SSE’s Internationalisation takes off with visit to Vietnam with SPIR’s Jean Francois Drolet
Professor Jean-Francois Drolet visited Vietnam last month as part of a delegation from HSS, where he gave presentations at the Vietnamese Ministry of Justice and six leading universities in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. The delegation attended alumni events and graduate and undergraduate student fairs in both cities to discuss the establishment of new research collaboration partnerships.
Ministry of Justice - Many universities in Vietnam are closely associated with government ministries
As SSE’s Director of Internationalisation Professor Jean-François Drolet develops SSE’s research networks and collaboration, covers associate student agreements, and engages with international student recruitment and alumni networks.
many universities in Vietnam are closely associated with government ministries.
“The main aim of the Vietnam trip was to explore the possibility of establishing new cooperative research schemes with universities in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, not just for SSE but HSS more broadly.
“We are hoping to make agreements with at least one university in each city, which will hopefully create opportunities for SSE colleagues to collaborate with Vietnamese researchers on various projects partly funded by the Vietnamese government. This includes not only ‘conventional’ research publications but also executive trainings and policy briefs for relevant ministries.”
In the long run Jean-Francois’ activities are also likely to lead to new possibilities for faculty staff exchange and government funded opportunities for Vietnamese students to undertake doctoral studies at QMUL.
During the trip Jean-Francois also met with SSE Alumni at student recruitment fairs and alumni events. The Alumni are very keen to connect with SSE more regularly and help support SSE’s activities abroad.
“Our alumni insisted on taking us out for dinner after both events in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. These spontaneous dinners were clear highlights. It was nice to hear about their experience at QMUL and how they are getting on since they have been back.
“Many of them have extensive professional networks and have volunteered to help find work placement for our Vietnamese graduates upon their return from the UK.”
Jean-Francois encountered both cultural differences and similarities when he met with faculty members at the universities he visited.
“Campuses are not that different from ours, and the interests and concerns of the faculty members I had the pleasure to discuss with were very similar to ours – whether this is concerning the state and future of higher education or the transformation of world order.
“Traffic in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh city is terrifying! I was also struck by the fact that so many colleagues in the universities we visited often spoke three or four languages fluently.
“I was struck by wide variety of good food options on campuses! Maybe we could learn from our Vietnamese colleagues here.”
The internationalisation programme has a busy schedule ahead, with a visit to Istanbul already having taken place week where Jean-Francois gave “taster lectures” and attended offer holders events.
“We are working hard at this time of year to make sure that our offer holders are well informed about what makes QMUL and SSE such a good place to study in the UK. I am also going on a quick four-day European tour (Berlin, Paris, Rome and Madrid) at the end of the month. Both are centred around offer holder events.”