Possess a Distinction undergraduate degree or higher or a master degree relevant to the major in which they are applying for the doctoral study. The list of undergraduate and master’s majors that are considered relevant to the doctoral study is specified in Appendix 4. Graduate degrees in majors that not included in this list but with specializations close to the applied majors will be specifically considered by the Admissions Council after application submission
Eligibility
Candidates for doctoral training must meet the following conditions
Scientific articles
Being the author of 01 article or report related to the intended research field, published in a scientific journal included in the list that recognized by the State Council for Professorship (see Appendix 30), or proceedings of national and international scientific conferences and seminars with ISBN number, within 03 years (36 months) from the date of application registration.
Research proposals
A research proposal (about 3,000 words), including the following core contents:
- Research topic title or research direction of the candidate;
- Recommendation on supervisor that meets the regulation;
- Research rationale/research direction;
- Literature review of published scientific studies on the selected research topic/direction
- Research objectives/Research questions
- Proposed research methodologies
- Proposed contribution of the research
- Brief summary of the goals and contribution of the published articles of the candidate
The candidate’s research proposal must be endorsed by the proposed supervisor. The proposed supervisor must be on the list of scientists who are eligible to supervise PhD students that outlined in the admission announcement.
Recommendation letters
Having a letter of recommendation that assesses the candidate’s professional quality, capacity and research ability from at least 01 scientist holding the title of professor, associate professor, degree of scientific doctorate or degree of PhD who has participated in professional activities with the candidate and is knowledgeable about the field that the candidate intends to research.
The letter of recommendation must contain the following:
- The context of professional cooperation between the recommender and the candidate;
- Comments and evaluations of the recommender on the candidate’s competence and qualities (ethical qualities, professional capacity, working methods, research ability, professional development prospects …).
Candidates who are Vietnamese citizens
Candidates who are Vietnamese citizens must have one of the following diplomas or certificates proving their foreign language capability:
- An undergraduate degree or higher issued by a foreign training institution for a full-time study abroad where English or other foreign ones is the main language in the course of study;
- Undergraduate degree in foreign language majors granted by Vietnamese training institutions;
- TOEFL iBT English certificate of 45 or higher or IELTS Certificate (Academic Test) of 5.0 or higher issued by an internationally recognized testing organization in Vietnam within 2 years (24 months) from the latest date of application submission;
- The candidate who meets the requirements at Point a of this Clause when the language used during the study period is not English; or satisfy the requirements at Point b of this Clause when holding an undergraduate degree in a foreign language other than English; or have foreign language certificates other than English at the equivalent level (see Appendix 5.1) as prescribed at point c of this clause, issued by an international and Vietnamese recognized testing organization within 2 years (24 months) by the date of registration, they must have a certificate of English level 3/6 or higher according to the 6-level foreign language competency framework (see Appendix 5.2) within 2 years (24 months) to the latest date of application submission.
Candidates who are foreign citizens
Candidates who are foreign citizens must have one of the following diplomas and certificates:
- An undergraduate degree or a master degree issued by a Vietnamese training institution for full-time study in Vietnam;
- Certificate of Vietnamese language proficiency of minimum Level 4 or higher according to the Vietnamese Language Competency Framework for Foreigners.
- Particularly in case that the candidate is a foreign citizen but registers to conduct doctoral dissertation in English, the provisions of Clause 5 of this Article shall be complied with.