According to the Ministry of Education and Training, higher education institutions play a particularly important role in fulfilling two tasks simultaneously: training human resources and conducting scientific and technological research and innovation. In recent years, the ministry has therefore developed, amended and supplemented a range of legal documents to promote science, technology and innovation in higher education.
The quality and effectiveness of research activities, as well as the number of domestic and international scientific publications produced by higher education institutions, have continued to increase. Statistics show that Viet Nam recorded 23,717 scientific publications indexed in Scopus in the first nine months of 2026, of which higher education institutions accounted for 84.99%. During the same period, these institutions were granted 88 patents and 78 utility solution patents.
Applied research at higher education institutions is increasingly shifting away from research aimed primarily at publication towards research that develops technologies and products and generates added value for the economy. Research findings are being taken up and commercialised by businesses or applied in state management. In 2025 and the first half of 2026, numerous science and technology projects were completed, producing products, technological processes, software, equipment and technical solutions with strong application potential in education, healthcare, agriculture, manufacturing, information technology, artificial intelligence, electronics, telecommunications, energy, new materials and the environment.
Some higher education institutions have proactively developed innovation ecosystems tailored to their respective disciplines. For example, Ha Noi University of Science and Technology has developed innovation centre models, modern laboratories and spin-off enterprises linked to technology transfer. Foreign Trade University has developed innovation models associated with entrepreneurship, intellectual property, the creative economy and digital transformation. Regional universities have stepped up innovation based on their regional strengths and strengthened cooperation with businesses and local authorities, helping promote technology transfer and socio-economic development.
The Ministry of Education and Training also noted that innovation ecosystems at higher education institutions are gradually shifting towards a government-university-business collaboration model. Under this model, the State plays an enabling role, higher education institutions serve as centres for education, research and innovation, and businesses are becoming more deeply involved in research, development, technology transfer and the commercialisation of research findings.
In 2026, the ministry assigned eight training institutions to implement support activities for small and medium-sized enterprises, including strategic consulting and digital transformation, the registration, exploitation and application of intellectual property assets, and technology transfer.
These initial achievements affirm the role of higher education institutions in providing knowledge, technology and development models. However, science, technology and innovation activities in higher education have yet to meet expectations or fully satisfy the demands of reform.
Dr Vu Thanh Binh, Deputy Director of the Department of Science, Technology and Information under the Ministry of Education and Training, said that although the volume of scientific research output had increased, the rates of commercialisation and technology transfer, as well as the production of economically valuable products, remained disproportionate to the sector’s potential.
Cooperation between higher education institutions and businesses had improved but had yet to become a sustainable partnership mechanism. Meanwhile, investment resources for science, technology and innovation remained fragmented, and research facilities at many institutions were inadequate to support the development of emerging and strategic technologies. The implementation of new mechanisms and policies remained slow, while some higher education institutions had yet to develop science, technology and innovation strategies suited to their strengths.
Experts said that improving the effectiveness of science, technology and innovation in higher education required greater efforts to publish research in reputable international journals indexed in Web of Science and Scopus. This would raise the international profile of Vietnamese science, promote international integration and advance the internationalisation of higher education. Postgraduate training should also be closely linked to research, particularly by involving students in research groups and scientific projects and giving them access to laboratories and businesses.
Associate Professor Dr Le Anh Son, Director of Phenikaa University, said universities were required both to train highly qualified human resources and to generate knowledge and technological products for the economy. To achieve breakthroughs, universities therefore needed to identify the right core technology areas for development. Training, human resource development and innovation in higher education should then be organised around these core technology areas, within a system that clearly distinguishes academic activities from innovation.
In the coming period, the education sector will focus on refining mechanisms and policies and investing in and upgrading laboratories, research and innovation centres, digital infrastructure and databases in higher education to strengthen research capacity, innovation and technology transfer.
The sector will also roll out training and professional development programmes to improve the capabilities of lecturers, scientists and managers responsible for science, technology and innovation, while prioritising the development of young scientists. At the same time, it will promote stronger cooperation between higher education institutions, businesses, research institutes and local authorities in education, scientific research, innovation and technology transfer, thereby helping drive the country’s renewal and development.
