PANO - The Vietnam Women's Union (VWU) held a ceremony on March 6th in Hanoi to celebrate 30 years of the Kovalevskaia Prize in Vietnam and hand over the 2015 prizes to outstanding Vietnamese women in the field of sciences.

The prestigious prize is named after the great Russian female mathematician Sofia Kovalevskaia, and is awarded by the fund of the same name. The fund is operating in eight countries in Latin America, Africa and Asia.

Vice President Nguyen Thi Doan (2nd from left) and Head of the Party Central Committee'ss Commission for Mass Mobilization Truong Thi Mai (1st from right) handing over the 2015 prizes to Vietnamese female scientists.

The first two Vietnamese scientists receiving the awards in 1985 were Meritorious Teacher Bui Thi Ty và Ass. Prof., Dr. Nguyen Thi Kim Chi. Since then, the title has been presented to a total of 17 collectives and 44 individuals in various fields such as mathematics, chemistry, biology, to name but a few.

Addressing the ceremony, Politburo member Truong Thi Mai, who is Secretary of the Party Central Committee and Head of its Commission for Mass Mobilization, affirmed that the research achievements as well as scientific applications in reality of the prizewinners have importantly contributed to the nation’s 30-year renovation process.

The 2015 Kovalevskaia prizes were presented to Dang Thi Cam Ha, Former Head of the Environmental Bio-technology Department under the Institute of Biotechnology, and Dr. Pham Thi Ngoc Thao, Deputy Director of the Ho Chi Minh City’s Cho Ray Hospital.

On the occasion, former Vice President Nguyen Thi Binh transferred the Chair of the Vietnamese Kovalevskaia Awards Committee to Vice President Nguyen Thi Doan.

Translated by Huu Duc