France-Vietnam cooperation: new momentum for the IRL FVMA

I discovered Vietnam in 2018, while teaching a course on Markov chains for the France-Vietnam Master's program in applied mathematics in Ho Chi Minh City. I was struck by the magic of Vietnam's streets and the inspiring atmosphere of its universities, and I was already leaving on the evening flight, flying over the rooftops of this energetic city that never sleeps. It was on this occasion that I met Viet Hung Hoang, who came to Europe in 2019 to complete his thesis, jointly supervised by the University of Tours and the University of Münster in Germany. This human and scientific encounter led to a lasting friendship and collaboration, one example among many of cooperation between our two countries. Viet Hung Hoang now holds a position as a lecturer at the Industrial University of Ho Chi Minh City.

In 2024, my family circumstances allowed me to spend six months in Vietnam, thanks in particular to my wife, a teacher, who was able to work part-time on an annualized basis. Landing in Vietnam, this time in Hanoi, was a complete change of scenery. We got off the plane and were immediately enveloped by warm, humid air. In the taxi, we discovered extraordinarily dense vegetation and sensed a country developing at an exponential rate.

During my few months of affiliation with the France-Vietnam Laboratory, I worked mainly at VIASM, which is an umbrella organization for mathematical research in Vietnam. It is a recent building, not far from the Temple of Literature and Ho Chi Minh's mausoleum. The modern Laurent Schwartz amphitheater hosts the many events that punctuate scientific life at VIASM. I received a wonderful welcome from several colleagues, including Le Minh Ha, the deputy director of VIASM (the director is none other than Ngô Bảo Châu, winner of the 2010 Fields Medal!) and Ngo Hoang Long, a very active probabilist colleague from Hanoi National University of Education. The France-Vietnam International Laboratory is also linked to VAST, the Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology. Unlike VIASM, VAST is located on a university campus, with several leading research teams, for example in probability (my research topic). One of the highlights of my stay was the organization of a winter school entitled “Representation Theory and Combinatorics Tools in the Study of Some Probabilistic Models.” Around sixty Vietnamese and international participants attended the courses and lectures, with an equal number of French and Vietnamese speakers. Towards the end of my stay, I was invited to give several research presentations, notably in Ho Chi Minh City and Da Nang, in central Vietnam.

On the family side, we decided to make the most of the experience by avoiding the expat district of Hanoi and instead settling in the Long Bien district. “Long Bien” means the dragon's border, in other words, the other side of the Red River, which flows through Hanoi. Every day, as a passenger on a motorcycle taxi, I crossed the Red River on a bridge steeped in history, the Long Bien Bridge, which was inaugurated in 1903. Traveling in Vietnam is also a journey back in time, a necessary immersion in the French colonization of Indochina and its many historical landmarks in Hanoi, such as the central prison, the Hanoi Opera House, and St. Joseph's Cathedral. Also steeped in history, the so-called Reunification Train connects the south (Ho Chi Minh City) to the north (Hanoi); I had the chance to take it between Da Nang and Hanoi, a slow and inspiring journey through lush nature. The French high school is located in the Long Bien district; for our three children, this expatriate school experience was a unique opportunity to meet Vietnamese and international classmates, with a shared sensitivity and interest in French culture.

I would like to end this short account by sharing a few personal memories. When you leave VIASM, you come across a multitude of small, welcoming, traditional restaurants. You weave your way through the scooters, cross a street, and enter a 12th-century Buddhist temple, the Chùa Láng pagoda. Lost in meditation and the serenity of the place, you look up and the modern buildings towering above remind you that you are in the Vietnamese capital. That's a bit like my experience of Vietnam: a surprise around every corner, an invitation to be flexible in your thinking. This poetry of everyday life naturally found its way into my research and into the various collaborations I established with my Vietnamese colleagues. I also have vivid memories of lunch breaks at VAST: after a delicious lunch in the local canteen (for 40,000 VND, or less than €2), we would start frenzied games of table tennis, then attend a research presentation, sweaty but immediately back in a studious mood.

This stay was therefore extremely enriching and forward-looking: in September 2025, I will welcome Ngo Hoang Long to the University of Tours, then in June 2026 my former student Viet Hung Hoang. In 2027, I will co-organize a satellite school of the World Congress of Mathematical Physics in Hanoi, focusing on probabilistic aspects of mathematical physics. I sincerely hope to have another opportunity to spend a second long stay in Vietnam in the future!

I would like to express my sincere thanks to the CNRS, in particular the Insmi and the IRL France-Vietnam, for their administrative and human support throughout my stay and its preparation. I would also like to thank the entire VIASM administrative team for their availability and efficiency.

For me, this responsibility consists of maintaining and developing the laboratory. It is a demanding task, which presents both opportunities and challenges. The first opportunity lies in natural affinities: France and Vietnam share a long mathematical tradition, and in both countries, mathematics is deeply respected and valued. The second opportunity comes from the privileged cooperation between the French and Vietnamese mathematical communities. Most of Vietnam's leading mathematicians have collaborated with France. These collaborations gave rise to the PICS program, the LIA ForMath, and then in 2023 the IRL FVMA, the most advanced form of cooperation within the CNRS.

But there are also many challenges: many young talents choose other paths, either by leaving mathematical research or by pursuing their careers abroad. To meet these challenges, we must fully mobilize our assets.

First, VIASM is constantly expanding its activities, attracting a growing number of international researchers. Second, the Institute of Mathematics at VAST is strengthening its regional cooperation programs, notably through the UNESCO Mathematics Center. In addition, the University of Science and Technology in Hanoi has launched a bachelor's degree in applied mathematics and will launch a master's degree in mathematics this year. At the same time, mathematics has always been an important scientific discipline, but today it is demonstrating even more its role and applications in other areas of cutting-edge research.

I hope that the IRL FVMA's programs will be aimed not only at researchers from institutes but also at university lecturers and researchers, in order to broaden opportunities for cooperation. I also hope that we will view collaboration with other institutions not as competition, but as a partnership that will enrich our activities and foster new collaborations.