Faculty of Oriental Studies organizes an orientation session on thesis proposal writing and supervisor consultation for Master's students in Asian Studies
On the afternoon of July 18, 2026, the Faculty of Oriental Studies, University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Viet Nam National University Ho Chi Minh City held an orientation session on thesis proposal writing and supervisor consultation for Master's students in Asian Studies at room D406, Saigon campus, Ho Chi Minh City.
Attending the session were Assoc. Prof. Dr. Phan Thi Hong Xuan – Head of the Faculty of Oriental Studies; MSc. PhD Candidate Hoang Son Giang – Center for Science and Technology Development for Youth, Ho Chi Minh City Department of Science and Technology, along with all Master's students in Asian Studies, class of 2025.
The activity was organized to support students in orienting their research from the very early stages of forming their thesis topics, helping them clearly define their approaches, build research structures, select appropriate methods, and effectively exploit reference resource systems. Through direct discussions with lecturers, students received feedback on their topic titles, research scope, and guidance on choosing supervisors, thereby gaining a better basis to refine their research ideas and select topics suited to their personal abilities, expertise, and development direction.
During the session, students registered for a diverse range of research directions, focusing on fields such as political ideology, traditional culture, belief – religion, linguistics, social policy, international relations, and contemporary issues in many Asian countries, especially India, Japan, Thailand, Myanmar, China, and Vietnam.
The topics demonstrate students' interest in both academic depth and practical application, ranging from research on cultural identity, heritage conservation, and residential communities to issues regarding gender, cultural diplomacy, social transformation, and development trends in the context of globalization. Based on each specific topic, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Phan Thi Hong Xuan and MSc. PhD Candidate Hoang Son Giang provided professional feedback on refining topic titles, identifying research problems and questions, building theoretical frameworks, selecting research methods, and sources, as well as providing guidance on content development, contributing to improving the scientific rigor and feasibility of each proposal.
After the orientation session, Master's students will have one week to continue refining their research ideas and officially register their thesis titles. Based on the research orientation of each topic, the Faculty Board will advise and propose full-time lecturers with appropriate expertise to supervise students during the process of developing their proposals and conducting their theses. In necessary cases, the Faculty will propose inviting lecturers or experts from outside the institution to participate in supervision in accordance with the University's regulations.
The orientation session is an important professional activity in the postgraduate training process of the Faculty of Oriental Studies, contributing to improving the quality of students' scientific research while creating an open academic environment that encourages interdisciplinary thinking, independent research capacity, and connections between students and the faculty and experts during the Master's thesis implementation process.
Some photos from the session:
