In October, the American journal PLOS Biology published a list of the world’s one hundred thousand most influential scientists, which several newspapers had already reported. In 2019 there were 122 Vietnamese scientists, of Vietnamese descent in Vietnam or from abroad, and 32 foreign scientists with a work address in Vietnam.
However, recent statistics reveal that those numbers are too low and that a full update is necessary. Professor John P.A. Ioannidis at Stanford University and his team used data from the international database Scopus from 1960 to 2019 and citation indices from 1996 to 2019 to analyze seven million scientists in 22 fields and 176 subfields. They then created two rankings of the world’s hundred thousand most influential scientists based on two measurements:
- Research achievements from 1960 to 2019
- Research achievements in 2019 alone
Update
Although the number in the top one hundred thousand based on long-term achievement from 1960 to 2019 increased from previous reports, only three Vietnamese scientists living and working in Vietnam are listed:
- Prof. Nguyen Minh Tho, from TDTU, at 21,452
- Professor Tran Tinh Hien, at the Oxford University Clinical Research Unit in Vietnam, at 32,967
- Professor Nguyen Xuan Hung, at Ho Chi Minh University of Technology (HUTECH), at 65,925
- Professor Nguyen Dinh Duc, at Vietnam National University (VNU) in Hanoi, at 94,738
73 scientists appear in the world’s top 100,000 by research achievements from 1960 to 2019
The 1960 to 2019 numbers include 11 scientists at Vietnamese research institutions, the second highest. In addition, there were 32 ranked scientists of Vietnamese descent working in the US is 32, the highest number. Next comes Australia with 9, Canada with 6, Singapore with 5, France with 4, and Thailand, Austria, the UK, South Korea, Japan, and Ireland with 1 each.
Some Vietnamese scientists working abroad are well-known in Vietnam and have high h-index rankings, which is the metric of influence. These include Professor Dam Thanh Son (University of Chicago, h = 56), Professor Vo Dinh Tuan (Duke University, 56), Professor Dang Van Chi (Wistar Institute, 84), Professor Nguyen Thuc Quyen (University of California Santa Barbara, 70), Dr. Le Viet Quoc (Google Brain, 36), Professor Truong Nguyen Thanh (University of Utah, 40), Professor Vu Ha Van (Yale University, 29), and Professor Nguyen Van Tuan (Garvan Institute of Medical Research, 83).
From 1960 to 2019, 22 Vietnamese scientists or those of Vietnamese descent in Vietnam were among 155 with links to Vietnam who appeared on the list of the world’s top 100,000. The list of scientists based on achievements in 2019 alone sees an increase, mostly in those of Vietnamese descent working abroad.
In addition to 57 scientists with work address in Vietnam, the statistics show Vietnamese scientists with work addresses in 17 other nations. The largest amount was in the US with 38 scientists, Australia with 25, and Canada with 7. The remainder come from France, Singapore, the UK, Switzerland, Japan, Austria, Malaysia, Ireland, Hungary, South Korea, Saudi Arabia, Thailand, New Zealand and Denmark. The two Vietnamese universities appearing most are TDTU and DTU.
Scientists in the world’s 100,000 most influential scientists of 2019 alone, by research institution in Vietnam
In 2019 alone, the top three ranked Vietnamese scientists with work addresses in Vietnam are:
- Professor Nguyen Dinh Duc, VNU Hanoi, at 5,798
- Professor Nguyen Xuan Hung, HUTECH, at 6,996
- Associate Professor Le Hoang Son, VNU Hanoi, at 9,261
And then:
- TDTU: Prof. Bui Tien Dieu (13,899), Dr. Pham Viet Thanh (44,947), Assoc. Prof. Nguyen Thoi Trung (49,295), Dr. Nguyen Thi Kim Oanh (62,494), Dr. Thai Hoang Chien (64,983), Prof. Dinh Quang Hai (79,737), Prof. Nguyen Minh Tho (52,033)
- Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) University of Transport: Assoc. Prof. Hoang Anh Tuan (16,694)
- DTU: Dr. Tran Phan Lam Son (22,075), Dr. Pham Thai Binh (23,198), Dr. Tran Nguyen Hai (25,844), Dr. Hoang Nhat Duc (50,354)
- University of Civil Engineering: Assoc. Prof. Nguyen Trung Kien (51,072)
- University of Economics HCMC: Prof. Vo Xuan Vinh (67,619)
- VNU Hanoi: Prof. Nguyen Duc Khuong (67,902)
- Phenikaa University: Prof. Nguyen Van Hieu (82,061)
- International University, VNU HCMC: Assoc. Prof. Pham Van Hung (85,932)
- University of Science & Technology of Hanoi: Assoc. Prof. Tran Dinh Phong (90,842)
- HCMC University of Technology: Prof. Pham Thanh Son Nam (92,886)
- Oxford University Clinical Research Unit in Vietnam: Prof. Tran Tinh Hien (98,639)
Highly ranked Vietnamese scientists with work address abroad include:
- Prof. Dang Van Chi (392), Wistar Institute
- Dr. Le Viet Quoc (1,639), Google Brain
- Prof. Nguyen Nam Trung (3,129th), Griffith College
- Dr. Thai Huu Tai (4,624), University of Melbourne
- Prof. Dam Thanh Son (6,146), University of Chicago
- Prof. Do Khac Duc (8,208), Curtin University
- Prof. Bui Quoc Tinh (10,829), Tokyo Institute of Technology
- Prof. Le Thi Dung (11,088), Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center
- Prof. Phan Anh Tuan (12,080), School of Physical and Mathematical Sciences, Nanyang Technological University
- Prof. Vo Dinh Tuan (12,206), Duke University.
