History

Established in 1956, Hanoi University of Science and Technology (HUST) is Vietnam’s first multidisciplinary technical university. It is the industrial engineer training center of the country during building and development processes, and the cradle of high quality human resources for the country’s modernization and industrialization.

In its early days, the whole University concentrated its efforts on settling facilities for classrooms and laboratories by renovating and buying new equipment; and at the same time, on the development of managerial and teaching staff to prepare basic conditions for the opening of the First Cohort.

During those challenging days, HUST received strong support from international friends, especially the Government, people and universities of the former Soviet Union through staff development programs, lesson planning and pedagogical orientation.

In 1960, HUST inaugurated the construction of its new campus based on Soviet specialists’ design. The chosen location was the Indochina boarding school (previously the dormitory area of students from the three Indochinese countries under Vietnam’s French colonization, built in 1938), bordered by Bach Mai street (to the east), Dai Co Viet street (to the north), the Old South, or present-day Giai Phong (to the west), and Dai La (to the south). Nowadays, HUST is still one of the universities having the largest areas nationwide.

The first President of HUST was Engineer, Professor and Academician Tran Dai Nghia (1913-1997). He was a leading scientific and technical manager who laid the foundation for Vietnam’s Defense Industry.  

In line with the world’s integration and development tendency, and with open cooperation policies aimed to improve the quality of research and technology transfer, HUST is a prestigious address for foreign and domestic technology development investors, businesses and financial institutions.

Through over 60 years of building and development, HUST has been constantly reforming its leadership and management practices, upgrading training programs, advancing the expertise of lecturers and staff, modernizing facilities and equipment for teaching and research activities to gradually catch up with the robust development of global education.

Major milestones

• October 15th 1956: the Opening Day of the First Cohort, consisting of 848 students of 14 majors from 04 cross-faculties (Mechanics-Electricity, Mining – Metallurgy, Civil Engineering, Chemistry - Foods)
•  March 6th 1956: the Minister of National Education Nguyen Van Huyen signing the Resolution Number 147/ND on the establishment of Hanoi Polytechnic University, or Hanoi University of Technology. Major-General, Professor, and Weapon Engineer Tran Dai Nghia being appointed as the President.
• March 15th 1960: Inaugurating the construction of the new campus on the grounds of Indochina boarding school.
• 1966-1967: Faculties of Civil Engineering and Mining–Geology being separated from HUST to form the National University of Civil Engineering and the University of Mining and Geology; HUST opening postgraduate training programs; providing core cadres for universities in Central and Southern Vietnam
• 2010: Piloting Autonomy at the University
• 2015: Becoming an official member of the Asia-Oceania Top University League on Engineering (AOTULE)
• 2016: Topping the country in the SCImago list.
• 2017: Getting Accreditation from High Council for the Evaluation of Research and Higher Education (France)