In New York and Washington DC., the delegation had various meetings and professional working sessions with US partners on the topics of training and training social science officials. The visits also aimed at gaining experiences to build post-graduate training curricula for public policies and social affairs of the Graduate Academy of Social Sciences, VASS.
At the University of Columbia, the Director of Global Program, the Dean of Social Affairs College and the Vice-Dean of Public Policy College of George Manson University, Washington DC., introduced a number of training models, presenting construction methods for programs and curriculum of training Masters and Doctors of Philosophy. The delegation discussed in detail the training program on data analysis with a group of sociological experts from New York University. This is one of the essential and appropriate tools for the evaluation of socio-economic development targets, which have been implemented in Mexico, Dubai, and Kazarstan. It is expected that an appropriate program will be designed for Vietnam, and VASS will co-ordinate with Ministry of Internal Affairs to organize periodic training programs on data analysis methods for officials, with the guidance of the experienced experts from New York University.
From July 1 to July 3, 2012, the delegation went to Canada. In the working visit in Montreal, Quebec, on behalf of leaders of VASS, Prof.Dr. Nguyen Xuan Thang signed a Cooperation Agreement with President of National Institute for Scientific Research (INRS) for the period of 2012-2016, which focused on the development and implementation of joint research projects on urban sustainability. The two parties shared points of view in various issues related to the current transformation of urban society, especially addressing issues of civil society, sustainable poverty reduction, response to climate change in cities, etc., especially under the impacts of the current global financial crisis and economic downturn. Besides, in this Agreement, INRS will accept a number of VASS Ph.D candidates to study or practise in Canada annually for the promotion of staff training in social sciences.
The business trip of VASS senior leaders to North America was successful, contributing to the target of high quality human resource training, fostering officials, promoting joint research cooperation in social sciences among Vietnam and leading science institutions in this region.
Dang Nguyen Anh
