and Nanotechnology
• Water – Environment – Oceanography
• Information Technology and Communication
• Energy
• Space and Applications

2. Training duration

The PhD training program is conducted in the form of formal education which is 3 years for students with Master degrees and 4 years for students with Bachelor degrees.

3. Requirements for application

Applicants to PhD training programs of USTH should have the following qualifications and capabilities:

• Applicants must hold a Master degree in the field of application or a field relevant to the field of application; or applicant holds a Bachelor degree with very good grade in the field of application or a field relevant to the field of application.
• Applicants have experience in doing research, which is demonstrated by his/her graduation thesis of a research Master program; or a published scientific article or report; or his/her working experience of at least 2 years as a lecturer or researcher of educational, scientific and technological institutions.
• Applicants must hold one of the following certificates of English language

• TOEFL iBT 46 or higher;
• IELTS 5.5 or higher;
• Cambridge Assessment English: B2 First/B2 Business Vantage/Linguaskill 160 or higher;
• Other foreign language certificates equivalent to level 4 of the 6-level Foreign Language Proficiency Framework for Viet Nam approved by the Ministry of Education and Training.

• Applicants must submit a research proposal which is approved by their expected supervisors (see templates).

4. Supervisors

• Each applicant can propose maximum 2 supervisors:

• One supervisor must be USTH faculty or French visiting scientist working in USTH laboratories or USTH-associated laboratories in Vietnam
• The other supervisor could be a scientist who works for a Vietnamese or international university or a research institute.

• The proposed supervisors must: hold PhD degree; have at least 3 years working experience since PhD graduation and be an active researcher in the field of the PhD research topic in the period of 3 years prior to the commencement of the supervision of the PhD research, according to the regulations of the Vietnam Ministry of Education and Training; ensure other conditions as prescribed in Circular 18/2021/TT-BGDĐT of the Ministry of Education and Training.

5. Scholarship and fellowship

USTH offers various scholarships to PhD students who are enrolled at the university. Scholarships are as follows:

• Scholarship for Excellent Students for PhD students with outstanding academic achievements. Scholarship values for academic year 2023-2024: DS-A1: 30,000,000 VND; DS-A2: 20,000,000 VND; DS-A3: 10,000,000 VND.
• Pathway to Success Scholarship for PhD students who graduated from USTH’s Master programs and further their study in USTH’s Doctoral programs. Scholarship values for academic year 2023-2024: DS-PS1: 30,000,000 VND/year; DS-PS2: 20,000,000 VND/year; DS-PS3: 10,000,000 VND/year (the scholarship is available throughout the regular training duration).
• Capacity Building Scholarship for PhD students who are employees of VAST’s institutes and centers. Scholarship values for academic year 2023-2024: 50% tuition fee VND/year (the scholarship is available throughout the regular training duration).
• Access Scholarship for PhD students who are employees of the institutions that have signed cooperation agreements with USTH: The scholarship is granted pursuant to the agreement.
• Global Scholarship for foreign PhD students who have GPA of bachelor and master programs equivalent to 12/20 or higher. Scholarship values for whole course: GS-A1 (100% tuition fee); GS-A2 (75% tuition fee); GS-A3 (50% tuition fee); GS-A4 (25 % tuition fee).

USTH’s Scholarship and Financial Aid Council decides the list of scholarship recipients pursuant to Regulations on awarding scholarship and financial aids for USTH students.

6. Application dossier

Applicants have to submit an application dossier including the following documents:

1. Application form (see template).
2. Notarized copies of degrees, certificates, transcripts of Bachelor and Master Levels.* If the degrees, certificates and transcripts are neither in English nor in French, notarized copies must be translated into English. In case these documents are issued by a foreign university, the applicants should include an explanation of the grading system of that university.
3. Valid English certificates.
4. Motivation letter of the candidate.
5. Updated and detailed resume (CV) including awards, academic background and achievements, career experience or experience in student activities. (if any).
6. Certificate of employment (if any) (see template).
7. Consent letters and scientific resumes of proposed supervisors (see template).
8. Recommendation letters from 2 scientists having worked at least 6 months with the candidate (see template).
9. Research proposal in English (maximum 10 pages) (see template).
10. Full list and copies of scientific articles and publications in domestic and international journals (if any).
11. Other related documents (if any).

Templates can be downloaded at: https://usth.edu.vn/tuyen-sinh/tuyen-sinh-tien-si/

* Applicants having completed their Master programs but not yet received their diploma or official academic transcripts can submit a provisional letter of graduation confirmation or academic transcript (notarized copies and translations in English). Successful candidates will be required to submit all those documents to be officially accepted. 

7. Admission plan for the year 2023 – Second wave

No.	Timetable	Contents
1	July 20, 2023 – September 20, 2023	Application Submission
2	October, 2023	Pre-qualification
3	November, 2023	Admission Interview Jury
4	December, 2023	Admission results and Enrollment

8. Admission fee 

Admission fee: 1,000,000 VND/dossier (non-refundable in all cases).

9. Application dossier submission

The applicant submits the application dossier at the following address:

University of Science and Technology (USTH) Room 114, A21 Building Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology (VAST) 18 Hoang Quoc Viet, Cau Giay, Hanoi Tel: +84 965 368 455 (Nguyen Viet Trinh)

All the documents of the application dossier must be put in a suitable bag/envelop. The following information should be clearly written on the cover of the bag/envelope:

1. Full name of applicant
2. Home/mobile phone numbers, and Email address
3. Research field

In addition to sending the original dossier to the address above, applicants need to scan the above dossier into PDF files only and not exceeding 6 MB (zip acceptable), and send via email to both of the following addresses: nguyen-viet.trinh@usth.edu.vn (Ms. Nguyen Viet Trinh) and doctoral.school@usth.edu.vn (Doctoral School) with the email title: Admission.PhD-Research field-Full name. Applicants can contact Doctoral School at the phone number +84 965 368 455 (Nguyen Viet Trinh) to be assisted in the preparation and submission of the application dossier.