Vietnam: What are the eligibility requirements for offering a doctoral program from January 5, 2025?
What are the eligibility requirements for offering a doctoral program in Vietnam from January 5, 2025?
Under Article 6 of Circular 02/2022/TT-BGDDT, amended by Clause 3, Article 1, and Clause 4, Article 2 of Circular 12/2024/TT-BGDDT, establishments opening doctoral programs must meet the general conditions for opening programs as specified in Article 3 of Circular 02/2022/TT-BGDDT, as well as the following eligibility requirements for the entire course at the time of submitting the application for offering a program:
[1] Have at least 1 professor or 2 associate professors and 3 doctors in the appropriate field as full-time lecturers (for sectors like Vietnam minority languages teaching, Vietnam language, literature, and culture, foreign language, literature, and culture, physical education and sports, fields in Arts, at least 1 professor or 1 associate professor and 2 doctors in the appropriate field are required as full-time lecturers),
Among these, one professor or associate professor must have at least 3 years of experience in training management or university teaching (not overlapping with the full-time lecturer condition for opening doctoral programs in other disciplines), responsible for leading the development and implementation of the training program.
[2] Ensure the quantity and quality of teaching staff to implement the training program, with lecturers involved in teaching meeting the standards of doctoral-level teaching according to current regulations from the Ministry of Education and Training, particularly having full-time lecturers with relevant expertise leading the teaching of each subject in the program.
[3] Ensure the number and standards of research supervisors according to the current doctoral-level admission and training regulations from the Ministry of Education and Training.
[4] Have experience in organizing training and scientific research related to the field, meeting one of the following conditions:
- The doctoral program is suitable for a field that has been taught and awarded a master's degree;
- In the past 5 years, the lecturers specified in Clause 1 of this Article have participated in supervising 5 successful doctoral theses in the relevant field (at another training establishment); simultaneously, they have published at least 50 scientific papers or reports in scientific journals recognized by the state professor council, with roles as corresponding author or leading author.
[5] Meet the criteria of the higher education standards applicable to institutions offering doctoral programs, including:
- Criterion 2.3 on the ratio of full-time lecturers with a doctoral degree;
- Criterion 6.1 on the proportion of income from scientific and technological activities (excluding training establishments under the Ministry of National Defense, and Ministry of Public Security);
- Criterion 6.2 on the number of scientific and technological publications per full-time lecturer.
What are the eligibility requirements for offering a doctoral program from January 5, 2025? What is the mode of study for doctoral programs in Vietnam? (Image from the Internet)
What is the mode of study for doctoral programs in Vietnam?
Under Clause 3, Article 3 of the regulation on doctoral program admission and doctoral education issued with Circular 18/2021/TT-BGDDT, the following provisions are applied:
Training duration and mode of study
1. Standard duration of a doctoral program shall range from 03 years (36 months) to 04 years (48 months) as decided by the training institution and this duration must be sufficient for the majority of research students to complete the program; each research student shall have a course-wide study and research plan that takes place within the whole standard program duration and is approved together with the research student recognition decision (made using the form in Appendix I).
2. Every research student may complete their programs no more than 01 year (12 months) sooner or later than their course-wise study and research plan but the total training duration shall not be longer than 06 years (72 months) starting from the entry into force of the research student recognition decision to the time where procedures for submitting their dissertation to their training institution are completed (before independent defense and establishment of the dissertation examination committee of their training institution).
3. Doctoral programs shall be provided in the full-time mode of study; research students must spend sufficient study and research time at their training institutions according to the approved plans; the full-time mode of study requires registering for 30 credits per year.
Thus, according to the regulations mentioned above, the doctoral programs in Vietnam shall be provided in the full-time mode of study.
Who promulgates the doctoral programs in Vietnam?
Under Clause 1, Article 2 of the regulation on doctoral program admission and doctoral education issued with Circular 18/2021/TT-BGDDT, the training program is regulated as follows:
Training programs
1. Doctoral programs shall be formulated, appraised and promulgated in compliance with requirements of the Vietnamese Qualifications Framework and regulations on training program standards of the Ministry of Education and Training.
2. Scientific research shall be a primary and compulsory component of doctoral programs and be stipulated in detail in training institution regulations according to the requirements of each field of training and academic discipline. Research results must be presented in doctoral dissertations and relevant scientific publications of research students.
Thus, the doctoral programs shall be formulated, appraised and promulgated in compliance with requirements of the Vietnamese Qualifications Framework and regulations on training program standards of the Ministry of Education and Training.
