Vietnam: May research students complete their doctoral programs sooner than their course-wise study and research plan?

May research students in Vietnam complete their doctoral programs sooner than their course-wise study and research plan?

Under Clause 2, Article 3 of the regulation on doctoral program admission and doctoral education issued together with Circular 18/2021/TT-BGDDT, the following provisions apply:

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, every research student may complete their doctoral programs no more than 01 year (12 months) sooner or later than their course-wise study and research plan.

May research students in Vietnam complete their doctoral programs sooner than their course-wise study and research plan? (Image from the Internet)

What are the eligibility requirements for applying for a doctoral program in Vietnam?

According to the provisions of Article 7 of the regulation on doctoral program admission and doctoral education issued together with Circular 18/2021/TT-BGDDT, the eligibility requirements for applying for a doctoral program are as follows:

- General requirements for applicants:

+ Hold a master's degree or bachelor's degree classified as good or higher in a suitable academic discipline or a qualification equivalent to level 7 of the Vietnamese Qualifications Framework in some special academic disciplines suitable for the field of the target doctoral program;

+ Meet admission requirements of training program standards promulgated by the Ministry of Education and Training and of the target doctoral program;

+ Have research experience evidenced by a master’s thesis of a research-oriented training program; or a published scientific report or article; or working for at least 02 years (24 months) as a lecturer or researcher of a training institution or scientific and technological organization;

+ Have a draft research outline and draft course-wise study and research plan.

- Vietnamese applicants must meet foreign language requirements as evidenced by any of the following degrees and certificates:

+ A bachelor’s degree or higher awarded by a foreign training institution, Vietnamese branch of a foreign training institution or Vietnamese training institution to learners of a full-time program taught in a foreign language;

+ A bachelor’s degree in a foreign language awarded by a Vietnamese training institution;

+ Any of the foreign language proficiency certificates mentioned in Appendix II of the regulation on doctoral program admission and doctoral education issued together with Circular 18/2021/TT-BGDDT that is unexpired on the application date or any other foreign language proficiency certificate equivalent to level 4 of the Vietnam's language proficiency framework announced by the Ministry of Education and Training.

- Any foreign applicant who applies for a doctoral program taught in Vietnamese must have a Vietnamese proficiency certificate of level 4 of the Vietnam's language proficiency framework applicable to foreigners or higher and meet second foreign language requirements of the training institution, unless the applicant is a native speaker of the language used to teach the doctoral program.

- Training institution regulations shall specify requirements for specialized qualification, language proficiency and work experience and other requirements for applicants according to the characteristics of each field of training, academic discipline and training program of the training institution based on the minimum requirements provided in Article 7 of the regulation on doctoral program admission and doctoral education issued together with Circular 18/2021/TT-BGDDT.

What is the standard duration of a doctoral program in Vietnam?

Pursuant to Clause 1, Article 3 of the regulation on doctoral program admission and doctoral education issued together with Circular 18/2021/TT-BGDDT regulating the training duration:

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).

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Thus, the standard duration of a doctoral program in Vietnam is 03 years (36 months).