30-year journey to become Vietnam's third female math professor

Ms. Hoai An became a professor at the age of 51, has 33 international publications and presides over a project applying AI to test major theorems of Mathematics.

Ms. Ta Thi Hoai An, from Nghe An , was recognized by the State Council of Professors as a qualified professor in early November. Since the first professorship in 1956, 67 years ago, Ms. An is the third female professor of Mathematics in Vietnam, after Professor Hoang Xuan Sinh (in 1980) and Professor Le Thi Thanh Nhan (in 2015).

Ms. An was born in 1972, her father was a math lecturer, her mother was a doctor. Following family tradition, the 17-year-old female student chose to pursue a major in Math Education at Vinh University.

"I came to Math and pedagogy naturally," she said.

Prof. Dr. Ta Thi Hoai An. Photo: Thanh Hang

Graduating with the highest honors in Mathematics, Ms. Hoai An became an intern lecturer at Vinh University at the age of 21. She then continued her master's studies, then defended her doctorate in 2001 under the guidance of Professor Dr. Ha Huy Khoi - former Director of the Institute of Mathematics. For Ms. An, Professor Khoi was the first person to suggest the path of scientific research.

At that time, there were only two female graduate students, Ms. An and Professor Nhan ( Thai Nguyen ). The two of them lived in a small room with just enough space for a bed and a work table. Seeing the two graduate students suffering, Professor Khoai's wife, Ms. Dinh Thi Thu Cuc, let them stay in a small house. This support was very meaningful to Professor An and many other graduate students at that time, and was affectionately called "the house of the Dau sisters" by everyone.

After defending her doctorate, Ms. An received a scholarship to the Taiwan Academy of Sciences, where she worked as an intern under the auspices of Professor Julie Wang. Inspired by Professor Julie, Ms. An decided to switch from being a lecturer to a researcher.

"Although I loved the time I spent standing on the podium, the problems that existed in Mathematics attracted me," said Ms. An. Because she wanted to have more time for research, Ms. An later moved to work at the Institute of Mathematics.

Professor Hoai An (far right), Professor Julie Wang (blue shirt) and Professor Min Ru at a conference in 2023. Photo: Provided by the character

Ms. An's research process encountered many obstacles because she and her husband spent more than 10 years treating infertility. During that time, she had to constantly go to the hospital to get injections. The image of a woman with a stack of books, sitting in the corner of the hallway, attentively reading and taking notes became special and familiar to the hospital's doctors and nurses.

"The treatment period was very difficult. There were times when I couldn't hold back and hid in a corner to cry, not letting anyone know," Ms. An recalled. But being an optimist, she didn't want people to worry about her.

In 2009, she was awarded the title of Associate Professor. In the same year, she received a grant from the Humboldt Foundation (Germany). This is one of the most prestigious and competitive research grants in the world.

Two years later, she gave birth and devoted her time to taking care of her son. When he was 22 months old, she took him to Germany and France, accompanying his mother on her journey to research and defend her doctoral thesis in science. In the field of mathematics, Ms. An is the second woman in Vietnam to have this degree.

Taking care of a young child alone, plus having to write a doctoral thesis in science, she only slept about 4 hours a day, and her health was affected by the high intensity of work. One morning, she collapsed. Ms. An said that at that time, she only had time to call her colleagues to take her to the emergency room. The doctor said she was exhausted. The motivation for the scientist to overcome was the support of her family.

"Sometimes I wonder how I can easily overcome those obstacles, maybe because I learned resilience from my mother," said Ms. An.

Ms. An and her son in Germany, 2014. Photo: Provided by the character

In over 30 years, Ms. Hoai An has completed 4 ministerial-level scientific research projects, published 33 scientific articles in prestigious international journals, and published two books on Mathematics. Ms. An's main research directions revolve around number theory and complex analysis.

Not only does she do direct research, she also runs Flyspect - a project that uses artificial intelligence to test formulas published by mathematician Thomas Hales in 2002.

In a 300-page research paper with 21,000 formulas, Thomas Hales said he had proven the Kepler Conjecture - a problem that has existed for more than 400 years. However, after four years with 12 experts reviewing it, the famous mathematics journal Annal of Mathematics published it with the comment that it could only confirm 99% of Thomas's proof was correct. The American professor tried to connect with computer engineers and colleagues to check the rest. Before meeting Ms. Hoai An, Mr. Thomas spent nearly 10 years, traveling through the US, Europe and India, but was unsuccessful.

The Flyspect project was launched in 2008, with a staff of 20 people, including 10 PhD students and graduate students at the Institute of Mathematics. Initially, Ms. An and her colleagues expected to complete Flyspect after 20 years. But thanks to the efforts of the members, including scientist Tran Nam Trung (who was awarded the title of Associate Professor in 2023) in charge of technical management, Associate Professor Hoang Le Truong in charge of formula coding, and the support and coordination of the Institute of Mathematics and international research groups, the project was completed in 7 years. As a result, all the formulas in Thomas Hales's research were correct.

"Our research team was mentioned in the special plenary report at the 2022 World Congress of Mathematics. Many famous newspapers and magazines mentioned the success of this project," Ms. An said, adding that data from the Flyspect project was used in artificial intelligence research at OpenAI and DeepMind. Most recently, Open AI was used in the construction of ChatGPT.

The success of Flyspect helped Professor Thomas continue to receive funding to develop the project. However, many team members moved abroad or were busy with other projects. To solve the problem of research human resources, the project was transferred to Thang Long University, according to an agreement between the Institute of Mathematics, Thang Long University and the University of Pittsburgh (USA).

Thang Long University arranged offices and supported the Institute of Mathematics staff to work at the school. In 2018, when opening the Applied Mathematics major, the school sponsored tuition and part of the living expenses for the first 20 students. The Institute of Mathematics staff and researchers acted as full-time lecturers, responsible for training students and guiding the school's young lecturers in the project. In addition to Flyspect, the Institute and the school also cooperated to develop other research and training directions in the field of Mathematics.

"Up to now, the project is still continuing. This is a testament to the effectiveness of the cooperation model between the Institute and domestic and foreign universities," said Ms. An.

Professor Hoai An presented a report at a conference at the University of Clermont Ferrand, France, in 2008. Photo: Provided by the character

Despite many achievements, Professor Hoai An is concerned because he sees that women face many barriers to career development, due to the responsibility of taking care of the family.

Professor Le Tuan Hoa, Chairman of the Mathematics Professorship Council and former Director of the Institute of Mathematics, also acknowledged that this is one of the main reasons why the number of female scientists in the field of Mathematics is limited. Mr. Hoa added that the Mathematics industry respects women, but shows this by evaluating them equally with men. Therefore, applications are evaluated equally, "only considered when they pass".

Becoming a professor of Mathematics at the age of 51, Ms. An said she received spiritual support from many women such as Professor Julie Wang, Professor Helene Esnault, Ms. Cuc, Ms. Loan... During her time working, studying and researching at Vinh University and the Institute of Mathematics, she also received help from many teachers and colleagues.

"I went through many difficulties, treated my illness for a long time and was lucky to overcome it. I hope my journey can encourage women on the path of self-development," she said.

Thanh Hang - Duong Tam

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