Female Vietnamese scientists have made practical contributions to the nation’s socio-economic, scientific and technological development, a State leader said.

Vice State President Nguyen Thi Doan hailed the role female scientists have thus far played in the national construction and development cause while addressing the 25th anniversary of the Vietnam Kovalevskaia Prize in Hanoi on Mar. 12.

She said she hoped female scientists, apart from doing research, would devote their enthusiasm to training young generations for the sake of the country’s future.

Over the past 25 years, the nation has welcomed the research of female Vietnamese scientists and its application in an array of fields, such as crossbreeding plants and animals, producing livestock and human vaccines, creating bio-products and making the best use of pharmaceuticals in service of the community.

At the event, the Vietnam Kovalevskaia Committee presented the Kovalevskaia Prize 2008-09 to associate professors Pham Thi Thuy, Le Thu Thuy and Phan Thi Tuoi.

Senior researcher Dr. Pham Thi Thuy is currently the head of the insect laboratory of the Vegetation Protection Institute of the Vietnam Institute for Agriculture Research. She has conducted 94 scientific research projects and taken part in 26 relating to the utility of biological-measurements in plant protection.

Dr. Le Thi Thuy, deputy head of the Animal Husbandry Institute’s Scientific and International Cooperation Department, is the author of 9 books, 104 scientific works on animal husbandry, and projects to preserve varieties of goose and chicken typical of Vietnam.

Dr. Phan Thi Tuoi, former rector of the Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology, is a pioneer in Vietnam in research into natural language processing, machine translation and text processing. Apart from leading eight scientific research projects, Tuoi has also taken part in compiling textbooks on IT, contributing greatly to the industry’s growth in Vietnam.

Since its inception in 1985, the Kovalevskaia Prize, named after Russian mathematician Sophia Kovalevskaia, has been presented to 15 collectives and 34 female scientists in Vietnam in recognition of their outstanding achievements in the natural sciences and the application of research.

On the occasion, Vice State President Nguyen Thi Doan honoured Prof. Dr Ann Koblitz and Neal Koblitz, who founded and mobilized funding for the Kovalevskaia Prize, with the Vietnamese State’s Friendship Order./.