Dr. Pham Thanh Tuan Anh (right) strives to inspire passionate young people to create a small research community together - Photo: NVCC
Dr. Pham Thanh Tuan Anh, Ho Chi Minh City Outstanding Young Citizen 2025, has turned his inspiring scientific research journey into motivation for the younger generation.
Loving natural sciences, Dr. Pham Thanh Tuan Anh was passionate about nuclear physics. However, he decided to choose applied physics when he became a student at the University of Natural Sciences (Ho Chi Minh City National University).
The 9X PhD has so far had about 60 articles published in prestigious scientific journals, of which 45 articles were published in Q1-ranked journals. And most recently, he received the title of Outstanding Young Citizen of Ho Chi Minh City on the first day of 2025.
The fate of an inspiring scientific research journey
Like many young people who are passionate about research, this boy born in 1992 also dreamed of studying abroad and expanding his knowledge. He considered and applied to a school in Korea. But Tuan Anh admits that his "fate" with doing research in the country is not over yet.
At the time he applied for a scholarship to study abroad, the lab where he was doing his graduation thesis had a job opening. Some teachers wanted to keep him to support, partly because they believed in Tuan Anh's ability and enthusiasm to continue developing the project. And he decided to stay and do research in the country.
To fulfill his dream of expanding his horizons, Tuan Anh actively participates in training courses abroad when possible. Thanks to that, he has the opportunity to attend many exchange programs, cooperation programs, and international conferences. Each trip is an opportunity to broaden his horizons, understand more about the field he is pursuing as well as interacting with many young people in the same industry.
Tuan Anh said he used to think what he did was good enough. But going abroad and interacting with leading professors and other friends helped him realize that there were still many disadvantaged in both knowledge and experimental tools.
"I learn a lot from each trip, accumulate new things and when I return, I always try to share them with my colleagues and juniors," Tuan Anh said.
For him, it is also a way of transmission as he himself has been guided and inspired by many seniors.
In fact, some young people have absorbed what he shared and developed in a more effective way, approaching the problem creatively and sometimes bringing better results. He calls it happy because he can learn in return from the young people who come after him.
In addition to developing my own research, I always spread the scientific spirit to young people. I consider it a part of my responsibility to motivate them to pursue the path of research, and also to contribute a small part to the overall development of the country.
PHAM THANH TUAN ANH
Always do your best
Tuan Anh never fails to remind himself that his journey has many people silently supporting him in many ways. His family is a solid support, providing financial support for his son to focus on studying and researching, even though he is not well off.
Besides his family, Tuan Anh mentioned two supervisors whom he said he was always grateful to. They were Associate Professor Dr. Tran Cao Vinh, currently the Vice President of Ho Chi Minh City National University, who helped create a research foundation for Tuan Anh from the very beginning and has always accompanied and guided him throughout the research process.
The second person is Professor Phan Bach Thang, currently the director of the Center for Research on Nanostructured and Molecular Materials (Ho Chi Minh City National University), who helped clearly orient his research path.
Currently working as Deputy head of the High-Tech Materials Laboratory, Tuan Anh manages a team of mostly Gen Z students.
Before, he was used to working alone, but when he was in a group, he admitted that he had to learn to adapt, spend more time guiding and discussing with his friends.
Although human resource management is not simple, according to Tuan Anh, he said he is happy because at least he is doing inspirational work in a small research community with the hope that the group will continue to expand.
Talking to Tuan Anh, people can easily recognize his approachability, humility and receptiveness. However, he himself said that he used to have a very big ego and would not have let it go easily if it were not for the teachers who kindly shared and guided him over the years. It was the teachers who taught him to be humble, honest and to try his best no matter what role he took on.
Devoting much effort to pursuing research topics, the doctor born in 1992 always keeps the same passion as in the early days of his scientific career. He said that it seems that fewer and fewer young people choose to do research because of invisible pressures.
That is also the reason why he wants to contribute to inspiring the next generation in their journey of pursuing scientific research.
"I want to help you achieve important milestones such as graduating from university, improving your postgraduate qualifications and having quality research projects within your capabilities. How can you realize your ideas and publish research results with high practical applicability?" Tuan Anh shared.
Overcome difficulties to reach the goal
Doing science for young people has certain difficulties, and finance is one of the barriers that makes it difficult to attract talent. International journals require very high access fees, and many schools around the world have to spend millions of dollars to buy copyrights for tutors and students every year. Meanwhile, the source of documents in Vietnam is quite limited.
Not to mention the lack of research equipment is another challenge. Tuan Anh said that his field is mainly experimental, requiring a lot of expensive equipment. This is very difficult if only relying on individuals, so it needs great support from the State and units.
"The documents I have are all old and it's hard to keep up with the latest research, so I often ask friends abroad to help me find them. Perhaps this is a difficulty that many scientists are facing, so I remind myself to try harder to overcome it," Tuan Anh said.
Source: https://tuoitre.vn/hanh-trinh-nghien-cuu-khoa-hoc-day-cam-hung-cua-tien-si-9x-20250328100839391.htm
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