Vietnam Nat'l U Agriculture, Ministries of Agriculture and S&T Executives Visit GSA to Learn Good Management Practices

A delegation from Vietnam National University of Agriculture (VNUA), the Vietnamese ministries of agriculture and rural development (MARD) and science and technology (MOST) visited Kyoto University on August 4–5 to learn about its pioneering initiatives and good practices in university management.

Six of the delegation of eight, including VNUA President Tran Duc Vien, MARD Director General Nguyen Minh Nhan and MOST Director General Nguyen Van Lieu, met with GSA Dean Hisashi Miyagawa, Vice Dean Eiji Nawata and Tohru Matsui at the dean’s office.

VNUA, formerly known as Hanoi University of Agriculture, can trace its history back to the foundation of the University of Agriculture and Forestry in 1956. VNUA then went through several organizational changes, and it bears its name since March 2014, now under the auspices of MARD.

The delegation’s areas of interest for this visit included: Kyoto University’s organizational structure and management; the level of autonomy; lessons learned as a leading research university; outreach efforts and budget; measures for world university rankings; expectations about academic collaboration with Vietnam in general.

On top of these topics, the delegation also asked about Kyoto University’s budget trends and breakdown; intellectual property licensing policy; endowed chairs; internal and external auditing systems; and administrative council, the last of which drew particular attention and follow-up questions.

After animated discussions on such issues, both parties showed their interest in developing closer academic ties, and concluded the meeting.

VNUA Vice President Vu Van Liet then visited the Yutaka Okumoto laboratory of plant breeding, for their fields of study overlap with each other’s.

Vice Dean Matsui gave a talk on his laboratory of nutritional science for animals, focusing on vitamin A in beef cattle, to the rest of the delegation. Professor Koichi Otsuki, Director of Kyoto Sangyo University Avian Influenza Research Center, also joined the session at the delegation’s request, providing his expert insight into the following Q&A discussion.

Other delegates present at GSA on August 5 were VNUA Faculty of Veterinary Medical Vice Deans Nguyen Thi Lan and Pham Hong Ngan.

From left: VNUA Faculty of Veterinary Medical Vice Dean Pham Hong Ngan, VNUA Vice President Vu Van Liet, MARD Director General Nguyen Minh Nhan, GSA Dean Hisashi Miyagawa, VNUA President Tran Duc Vien, VNUA Faculty of Veterinary Medical Vice Dean Nguyen Thi Lan, GSA Vice Deans Tohru Matsui, Eiji Nawata, MOST Director General Nguyen Van Lieu

VNUA President Vien (foregrround left) and Vice Dean Lan (background left) asking about the structure and funcions of Kyoto University’s administrative council.