Mathematics Newsletter

20
Asia Pacific Mathematics Newsletter
institute. On the other hand, the candidate for the
Scientific Director position of the Institute has not been
agreed, although the name of Ngô Bảo Châu, 2004 Clay
Award winner, was discussed. Only when the rumours
about Fields Award to Ngô Bảo Châu became the truth,
this question was solved.
In August 2010, closer to the opening ceremony of
ICM 2010, experts increasingly believed that Professor
Ngô Bảo Châu would be awarded the Fields Medal — the
highest award for mathematicians. With such great faith,
on August 17, 2010, the Deputy Prime Minister Professor
Nguyễn Thiện Nhân, on behalf of the government, issued
Decision No. 1483/QD-TTg approving the NPDM. Two
days later, in Hyderabad, India, Professor Ngô Bảo Châu
officially received the honourary Fields Award from the
Indian President.
The leader of the Vietnam Institute for Advanced Study
in Mathematics (VIASM) has only been determined after
the acceptance of Professor Ngô Bảo Châu to assume
the role of the Scientific Director. The only remaining
problem is to formulate a regime to support the operation
of VIASM. After 4 months of hard work of the Drafting
Committee and the Ministry of Education and Training
Ngô Bảo Châu received Fields Award in India in 2010
together with the support of many relevant ministries and
institutions, the regulation on organisation and operation
of VIASM was completed. On December 23, 2010, the
Prime Minister issued Decision 2342/QD-TTg to establish
the VIASM together with the approved regulation on its
organisation and operation.
2. Organisation
The establishment of VIASM is well-received by all
mathematicians as well as Vietnamese scientists working
in or outside of the country.
The Institute follows the model of the IAS in Princeton
and the Mathematical Sciences Research Institute (MSRI)
in Berkeley with certain modifications to reflect the
specific situation of Vietnam. This is an unprecedented
model in Vietnam. The Institute will have no or very few
April 2012, Volume 2 No 2
permanent researchers, but will sponsor several research
programmes and study groups of different sizes. This
flexible scheme allows the Institute to invite reputable
international scientists to Vietnam and create favourable
conditions for Vietnamese scientists to have access to the
best ideas and actual achievements of science in the world.
The Institute is also a place where Vietnamese scientists
working abroad can come and work with their colleagues
in Vietnam for a longer period.
The VIASM is managed by a Board of Directors which
consists of a Scientific Director, a Managing Director and
one or two Deputy Directors. The Scientific Director is
Professor Ngô Bảo Châu appointed on March 3, 2011. He
is also a professor at the University of Chicago and thus
assumes the director role on a non-executive basis. In
order to take this dual role, Professor Ngô Bảo Châu has
received the full support from the University of Chicago.
The Managing Director is an executive position and is
responsible for the day to day operation of the Institute.
On June 1, 2011, Professor Lê Tuấn Hoa — the President
of the Vietnam Mathematical Society of Vietnam, Deputy
Director of Institute of Mathematics Hanoi — was
seconded to the VIASM to undertake this role with a 3
year term.
The International Advisory Board and Scientific
Committee are the advisors to the Board of Directors.
The International Advisory Board currently consists of
six international reputable professors: J P Bourguignon
(IHES, Paris), R Fefferman (Chicago), P A Griffiths (IAS,
Princeton), B Gross (Harvard), M Grötschel (TU, Berlin)
and M S Raghunathan (Tata, Mumbai).
The Scientific Committee was established by the
Ministry of Education and Training of Vietnam. The
Scientific Committee for the period 2011–2014 consists
of 14 Vietnamese professors, including 12 professors in
Mathematics, a professor in Physics and a professor in
Computer Science. They are: Ngô Bảo Châu (University
of Chicago and VIASM, Chairman), Ngô Việt Trung (IM
Hanoi, Vice Chairman), Nguyễn Hữu Dư (HUS-VNU,
Secretary), Hồ Tú Bảo (JAIST), Đinh Tiến Cường (Paris
6), Dương Minh Đức (HUS-VNUHCMC), Lê Tuấn Hoa
(VIASM), Nguyễn Hữu Việt Hưng (HUS-VNU), Phan
Quốc Khánh (IU-VNUHCMC), Trần Văn Nhung (the
State Council for Professor Titles of Vietnam), Hoàng
Xuân Phú (IM Hanoi), Đàm Thanh Sơn (Washington)
and Vũ Hà Văn (Yale).
3. Mission
The vision of VIASM is to become an excellent research
centre for mathematics, with a good working environment