(From left to right): Prof., Dr. Nguyen Thi Thanh Mai, Vice President of the University of Science at the Vietnam National University HCM City (VNUHCM); and Prof., Dr. and Meritorious Teacher Nguyen Minh Thuy from the Department of Food Technology, College of Agriculture, Can Tho University. (Photo: VNA/VNS)

The award ceremony took place in Hanoi on Monday.

The awardees are Prof., Dr. Nguyen Thi Thanh Mai, Vice President of the University of Science at the Vietnam National University Ho Chi Minh City, and Prof., Dr. and Meritorious Teacher Nguyen Minh Thuy from Can Tho University.

Mai led 14 ministerial and provincial-level research projects, with one of the most outstanding ones on extracting active substances from plants for the development of new drugs for diabetes, gout and melasma.

Meanwhile, Thuy’s research has focused on addressing issues in distribution of agricultural products and provision of support for farmers and agribusinesses hit by natural disasters, fire and epidemics.

"The award marks a turning point in my career. I will continue to focus on developing safe agricultural products in Vietnam and abroad, using specialties of each locality," said Thuy.

The Kovalevskaya Award is named after Russian mathematician Sofia Kovalevskaya, and is awarded by the fund of the same name. The fund operates in eight countries in Latin America, Africa and Asia.