Vietnamese on top of the world in 2022

Top British scientist

In June, Nguyen Thi Kim Thanh, 52, professor at University College London (UCL), won the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC)'s 2022 Interdisciplinary Prize.

Professor Nguyen Thi Kim Thanh. Photo courtesy of Royal Society of Chemistry

The 52-year-old scientist garnered the prestigious honor "for outstanding contributions to interdisciplinary research on fundamental understanding of chemical syntheses, physical studies of plasmonic and magnetic nanomaterials for biomedical applications," according to the RSC website.

Professor Thanh’s nanomaterials research has shown the potential to revolutionize biomedicine and she is excited by the idea that her research could directly improve the life expectancy of cancer patients, the website said.

Triathlon champion, 10 times over

In August, Thanh Vu became the first Vietnamese ever to win the SwissUltra in Switzerland, one of the most grueling triathlon races in the world.

The slog involves 38 km of swimming, 1,800 km of cycling and 422 km of running. That's 10 times the distance of a normal triathlon.

Thanh Vu holds the Vietnamese flag as she receives the medal and the SwissUltra cup in Switzerland. Photo by SwissUltra

Vu led the women’s category when she completed the SwissUltra in over 13 days -- 328 hours, 27 minutes and 55 seconds, to be exact.

The 32-year-old became the first woman from Asia to achieve the 4 Deserts Grand Slam, running across 4 deserts in a year, namely the Namib (Namibia), Gobi (China), Atacama (Chile), and Antarctic (Antarctica).

She has also completed a 522-km desert race in Australia, a 230-km run at the North Pole and a 273 km race in the Grand Canyon.

Historic Xiangqi champions

Nguyen Thanh Bao (R) and Lai Ly Huynh (L) with Coach Vo Minh Nhat (C) receive the gold medal and the cup as Men's Team Champion at the World Xiangqi Championships. Photo by World Xiangqi Championships

In October, the Vietnamese men’s team won a gold medal at the World Xiangqi Championship for the first time ever. The event had been dominated by China since 1990.

Vietnam placed first thanks to the overall standings of their two strongest players, Nguyen Thanh Bao and Lai Ly Huynh.

This year's tournament takes place from October 23 to 30 in Kuching. It featured 128 players from 15 countries and territories.

Rising star

In November, Hanoi Medical University Associate Professor Tran Xuan Bach was ranked third in the "Best Rising Stars of Science in the World - 2022 Ranking" by Research.com. The site describes itself as the number one research portal for scientists.

Associate Professor Tran Xuan Bach. Photo courtesy of Tran Xuan Bach

At 38, Bach focuses on environmental health, acquired immunodeficiency syndrome and psychological interventions.

He was ranked third after scoring an h-index of 94. The index measures the proportion of contributions made within a given discipline, and the awards and achievements of the scientists.

The ranking covers all major areas of science. It is based on a meticulous examination of 166,880 scientists on the Google Scholar and Microsoft Academic Graph.

Young aeronautical phenom

In December, Nguyen Huyen Duc, 27, a research and teaching associate at the University of Bristol's department of aerospace engineering, won the Royal Aeronautical Society’s "Young Person’s Achievement Award."

Nguyen Huyen Duc (L) and Peter Round, President of the Royal Aeronautical Society at a ceremony where Duc is honored with the "Young Person’s Achievement Award." Photo by RAeS

The society, which describes itself as "the world's only professional membership association dedicated to the aerospace and aviation industry," reported that Duc’s research covered aircraft dynamics, bifurcation methods, automatic control of composites manufacturing, and the application of dynamical systems theory to contemporary aerospace problems.

Duc has served as a reviewer for a number of leading academic journals, according to the university.

He is also a lead tutor for an online course in control engineering at the University of Cambridge.