VietNamNet Bridge - More than 100 academic leaders and scholars from 14 institutions of higher education in seven countries across Asia gathered in the capital on Saturday for a three-day workshop.

Kim Jae Youl, President of the Korean Foundation for Advanced Studies which sponsored the workshop, said Asian research centres have grown in number, resulting in notable research findings and publications.

Scientific exchange and communication have been strengthened through various conferences and symposia. A growing sense of community among the centres has also become more pronounced as each has increased its participation in and contributions to annual workshops, Kim said.

Viet Nam National University has established co-operative relationships with over 100 research institutes, universities and international organisations around the world, the university's president, Dao Trong Thi, told the workshop.

The university's Asia Research Centre was established in 2001 and has provided financial support to nearly 100 research projects in different fields.

The centre should build a library of its own, where the research results of centre-supported projects, conference proceedings and publications could be found, said centre director Vu Ngoc Tu. It would provide a good source of reference for scientists, researchers and students in and outside Vietnam.

Academic exchanges among different centres in Asia should be encouraged to provide opportunities to share and learn from each other, Tu said.

To intensify co-operation, Charurut Tantraporn, assistant to the president of Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok, said a joint publication among Asian research centres should be established with each centre serving as editor on a rotating basis.

She also suggested for small numbers of young scholars in the same field to meet regularly. It would help scholars know one another and have a greater awareness of what their fellow researchers are accomplishing.

(Source: Viet Nam News)