VNU President Nguyen Kim Son attended and delivered a speech at the ceremony.

Attending the ceremony were Mr. Jean-Michel Vernider – President of the Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes (EPHE); Mr. Jean-Paul Gaudemar - General Director of the Francophone Universities Agency (AUF); Mr. Giorgio Aliberti - Ambassador of the European Union to Vietnam; Mr. Nicolas Warnery - French Ambassador to Vietnam; Prof. Philippe Papin, Professor of Vietnamese History, Faculty of History and Texts, the Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes, Project Vietnamica Manager.

On the Vietnamese side, there were managers, scientists from many research and training institutions, including Prof. Nguyen Quang Thuan - Vice Chairman of the Central Theoretical Council, former President of Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences; VNU Vice President Pham Bao Son; Prof. Vu Minh Giang – Chairman of VNU Science and Technology Council; Prof. Pham Quang Minh - Rector of VNU University of Social Sciences and Humanities.

Executive Board and Scientific Council of Project Vietnamica

Vietnamica is a European project on historical studies and digitalizing Vietnamese stele inscriptions - one of the projects funded by the European Research Council, EU. The project aims at studying the history of Vietnam donation through stele inscriptions,  digitizing Vietnam social sciences materials stored in Europe and Vietnam; participating in training graduate and doctoral students; establishing electronic library, translating and publishing monographs and synthesizing research on the history of Vietnamese donation.

The project was initiated by Prof. Philippe Papin – Professor of Vietnamese History, EPHE Faculty of History and Texts. The project's managing entity is the Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes. The organizations that jointly organize and implement the project are VNU through VNU University of Social Sciences and Humanities; the Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences through the Institute of Han Nom Studies; and the Francophone Universities Agency, the Project’s financial manager.

The project is scheduled to be implemented in a large area including Vietnam, France and some other European countries within 5 years, from 2019 to 2024.

Speaking at the launching ceremony, VNU President Nguyen Kim Son expressed his honour when VNU became a partner of Project Vietnamica - a valuable and meaningful project with multifaceted prospects.

Vietnamica focuses on the original documents, the sources that can bring the best research results, of which Bia Hau (stele of merit) is an object of special attention. The project is a combination of research and organization of training and technology transfer to sustainably maintain research directions and lasting influence. The project is implemented in a modern manner compatible with digital technology and new technology trends in social sciences and humanities. Especially, Vietnamica attracts the participation of many prestigious scholars and scientific agencies from Vietnam and France. With these aspects, Vietnamica will contribute to the creating of valuable Big data in Vietnam Studies as well as a bridge to deepen and strengthen academic relations between Vietnam and France.

VNU President Nguyen Kim Son also gave his thanks to Prof. Philippe Papin - the scientist who initiated the project. As a famous researcher in Vietnamese Studies, Prof. Philippe Papin has established many relationships and teamwork activities in the Vietnamese Studies research community, aimed at large and in-depth academic projects.

Prof.Dr. Nguyen Quang Thuan - Vice Chairman of the Central Theoretical Council, former President of Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences evaluated Vietnamica as an important and typical event in Vietnam's social sciences field in 2019.

The Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences through the Institute of Han Nom Studies will work closely with Project Vietnamica in training stele inscription specialists through master and doctoral programs, and thereby to build trained manpower for Vietnam's hermeneutics.

Mr. Jean-Michel Vernider, President of the Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes, shared “Research on Vietnam topics started in 1990 and played a very important role in the EPHE policy of developing international cooperation. Although it is a historical research project, Vietnamica’s special feature is the participation of modern technology in its implementation stages. Currently, the Institute has about 6,000 documents related to Vietnam. Through this project, scientists and researchers of the two countries can not only access this huge resource but also contribute to the strengthening of the Institute's cooperation with Vietnamese partners, especially with VNU, in other fields.

Mr. Jean-Paul Gaudemar - General Director of the Francophone Universities Agency said that AUF would assist in disseminating research results and achievements so that scientific values ​​can be spread firstly in the AUF community with nearly 1,000 universities and research institutes.

According to Mr. Giorgio Aliberti - Ambassador of the European Union to Vietnam, Vietnamica is a very important project with a great scientific content. This project is also in line with the current EU strategy of cooperation development with Vietnam. It can be said that Vietnamica, with the application of digital technology to the field of historical research, is a scientific project that is both traditional and modern.

Mr. Nicolas Warnery, French Ambassador to Vietnam, says that this project is a peak of scientific research. The Project Vietnamica with the participation of leading research and training organizations of Vietnam and France has been rigorously appraised and approved by the European Research Council. In terms of digital materials, the project will provide researchers with an archive of ancient books on Vietnam, mainly in French, which will be useful for future specialized research.

The launching ceremony of the VNU and EPHE cooperation office also took place on the same day. The office will be a place of meeting for Vietnamese and foreign students, researchers and collaborators; and a venue for thematic conferences and seminars within the project framework.

Also within the framework of the Project, after the launch, there was a professional seminar by Vietnamese and French scientists with 3 topics: Bia hau and donation in Vietnamese history; the application of information technology and electronic maps to research and digitalization, publication, translation of Vietnamese social sciences documents; master and doctoral training within the framework of the Project Vietnamica.

Mr. Giorgio Aliberti - Ambassador of the European Union to Vietnam

Mr. Nicolas Warnery, French Ambassador to Vietnam

Prof. Philippe Papin - the scientist who initiated the project

 VNU and EPHE signing a cooperation agreement

Mr. Jean-Michel Vernider, President of the Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes, awarding medals to Vietnamese scientists for active participation in the Project as well as contribution to the promoting of cooperation in research and training between the two sides. The awardees include Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nguyen Kim Son - VNU President; Prof. Nguyen Quang Thuan - Vice Chairman of the Central Theoretical Council, former President of Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences; Assoc.Prof.Dr Hoang Anh Tuan – Vice Rector of VNU University of Social Sciences and Humanities; Dr. Nguyen Tuan Cuong - Director of the Institute of Han Nom Studies, Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences