Female Vietnamese scientists honoured at the 2021 Kovalevskaya awards

Professors Nguyễn Thị Thanh Mai and Nguyễn Minh Thủy have won the 2021 Kovalevskaya awards for female Vietnamese scientists. The award ceremony was held yesterday.

Thanh Mai, deputy principal of Việt Nam National University, HCM City, chaired and completed 14 scientific research projects at all levels, of which there were 10 ministerial-level projects and four provincial-level projects.

She also published 135 scientific articles, of which 75 were published in international journals and 66 in national journals. One of Thanh Mai's notable works was a study titled "Building high standard extraction process from wormwood root and evaluating pharmacological effects in the direction of supportive use treatment of stomach ulcers”. The results of this study have oriented the production of herbal drugs to treat stomach ulcers.

Minh Thủy's achievements include a "repository" of rigorous research works with 50 scientific articles in prestigious international journals such as ISI, SCOPUS, ISSN, and 107 scientific articles in national journals, with 18 scientific works in international conference proceedings.

With the direction of research and application of techniques for handling, storing and processing a variety of high quality and safe valuable food items from tropical agricultural products after harvest, many local products through Thuỷ's research have turned profitable.

Studies include the "Assessment of the quality of sugarcane in Hậu Giang Province and solutions to reduce the loss of sugar content after harvest", "Production of jaggery wine from purebred yeasts isolated from jaggery self-cultivation in Tri Tôn, Tịnh Biên, An Giang" and "Research on processing and producing byproducts from Cầu Đúc pineapple and making use of scrap for bromelin enzyme extraction". Thanks to these studies, many technologies have been transferred to enterprises, bringing high economic value.

“The Kovalevskaia Prize is a big turning point in my teaching and scientific research career. In the past, besides teaching, I have always nurtured a passion and enthusiasm for scientific research and I won't stop," said Thủy. "I will continue to focus on developing clean, nutritious and safe products from local specialities.”

The Kovalevskaya Prize is an award named after Russian mathematician Sophia Kovalevskaia, started in 1985 in Việt Nam, and is the first international award for female scientists in the field of natural sciences. The prize has been awarded to 21 groups and 50 female scientists in the fields of Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Agriculture, Medicine and Information Technology.

The Kovalevskaya Prize has become a prestigious national award for female scientists with practical research projects.