Nguyen Manh Duong, majoring in data science and artificial intelligence, along with Cao Minh Tue and Tran The Hung, both majoring in computer science, are all from the School of Information and Communication Technology at Hanoi University of Science and Technology.

Duong received a full scholarship for a doctoral program in computer science at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (ranked 33rd in the US by US News & World Report), worth approximately 9.8 billion VND (Vietnamese Dong). Tue will study at the University of Florida (ranked 30th), and Hung at Washington State University (ranked 189th), both with scholarships equivalent to 7 billion VND.

All three received their scholarship acceptance letters between March and April, but won't officially graduate until September.

Associate Professor Dr. Nguyen Phi Le, director of the Artificial Intelligence Research and Application Institute (AI4LIFE) at Hanoi University of Science and Technology, confirmed that all three students conducted research in the same lab within the institute.

Duong, Tue, and Hung all have exceptional GPAs: 3.94, 3.85, and 3.61 out of 4, respectively. They are also primary or secondary authors of papers presented at leading international AI conferences such as ICCV, ICLR, and NeurIPS.

"I've never seen a lab with three fourth-year undergraduates receiving US doctoral scholarships in computer science like this," Le said. "Even considering labs at other universities, I believe this is very rare."

According to Le, Hanoi University of Science and Technology students typically secure doctoral scholarships in information technology fields after graduation and 1-2 years of research experience at major corporations like Vingroup, FPT, or Viettel.

Duong, Tue, and Hung believe their early research experience was key to securing the scholarships. "This experience is invaluable because postgraduate study demands curiosity and exploration, with almost no set curriculum," Duong explained. "Early research familiarizes us with this, allows for trial and error, and builds confidence to embrace challenges."

Cao Minh Tue at ICLR 2025, a leading AI conference, as the primary author of a research paper. Photo: Provided by the subject

Cao Minh Tue at ICLR 2025, a leading AI conference, as the primary author of a research paper. Photo: Provided by the subject

Founded in 1956, Hanoi University of Science and Technology is Vietnam's leading technical university. It offers 65 undergraduate majors, 63 master's programs, and 32 doctoral programs. Each year, it enrolls approximately 8,000-9,000 new students.

Last year, out of approximately 7,000 graduates, only 8.65% achieved honors, and nearly 7% pursued master's or doctoral degrees.

Duong Tam