This British Council-funded project was set up to launch the ‘VIS-BC Mentoring Programme’ for Vietnamese researchers. The Programme is delivered by the Vietnamese Intellectual Society in the UK & Ireland (VIS UK & Ireland), in collaboration with the UK-Vietnam Higher Education Network (UK-VN HE Network). Between August 2023 and March 2025, the Programme aims to support up to 100 Vietnamese researchers to enhance their research capability and career progression through three main activities:
- Bespoke individual and/or small group mentoring sessions (5 sessions between October 2023 and May 2024)
- Online group workshops (3 workshops between October 2023 and May 2024)
- A one-week visit to the UK (up to 15 mentees, to take place before March 2025)
The Programme gives priority to the following groups and objectives:
- Early Career Researchers (ECRs) selected from the British Council’s Researchers Connect programme will receive support to improve their academic writing and research grant application skills; and guidance for their career development.
- PhD candidates of MoET Project 89, who wish to conduct their PhD studies in the UK, will receive support to complete their admission applications, doctoral proposals and find suitable PhD supervisors and universities in the UK.
- Other Vietnamese researchers if places remain available.
To participate in this programme, please complete this registration form by 2nd October 2023: https://forms.office.com/e/4ireGTP7QU
Mentors are UK-based members of the Vietnamese Intellectual Society in the UK and UK-based members of the UK-Viet Nam Higher Education Network.
For further information, please contact Associate Professor Dr. Son Hoang at T.S.Hoang@soton.ac.uk (use the subject line “VIS-BC Mentoring Programme”).
Project Team: Prof Huan Nguyen, Assoc. Prof Son Hoang, Asst. Prof Que Anh Dang, Assoc. Prof Vinh Doan and others VIS Executive Board members.
Workshop 2: Writing Grant Applications
Friday 15th March 2024, 08:00 – 11:00 (UK time) and 15:00 – 18:00 (Vietnam time)
Mode of delivery: Online via Zoom
You are cordially invited to the second workshop organised by the Vietnamese Intellectual Society in the UK and Ireland (VIS) as part of the VIS-British Council Mentoring Programme, supported by the British Council. This workshop will provide mentees and researchers in Vietnam with a step-by-step guide and expert advice on grant and funding applications. The workshop will be delivered in English by a group of VIS academics with extensive and varied experiences obtaining grants from UKRI research councils and international funding bodies. Our speakers will share their experiences in grant application writing or reviewing from both an applicant’s and a reviewer’s perspective. In addition to a series of talks, we will organise a highly interactive breakout session that enables attendees to discuss and develop specific skills (e.g., writing a narrative CV) among themselves and with the mentors.
To attend this event, please use the following link to complete registration by 14th March 2024. Upon completion, you will receive an email with the Zoom details. Please note the workshop will be delivered in English.
Provisional programme:15 March, 08:00 – 11:00 (UK time) and 15:00 – 18:00 (Vietnam time)
8:00 – 8:15 Opening and welcome remarks by the British Council representative, Ms. Gam Tran and Professor Huan Nguyen (VIS Chair -Middlesex)
Update on VIS-BC Mentoring Programme by Dr. Son Hoang (Southampton)
8:15 – 9:15 Step-by-step guidance and lessons learnt from VIS experienced grant applicants in STEM and Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences (HASS).
Talk 1 (8:15-8:35) by Dr Linh Nguyen (UCL), Funding Application Journey for a new PI
Talk 2 (8:35-8:55): Dr Minh-Son Pham (Imperial), Funding applications – A review’s perspective
Talk 3 (8:55-9:15) by Professor An Nguyen (Bournemouth). Some practical tips on grant building in the social sciences
9:15 – 9:30 Questions and Answers with all VIS speakers
9:30 – 9:40 Break
9:40 – 10:00 “An Introduction to developing international partnerships and making funding applications between the UK and Vietnam”, by Mr Bill Burson, Head of Partnerships, Global Wales
10:00 – 10:45 Introduction to narrative CVs by Dr QueAnh Dang (Coventry) and Dr Vinh Doan (Warwick)
Breakout sessions: How to craft an individual and team narrative CV facilitated by Dr Que Anh Dang,
Dr Vinh Doan, and other VIS speakers
10:45 – 11:00 Feedback and reflections by all participants and closing remarks with all VIS speakers and participants.
Watch the video recording of Workshop 2 will be updated on our Youtube Channel.
