HANOI, VIETNAM – Media OutReach Newswire – 17 November 2025 – The VinFuture Foundation officially announces the 2025 VinFuture Sci-Tech Week agenda, taking place from December 2 to December 6, 2025, in Hanoi. Under the theme “Rising and Thriving,” this year’s annual international event continues to reaffirm VinFuture’s mission to connect global knowledge, catalyze meaningful contributions to humanity, and elevate Vietnam’s position as an emerging hub for science and innovation.
The 2025 Sci-Tech Week will feature seven key activities: “Inspirational Talks: The Next Breakthrough,” “Science for Life Symposia,” “VinFuture Discovery Talk Series,” “The Foliage V – The Touch of Science,” “2025 VinFuture Prize Award Ceremony,” “A Dialogue with the 2025 VinFuture Prize Laureates,” and “Presidents Forum on Disruptive Innovations in Higher Education.”
At the heart of the event is the 2025 VinFuture Prize Award Ceremony, held on the evening of December 5, 2025, at the Ho Guom Opera House (Hanoi). The ceremony honors outstanding scientific achievements that have created positive and enduring impacts for millions—even billions—of people worldwide. This year, the Prize will honor scientific achievements that embody and advance the values of “Rising and Thriving” for humanity, in complete alignment with the theme and powerfully reaffirming VinFuture’s mission to celebrate human intellect, champion humanistic values, and elevate the pursuit of a better life for all.
Alongside the Award Ceremony are six accompanying activities, beginning with the “Inspirational Talks: The Next Breakthrough” on the morning of December 2, 2025. This session convenes leading scientists and experts to share their perspectives on the technological trends poised to shape the world in the decades to come, enriched by compelling presentations and dynamic, visually immersive demonstrations.
Following this is the “Science for Life” Symposia, taking place from December 2 to 4, 2025, and offering five deep-dive panel discussions on the pressing issues of our time: “Global Frontiers – AI Ethics and Safety for Humanity,” “Advances in Disease Detection, Diagnosis & Treatment,” “Innovation in Agriculture & Food,” “Intelligent Robotics & Automation,” and “Science and Innovation for a Sustainable Future,” all bringing together distinguished experts from across the globe. Notably, leading figures of the AI and Internet era — Prof. Geoffrey Hinton and Prof. Yoshua Bengio (VinFuture Grand Prize Laureates 2024), as well as Dr. Vinton Cerf (VinFuture Grand Prize Laureate 2022) — will deliver profound messages through pre-recorded videos on the role of science in advancing humanity.
The next highlight is the “VinFuture Discovery Talk Series,” expanded to include 10 universities and research institutes nationwide, offering tens of thousands of students, faculty members, and researchers the opportunity to engage directly with and be inspired by the world’s leading scientists.
Following the Award Ceremony is “A Dialogue with the 2025 VinFuture Prize Laureates,” an all-day event on December 6 at VinUniversity. In the morning, the laureates will share their expertise, experiences, and research journeys with the scientific community and the wider public in Vietnam, followed by specialized afternoon sessions tailored for young scientists and enterprises committed to translating research into practical applications.
Also on December 6, VinUniversity will host the “Presidents Forum on Disruptive Innovations in Higher Education” bringing together leading figures in education from Vietnam and around the world to discuss the future of teaching and learning, as well as the pioneering role of Vietnamese universities in this new era of innovation.
Alongside the scientific programs, a notable highlight is the exhibition “The Foliage V – The Touch of Science,” marking the first collaboration between two non-profit institutions: the VinFuture Foundation and the Vincom Center for Contemporary Art (VCCA). The exhibition celebrates groundbreaking discoveries, advanced materials, and scientific achievements that have accompanied humanity’s sustainable development, presented through large-scale artworks created by some of Vietnam’s most prominent contemporary artists. Taking place from December 2, 2025, to February 28, 2026, the exhibition offers a journey that connects the public with science through artistic expression and rich multisensory experiences.
From an initiative born in Vietnam, the VinFuture Prize has, by 2025, completed five award seasons, presenting 20 prizes to 20 groundbreaking scientific achievements by 48 researchers from five continents. These award-winning works have each made profound contributions to human progress. Notably, several VinFuture Laureates have subsequently been recognized with prestigious international distinctions such as the Nobel Prize, the Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering, and the Breakthrough Prize—affirming the Prize’s pioneering role and forward-thinking vision.
The VinFuture Prize, together with the VinFuture Sci-Tech Week, not only forges a vital channel connecting Vietnam’s scientific and technological breakthroughs with the global community, but has also evolved into a distinguished emblem of openness and international scientific cooperation—positioning Vietnam not only as a dynamic crossroads of knowledge, but as an illuminating beacon that inspires humanity’s shared pursuit of progress.
Notable scientists participating in the “Science for Life” Symposia (December 2–4, 2025):
- Prof. Toby Walsh, Scientia Professor of Artificial Intelligence and Chief Scientist at the AI Institute, University of New South Wales (Australia);
- Assoc. Prof. César de la Fuente, expert in Machine Biology at the University of Pennsylvania (US);
- Prof. Ho-Young Kim, world-leading specialist in fluid mechanics and soft materials at Seoul National University (South Korea);
- Prof. Kurt Kremer, Director Emeritus of the Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research (Germany) and Member of the German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina;
- Prof. Aldo Steinfeld of ETH Zurich (Switzerland), recipient of the 2024 SolarPACES Lifetime Achievement Award from the International Energy Agency;
- Prof. Chuanbin Mao of The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen (China), ranked among the world’s top 2% most-cited scientists in biomedical engineering;
- Prof. Raphaël Mercier, Director of the Department of Chromosome Biology at the Max Planck Institute for Plant Breeding Research (Germany)…
