INTRODUCTION
The UEH School of Economics (UEH-SE) was founded in 1993, out of the merger of the Faculty of Planning – Pricing – Labor and the Faculty of Agricultural and Rural Development (both established in 1976). That was the moment when the first unit specializing in economics was established, not only at the University of Economics Ho Chi Minh City (UEH) but also in Viet Nam.
EDUCATION OBJECTIVES
The UEH School of Economics provides young economists with basic and advanced economic knowledge, researching skills and experience in analyzing and evaluating public policies. Students graduated from this school should be able to work in both public and private sectors. Since its establishment, the school has been contributing significantly, in term of human resources and expertise consultancy for government agencies and policy institutes, for banks, real estate companies, financial institutions and other private enterprises, for universities, research institutes and non-government organizations.
EDUCATION LEVELS
Undergraduate level
A wide range of majors are available for students to choose in the second year of the program. The School of Economics offers six undergraduate programs, including:
– Applied Economics
– Planning and Investment Economics
– Labor Economics and Human Resource Management
– Agricultural Economics and Rural Development
– Valuation
– Real Estate Economics
The curriculum focuses on providing economic experts, who are well-trained with the knowledge and expertise required to work in various areas of the economy, in which economics foundations and analytical skills are key components. The Bachelor of Economics degree requires a four-year study period.
Graduate level
In response to the demand of education and training at the master level, UEH School of Economics offers four master programs in:
– Development Economics;
– Health Economics and Management;
– Economic Management; and
– Valuation.
Not only bringing chances of higher education to graduate students, these master programs have also played a significant role in the overall development of the country by supporting government officials and local cadres with in-depth understandings and advanced skills on economic analyzing and policy implication.
Doctoral level
The School of Economics offers a PhD program in development economics with experienced faculty graduated from popular universities around the world and the academic content following international standards. Doctoral degrees in development economics are awarded by UEH, providing qualified lecturers and researchers to the educational development of Vietnam.
INTERNATIONAL PROGRAMS
The partnership that UEH-SE (and UEH in general) made with foreign universities brings domestic students various opportunities accessing to international-standard education.
For more than two decades (since 1994), the Vietnam – Netherlands Program for Master of Development Economics (VNP) has helped hundreds of Vietnamese students to acquire higher knowledge and to master researching skills, creating groups of researchers, lecturers, activists and proficient labors. Its international quality has been guaranteed by the co-management of the UEH-SE and the International Institute of Social Study (ISS) in Erasmus University Rotterdam.
The Joint Training Program with Victoria University of Wellington – New Zealand in Bachelor of Commerce and Administration has fulfilled the dream of studying abroad for numerous undergraduate students since 2002. While the first phase of study takes place at the UEH-SE campus under the cooperation of the lecturers from both universities, students will attend Victoria University in the second phase. The Bachelor degree is awarded by Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand.
RESEARCH
UEH-SE’s academic staffs have been recognized as one of the most active researching teams in Vietnam since its establishment. A wide range of research topics has been carried out by numerous researchers from many disciplines with the funding from the Vietnamese government and various international organizations such as IUCN, SIDA, DANIDA, AUSAID, USAID, IISD and EEPSEA. Some of the major topics which have been studied by UEH-SE are:
– Economic growth and macro stability;
– Environmental valuation;
– Natural resource management;
– Climate change and adaptation behaviors;
– Choice modelling and consumer behaviors;
– Production analysis with environmental factors;
– Poverty, vulnerability and livelihood;
– Agricultural production and agribusiness;
– Risk preferences and individual behaviors; and
– Social capital and community development.
A great number of researches conducted by UEH-SE faculty have also been published on popular academic journals such as: Journal of Public Economics; Oxford Economic Papers; Land Use Policy; Resource and Energy Economics; Ecological Economics; Agricultural Economics; and The Journal of Economic Psychology.
The academic life in UEH-SE is also lively by lots of seminars and conferences. The weekly Small Talks Big Ideas (STBI) seminar has become an important economic forum for researchers from many universities in Ho Chi Minh City to discuss interesting and advanced topics as well as updated technical methods with both domestic and foreign economists.
FACULTY
UEH-SE’s teaching team consists of 50 lecturers, including 2 professors, 4 associate professors, and PhDs who own wide-range of academic specializations and are well-trained at reputation universities in Vietnam and foreign countries such as the US, Sweden, Canada, Japan, Australia, New Zealand and the Netherlands. Our academic staff also consists of permanent foreign lecturers, visiting lecturers and volunteers, who have engaged in teaching, training, and seminars from popular universities all around the world.
FACILITIES
Library
The library in the campus provides students with a wide range of books, journals and other academic materials. An online management system makes the inquiry and searching convenient for every user. Being contributed by the cooperation of UEH with famous universities such as Harvard University (the Fulbright Program), Erasmus University (the Vietnam – Netherlands Program for Master of Development Economics) and Victoria University (the Joint Training Program in Bachelor of Commerce and Administration), our library serves students at multiple levels with rich resources for the purposes of study and research. The increasing number of journals that is available for students to access also makes the journal of studying and researching easier than ever in our school.
Computer Lab
Two computer labs with high-speed internet and well-functioned local networks support significantly our lecturers and students work. In addition to the students’ daily using, the labs are also important facilities for many behavioral experiments and economic analyses conducted by researchers in and out of UEH. With the Blackboard technology and Z-tree experimental software, for years, the labs have been used for experiments such as behaviors in risk and ambiguity conditions, bidding, price discrimination and negotiation, social dilemma and social preferences.