Workshop 1: Publishing Your Research Outputs
This is the first workshop in a series of events designed for the mentees of the ‘VIS-British Council Mentoring Programme’. The online workshop aims to help mentees make plans for publications and develop academic writing skills. The workshop will be delivered by a group of mentors who have published their research outputs internationally, and they have also been experienced editors and/or reviewers for various journals in different disciplines. The mentees will have the opportunity to actively engage in a breakout session to discuss specific skills with other fellows and exchange ideas with the mentors. For this breakout session, each mentee is asked to bring along an abstract of a published paper or a draft, preferably of their own work. If not, please choose an abstract that you wish to discuss with other fellows and mentors during the breakout session.
Please register in order to receive guidelines for activities and the Zoom link to the workshop. Fill in this form before 19 October 2023 https://forms.gle/M2M7GNkw86ZuoXwm8
The programme on 20th October (09.00-12.00 UK time; 15.00-18.00 VN time). Click the links below to view slides.
- 09:00am – 09:15am Introduction to VIS-BC Mentoring Programme, speaker: Ms Gam Tran, the British Council and Prof Huan Nguyen
- 09:15am – 10:00am A step-by-step guide to getting published, by Prof Viet Dang (lead) and Research publishing: Do and Don’t by Dr. Vinh Doan
- 10:00am – 10:15am Coffee break
- 10:15am – 11:00am How to write an academic paper, speaker: Assoc. Prof Tran, Yen
- 11:00am – 11:45am How to write an abstract. Breakout session: Asst. Prof QueAnh Dang (lead) and other VIS facilitators.
- 11:45am – 12:00pm General Q&A and closing: all available speakers and facilitators
Watch the video recording of Workshop 1 here.
About the British Council
We support peace and prosperity by building connections, understanding and trust between people in the UK and countries worldwide.
We work directly with individuals to help them gain the skills, confidence and connections to transform their lives and shape a better world in partnership with the UK. We support them to build networks and explore creative ideas, to learn English, to get a high-quality education and to gain internationally recognised qualifications. www.britishcouncil.org
About Going Global Partnerships
The Going Global Partnerships supports universities, colleges and wider education stakeholders around the world to work together towards stronger, equitable, inclusive, more internationally connected higher education, science and TVET. The programme supports collaborative research by giving universities and researchers opportunities to create and nurture sustainable and equitable international connections. Through institutional partnerships and system-level collaborations, universities can strengthen international research links, whilst researchers at all career stages can develop and expand partnerships with peers in other countries, leading to stronger, more diverse and collaborative research to address local and global challenges.
About the Vietnamese Intellectual Society in the UK & Ireland
The Vietnamese Intellectual Society (VIS) is a professional volunteer-based society of Vietnamese academics and experts living and working in the United Kingdom (UK) and the Republic of Ireland. Following a long preparation period, VIS UK & Ireland was formally established in December 2020 with the support and recognition of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Vietnam and the Vietnamese Embassy in London.
VIS vision and objectives:
- To foster connections and collaborations among VIS members in the UK and Ireland and build bridges with their global networks.
- To strengthen academic linkages with Vietnamese partners to contribute to the socio-economic development and international integration of Vietnam.
- To engage in people-to-people connectivity and enhance the ties between the UK, Ireland and Vietnam.
About the UK-Viet Nam Higher Education Network
The UK-Viet Nam Higher Education Network (UK-VN HE Network) was officially launched during the UK-Vietnam Higher Education Collaboration Forum in October 2018 in Hanoi by Associate Professor Nguyen Van Phuc, Vice Minister of Education and Training.
The Network’s vision is to become the most innovative network of UK Vietnam Higher Education Partnerships (UK-VN HEP) to provide a trusted platform for the promotion of the internationalisation of higher education in teaching, learning, research and innovation.
Their missions are to:
- Promote international partnerships and collaboration in areas of shared interests between UK and Vietnam HE sector
- Develop business and entrepreneurship skills for lecturers to drive innovation and enhance graduates’ employability
- Increase transnational education (TNE) programmes, joint research, joint PhD delivery and technology transfer
- Promote mobility of staff, researchers and students
- Sustain partnership outcomes and capacity building
- Create forums for discussion and contribution to policy adjustment, development and engagement
- Expand the network to include more universities, organisations, and business enterprises
- Promote exchanges of successful education models and case studies