The name of the major like General practitioner, construction, accounting, journalism says what its graduates will work as. However, it is different for biotechnology, especially as this field is often considered foundational or a key element in the development of other disciplines.
To learn about this major and about job opportunities for biotechnology graduates, we had a chat with Dr Nguyen Minh Hung, Director of the DTU Center for Molecular Biology.
Dr Nguyen Minh Hung
Reporter: Production of medicines, crop and livestock reproduction, or research into technologies to solve environmental issues are all related to biotechnology. Can you explain us more specifically what this field is and what the role of biotechnology is in production applications used in everyday life?
Dr. Nguyen Minh Hung: Biotechnology is no longer a new concept, whether abroad or in Vietnam. The field is very broad, however, often making it an abstract concept people not working in the field have a hard time making sense of. The work biotechnology is the combination of bio from biology and technology. As such, biotechnology is the blend of technology and biology, or the use of technology and engineering to manipulate organisms and cells, in vitro or in vivo, to create products with the superior properties we desire.
Biotechnology finds application in a great many preparation and production processes: drug and food production, industrial chemical preparation and production, development of crop and livestock breeds, genetic technology, or medical testing. Biotechnology is key to the development of fields like agriculture, aquaculture, medicine and pharmacy, food preparation, environmental protection, energy, chemistry, and materials science.
It is a developing field enjoying increasing interest and investment, playing an important role in improving living standards and in scientific activities as well as in the economic growth of our country.
Reporter: In addition to research institutes, universities have been given the very big responsibility to develop research and training in biotechnology. 2019 will be the first year DTU enrolls students for this major. How did the university prepare its training to guarantee graduates will be able to work?
Dr. Nguyen Minh Hung: Students will be thoroughly trained from basic to advanced knowledge, from theory to practice. In addition to basic knowledge about biochemistry, cells, and microbiology, they will have a firm grasp of technological processes like gene technology, microbiotechnology, and enzyme and protein technology. These will allow them to do research and create useful products.
To prepare training in this major, DTU created the Center for Molecular Biology with a team of PhDs with comprehensive training in countries advanced in science and technology, such as Germany, Belgium, Japan, South Korea, and the US, and who are experts in research areas like molecular biology, molecular plant physiology, molecular microbiology, enzymes, protein biochemistry, biomedical nanomaterials, molecular genetics, stem cell genetics, cellular molecular biology, molecular pharmacology, natural compound chemistry, bioinformatics, and simulation. The PhDs working at the Center have published dozens of scientific research papers in prestigious journals like Nature, Stem Cell Reports, and Plos One, and are working on six Nafosted projects, one nationally funded project part of a Vietnamese-Italian protocol, and two international projects.
They will be the ones to lecture and to transmit their precious experience to the first class of biotechnology students at the university.
Biotechnology students will practice with a lot of modern equipment
Reporter: Biotechnology is an applied science field, creating specific products. As such, applicants care first and foremost about training facilities when making their choice. Several training institutions still teach “empty-handed”. How did DTU overcome this issue?
Dr Nguyen Minh Hung: Biotechnology education at DTU will be based on the combination of theoretical learning and experimental research for scientific projects which the university regularly wins contracts for. The students will furthermore take part in the scientific research by PhDs working in biotechnology at the university. For this, DTU invested in a system of research and practice laboratories with a lot of modern equipment. During their studies, students will be able to do PCR, realtime PCR, HPLC, FPLC, and gene sequencing. Skilled and outstanding students will furthermore be placed in prestigious companies and research institutes in Vietnam and abroad to train and hone their professional knowledge and skills and to practice their trade.
Reporter: In developed countries, biotechnology applications to cultivation, husbandry, or the processing industry enjoy special interest. In Vietnam, however, biotechnology applications to production are still modest. Will it not be very difficult, then, for students to find satisfactory employment in their major?
Dr Nguyen Minh Hung: In the last twenty years, biotechnology in Vietnam has gone through a development both in depth and in extent. It has not only become a key field at universities, research institutes, and hospitals, but it has also expanded in scope and investment at companies active in biotechnology and molecular biology. The great contributions the field made to medicine, agriculture, and industry in recent years have improved health care and living standards. According to the Vietnamese high-tech human resource training plan for 2020, universities must train 25 thousand additional people in biotechnology. Training institutions are not able to meet this requirement yet, though.
This is why career prospects for applicants deciding to pursue a biotechnology major are very good, and the job opportunities for new graduates come with attractive remuneration and very good perks.
In reality one also sees that, in recent years, large corporations like Vingroup, HAGL, Truong Hai, Viet Uc, and Minh Phu have made important inroads in agricultural biotechnology and high-tech agriculture. These corporations have invested billions of US dollars to create farms to produce clean, high-quality, chemical-controlled, and disease-free agricultural products. This creates a very good work environment and is an opportunity for Bachelors in Biotechnology to apply the knowledge they learnt at university to the reality of production and to create quality products for everyday use.
Thank you very much!
In 2019 season, DTU continues to award preferential scholarships students of Biotechnology:
- DTU Scholarships: 720 scholarships worth from one to five million dong each for applicants with a total High Graduation Exam three-subject score three to ten points higher than the admissions minimum.
- 700 Scholarships: from 500,000 to 2 million dong for applicants, including Biotechnology, with a high school transcript score of 22 or above.
- Scholarships worth 5 million dong each for first-year Biotechnology students who obtained a consolation prize in a national excellent student contest or in a national science or technology contest.
Subjects for admissions
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Major
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Major code
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Subjects
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High School Transcript
(12th-grade results)
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High School Graduation Exam Grade
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Biotechnology
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7340405
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1. Maths, Chemistry, Biology
2. Maths, Biology, English
3. Maths , Natural Sciences, Literature
4. Maths , Natural Sciences, English
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1. Maths, Physics, Chemistry
2. Literature, Maths, Physics
3. Literature, Maths, Chemistry
4. Literature, Maths, English
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For detailed admission information, please contact the DTU Enrollment Center
254 Nguyen Van Linh, Danang
Hotlines: 1900.2252 - 0905.294390 - 0905.294391
Website: http://tuyensinh.duytan.edu.vn
Email: tuyensinh@duytan.edu
(Media Center)