PhD students may face ban on working full-time during studies

Under new regulations, some PhD students will be required to commit to full-time study, participate in academic activities, and will not be permitted to hold full-time employment elsewhere.

The Ministry of Education and Training has issued new postgraduate admissions regulations, effective 30/6. These regulations introduce significant changes to PhD training, particularly for those pursuing a full-time academic path.

Under the new regulations, official PhD training is offered in two forms: one is full-time study and research, and the other requires a minimum of 30 credits per year. The specific form adopted is determined by the training institution.

For the full-time study and research option, PhD students must actively participate in professional activities, including: serving as teaching assistants, providing practical guidance, and engaging in internships. Crucially, they are prohibited from working full-time elsewhere during their period of study. This marks a departure from previous regulations, which did not explicitly restrict PhD students from working while studying, only requiring them to dedicate "sufficient time for study".

Regardless of the chosen method, PhD students remain under the management, supervision, and evaluation of the university throughout their program. The standard training duration is 3-4 years, though students may complete their studies one-third earlier or extend them up to 2.5 times the standard period. Exceptional undergraduate students and master's students with good academic standing may pre-study up to 25% of the PhD program's courses.

Dissertations are evaluated upon program completion, provided PhD students meet requirements for scientific publications and academic integrity. For scientific publications, they must be either the first author or the corresponding author of at least one article listed in WoS/Scopus; or be the author of patented research results or applied scientific technology.

Currently, among approximately 91,300 university lecturers, about 33% hold PhDs. This ratio is low compared to universities in the UK, US, Malaysia, and Sri Lanka, where the proportion ranges from 50% to 75%. To attract more PhD students, many universities have recently begun offering incentives, such as: tuition waivers, living stipends, and bonuses, which can amount to 560 million VND.