When graduate students get paid

According to these proposals, doctoral students can be considered as official staff of the university.

PhD student at a university in Ho Chi Minh City

PHOTO: DAO NGOC THACH

100% TUITION FREE, FINANCIAL SUPPORT TO IMPLEMENT THE PROJECT

The issue of considering PhD students as university employees is not new. This model has been implemented in practice in a number of schools.

Since 2018, Ho Chi Minh City University of Economics has begun to regulate the working regime for PhD students studying in the form of continuous concentration at the school (full-time PhD students). PhD students in this case are considered full-time employees and must sign a contract with the school. Accepting this form of training, PhD students are exempted from 100% of tuition fees, are arranged working space, and are arranged free accommodation in the school's accommodation facilities (if living outside Ho Chi Minh City). During the implementation of the topic, PhD students receive financial support equivalent to official employees of the school. In addition, PhD students can participate in teaching and receive remuneration as guest lecturers with a master's degree (maximum teaching time is not more than 450 hours/year, equivalent to 50% of the standard hours of a lecturer).

On the contrary, Ho Chi Minh City University of Economics also requires PhD students to fulfill their obligations to the school such as: working 40 hours a week, in addition to studying and participating in other activities with the consent of the supervisor, PhD students must work in the office. In particular, before defending their thesis at the school level, students must publish at least 1 article in an ISI-Scopus journal and 1 article in the English version of Jabes Journal (the published research must be in the name of a member of the school). If the publication obligation is not fulfilled, the student must repay the tuition fee that has been supported.

In 2019, the University continued to implement an international doctoral training program with free tuition for students. PhD students need to meet three conditions to be exempted from tuition fees: commit to working full-time; achieve an IELTS English certificate of 7.0 or higher; and commit to publishing at least two international scientific articles ranked from Scopus or higher.

Vietnam-Germany University is currently training PhDs full-time and entirely in English. Dr. Ha Thuc Vien, Vice Principal of the school, said that during the training process at the school, PhD students are considered as teaching and research staff of the school - similar to the doctoral training model at universities in the Federal Republic of Germany. Students also participate in projects, research topics with lecturers in the school and training and academic work. Importantly, students do not pay tuition fees but receive scholarships or salaries depending on their participation in research projects of their supervisors. But according to Dr. Vien: "Enrolling in this program is not easy, mainly master's students at the school continue to register as PhD students. Other groups of candidates are usually teaching and research staff at units with good research capacity and English."

To invest in the quality of doctoral training, many university training institutions are currently offering high-value scholarships to students.

PHOTO: DAO NGOC THACH

SCHOLARSHIPS FOR RESEARCH STUDENTS

To invest in the quality of doctoral training, many universities are currently offering high-value scholarships to students. For example, Hanoi National University has implemented a scholarship program for PhD students and postdoctoral interns with excellent research capacity. Accordingly, PhD students are granted a maximum scholarship of 100 million VND/year based on their study and research results (training institutions can consider deciding to waive tuition fees for PhD students). Postdoctoral interns are awarded a maximum scholarship of 120 million VND/year. To enjoy this policy, students must meet the initial registration conditions as well as responsibilities during the study and research process.

Similarly, Hanoi University of Science and Technology also provides scholarships for master's and doctoral students at the school. In particular, PhD students receive a 100% tuition scholarship if they are the main author of 2 articles published in ISI-listed journals, of which at least 1 is in group Q1 and uses the school's address after the author's name. The 50% tuition scholarship is for the main author of 1 article published in a Q1-listed journal in the ISI list or the main author of 2 articles in ISI-listed journals and uses the school's address after the author's name.

Ho Chi Minh City National University grants an average of 10 doctoral scholarships each year, worth 75 million VND/scholarship. The scholarships are based on criteria such as academic performance, scope of training, minimum working hours, and foreign language proficiency standards. In particular, PhD students need to have a scientific research product, which is an article published in a scientific journal in the WoS/Scopus category...

WANT BUT CAN'T DO IT YET, WHY?

However, the form of tuition exemption and salary contract signing for PhD students has not been implemented in many schools due to many problems.

Associate Professor Dr. Nguyen Xuan Hoan, Principal of Ho Chi Minh City University of Industry and Trade, said that the model of doctoral students participating in teaching, research and thesis writing at the school is the dream of many schools but has not been achieved yet. Associate Professor Nguyen Xuan Hoan said: "The reasons come from many sides, 100% of students have jobs so they cannot stop to go to school because they will lose their jobs after finishing school. Doctoral students are also not interested in teaching and doing research full-time at the school." In addition, according to Associate Professor Nguyen Xuan Hoan, instructors or training institutions do not have large projects to cover part of the costs for doctoral students while they also need income to cover their living expenses. Not to mention, when doctoral students are considered as employees, there are many related policies and regimes that can become a burden for the university.

In the coming time, the Rector of Ho Chi Minh City University of Industry and Trade plans to apply two models of doctoral training. Model 1: Students register to study full-time and are arranged teaching hours like full-time lecturers, with salaries and free tuition. Model 2: Part-time students (who only go to school because they have good jobs) are considered guest lecturers.

The scale of doctoral training has decreased sharply in recent years.

According to statistics from the Ministry of Education and Training, the scale of doctoral training nationwide has tended to continue to decrease in recent years. For example, in the 2022-2023 school year, among the 7 training sectors, the whole country has only more than 8,600 PhD students. In the 2020-2021 school year, there were over 12,600 PhD students. The scale of PhD students in the 2022-2023 school year decreased by more than 4,000 compared to the previous school year.

The number of PHD STUDENTS who sign contracts with the school accounts for less than 10%.

It can be said that Ho Chi Minh City University of Economics is one of the pioneers in signing contracts with doctoral students. However, Associate Professor Dr. Bui Quang Hung, Vice Director of this University, said that after more than 5 years of implementation, the number of doctoral students signing contracts with the university accounts for less than 10% of the total number of doctoral students admitted each year. After completing their studies, a few outstanding cases are signed with official working contracts at the university. Sharing more about this result, Associate Professor Hung said that all doctoral students have published 2-3 international scientific articles after completing their thesis, and the quality of doctoral students has improved.

According to Associate Professor Hung, current regulations and rules allow schools to implement this program with PhD students who have not signed a work contract elsewhere. "But this model is actually only suitable for students with a research orientation, where study time is the time to focus entirely on research and not participate in other work. Moreover, the most important factor is a good research ecosystem for PhD students to work, do professional activities, do projects, and connect with the academic community at home and abroad," added the Deputy Director of Ho Chi Minh City University of Economics.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/khi-nghien-cuu-sinh-duoc-tra-luong-185240925172639512.htm