There are also scientists with work addresses in Vietnam who do not appear in 2019 rankings but are in the top 2% in their subfields’ top 2%, including:
- TDTU: Dr. Bach Quang Vu, Assoc. Prof. Nguyen Truong Khan, Dr. Nguyen Trung Thang
- Assoc. Prof. Nguyen Dang Nam, Dr. Anand Nayyar, Dr. Rajiv Ranjan Srivastava, Dr. Tran Ngoc Han, and Dr. Nguyen Hoang
- Hanoi National University of Education: Assoc. Prof. Le Van Hien
- HUTECH: Dr. Phung Van Phuc
- Phenikaa University: Dr. Dao Van Duong
- Hanoi University of Science & Technology: Prof. Le Minh Quy
- Hanoi Medical University: Assoc. Prof. Tran Xuan Bach
- Military Technology Academy: Dr. Nguyen Van Chuong
- Vietnam Academy of Science & Technology: Assoc. Prof. Nguyen Ba An
From a different point of view, analyzing the time distribution of the research by Vietnamese researchers per country, scientists’ average research time can be estimated by only measuring from the year of their first publication to the year of their most recent.
Research time spent by the world’s 100,000 most influential scientists in Vietnam in 2019 alone
Assoc. Prof. Hoang Anh Tuan at the HCMC University of Transport spent three years publishing, compared with Prof. G.R. Satchler at the Atomic Energy Institute of Vietnam, with 49 years, who retired in 2002.
The scientists’ average research time can also be estimated the same way.
Research time of world’s 100,000 most influential scientists in Vietnam in 2019 alone
Maintaining influence and the appearance of new faces
Many Vietnamese scientists are ranked from 1960 to 2019 and also in 2019 alone, implying that long-term, excellent achievements in the past followed more in the present indicates that the scientists will almost certainly continue to work their way up the lists in the future. 75% (55 out of 73) of the scientists from 1960 to 2019 are present in the top hundred thousand of 2019 alone, showing their continued ability to exert influence on others.
Among these, Vietnamese in Vietnam include:
- Prof. Tran Tinh Hien, at the Oxford University Clinical Research Unit
- Prof. Nguyen Xuan Hung, HUTECH and Prof. Nguyen Dinh Duc, VNU Hanoi
Those of Vietnamese descent working abroad include:
- Prof. Dang Van Chi, Wistar Institute
- Prof. Dam Thanh Son, University of Chicago
- Prof. Vo Dinh Tuan, Duke University
- Prof. Nguyen Nam Trung, Griffith College
- Dr Le Viet Quoc, Google Brain
- Prof. Do Khac Duc, Curtin University
- Dr Thai Huu Tai, University of Melbourne
A comparison, the 2017 list shows that 44% (68 out of 155) of the scientists working in Vietnam, counting Vietnamese or those of Vietnamese descent with work addresses in Vietnam, including:
- DTU: Dr. Tran Nguyen Hai, Dr. Hoang Nhat Duc, Dr. Tran Ngoc Han, Dr. Pham Thai Binh
- HCMC University of Transport: Assoc. Prof. Hoang Anh Tuan
- International University, VNU HCMC: Assoc. Prof. Pham Van Hung
- University of Economics HCMC: Prof. Vo Xuan Vinh
Newcomers in 2019 are mostly from two universities: TDT and DTU, with 24 and 10 scientists respectively. The University of Economics HCMC, the International University of the VNU HCMC, the University of Social Sciences & Humanities of VNU HCMC, the Atomic Energy Institute of Vietnam and the Overseas Development Institute in Vietnam each include one scientist.
On a per-country basis, the largest number of scientists with links to Vietnam has their work address in Vietnam (58.8%), followed by Australia (13.2%), the US (7.4%), Canada (4.4%), and France and Singapore (2.9%). New Zealand, Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, Denmark, Switzerland, the UK, and Hungary each contribute 1.4%. In a way, these data show how institutions in Vietnam invested a lot to develop scientific research and international publications, spurring the rapid quantitative and qualitative increase of Vietnam’s researchers in recent years.
Note: According to the authors of the study, both rankings, by achievements in 1960–2019 and by achievements limited to 2019, are based on a composite citation index that considers six citation metrics (excluding self-cites): total citations; Hirsch h-index measuring a scientist’s influence; coauthorship-adjusted Schreiber (hm) index; number of citations to papers as single author; number of citations to papers as single or first author; and number of citations to papers as single, first, or last author.
(Media Center)