World-renowned nuclear physicist Philippe Quentin toured the campus of Tan Tao University on December 13.  His visit also included discussions with TTU Provost Tran Xuan Thao of the possibility that TTU would host an international conference of nuclear physicists in 2011.  

After his campus tour and meetings to discuss the conference, Professor Quentin commented, “I am impressed by the considerable investment of thoughts and means put in this University.  What one is able to see now, tells already a lot about its future.”

A distinguished Professor Emeritus of Physics at the University of Bordeaux, France, Professor Quentin is a frequent visitor to Vietnam and has arranged for at least 10 Vietnamese physicists to earn their Ph.D. degrees at the University of Bordeaux.  Accompanying him to TTU was Dr. Tran Viet Nhan Hao, who studied with Professor Quentin in Bordeaux and is now on the faculty of the University of Danang.  Dr. Hao and the other Vietnamese graduate students mentored by Professor Quentin had the extraordinary experience of working with more than 100 other physicists at Le Centre d’Etudes Nucleaires de Bordeaux Gradignan (CENBG), one of the leading physics research centers in the world.

Hanoi National University’s Master’s program in nuclear physics was established under the guidance of Professor Quentin.  He has been selected as the principal French collaborator with Vietnamese universities for the development of new programs in nuclear physics.  He has worked closely with physicists throughout the world – including Russia and the U.S. – on the development of educational and research programs.  His own specialties are high energy physics and theoretical physics.