AQUATIC RESOURCES MANAGEMENT - IU PROGRAM

Aquatic Resource Management Program

“Adaptability to climate change is essential to a successful future”

Why choose Aquatic Resource Management Program?

• Aquaculture has developed rapidly in the past decade to become a key economic sector in Vietnam. Fisheries export turn-over was more than US$ 5 billion in 2010.
• Graduates in Aquatic Resources Management and Aquaculture will play a key role in this economic sector ensuring the industry continues to develop and that the natural environment and resources are managed and conserved. Vietnam and many countries along the coastal zones are predicted to be influenced by global climate changes. Rising sea level will likely see an expansion of marine aquaculture businesses as land becomes unsuitable for traditional agriculture practices.
• The Aquatic Resource Management Program at IU-VNU was developed in consultation with international experts and local business and government agencies. The program therefore provides graduates that are in demand by both government agencies and the private sector. It has also enabled students to continue with their studies at international universities that have collaborated with IU-VNU in the program development.

Features of Aquatic Resource Management Program at IU-VNU:

Features of Aquatic Resources Management Program at IU-VNU:

• All course lectures are in English.
• More than 90% lecturers have Ph.D qualifications from internationally and regionally-renowned universities.
• The high quality study program is recognized by many high-ranked institutions around the world which enables students to study the first 2 years at IU-VNU and another 2 years at a partner university in the US, UK, and Australia.
• The program provides knowledge and advanced technology skills in aquaculture and assessment and management of aquatic resources. It also equips students with business management related skills suited to the changing global market.
• New, international standard training facilities and laboratories .
• Students can participate research activities at IU-VNU sponsored by international and local partners.

Program goal:

To produce graduates who have knowledge of scientific and management practices related to aquaculture and aquatic resources, together with a high level of English language skills

General requirements for enrollment

• Proficiency in English: TOEFL > 500 scores or equivalent.
• Vietnamese students must successfully pass the national entrance exam for university study.
• International applicants will be assessed by the University Enrollment Committee, followed by an interview for final approval.

Tuition fee, living cost and scholarship

• Tuition: approx. US$ 1,500/year
• Living cost: US$ 300 - 400/month in HoChiMinh City
• Scholarship: the IU-VNU offers 4-year scholarship for outstanding students (100% of the tuition fee) based on the entrance exam scores and other scholarships based on academic performance each semester.

Career opportunities

• Aquatic resource management and development are global issues, especially in the context of climate changes. There are therefore a broad range of career opportunities for IU graduates who have the necessary scientific and English language skills. Employment avenues include: Scientific officers or policy developers in governmental organizations or NGOs, technical and managerial positions in foreign or local aquaculture/aquaculture support enterprises (aquaculture production, feed production, food processing, disease control). The graduates can also pursue careers as researchers or lecturers at universities, or they can study further to achieve Master or Ph.D degrees either locally or abroad.

The curriculum is designed based on students’ English level as the followings:

• English level 1: TOEFL >= 500 (equivalent TOEFL IBT 60)
• English level 2: 430 =< TOEFL <500
• English level 3: TOEFL < 430 (equivalent TOEFL IBT 40)

COURSE DESCRIPTION

General Chemistry

To introduce students to general chemistry and to provide students with a firm foundation in chemistry for careers in science and engineering. Upon successful completion of this course, the students should be able to demonstrate basic knowledge

Biochemistry

This course provides a systematic and methodical application of general and organic chemistry principles. It explores the essential molecular basis of life and equips the students with basic concept in biochemistry. The emphasis will be on chemical properties and 3-D structure of these molecules in relationship to the biological function.

Environmental Science

To equip undergraduate students with essential knowledge about the environment, natural resources and human ecology

To increase general awareness of undergraduate students about possible impacts of human activities on the environment and natural resources in order to justify relevant economic practices

Biology

The course introduces the key concepts of biology. Topics ranging from cellular structure and function with emphasis on metabolism and cellular signaling, plant and animal biology to genetics and its application in biotechnology, evolution and biodiversity are all discussed within the context of fundamental principles that pervade all organisms. Techniques and methods important for the study of life are also covered.

Genetics

This course introduces the mechanisms of inheritance and gene action from molecular to population levels. Topics include: mendelian principles; extension of mendelian principles; genetic materials and gene expression; quantitative genetics and population genetics.

Critical thinking

Critical Thinkingstudies a process which is indispensable to all educated persons--the process by which we develop and support our beliefs and evaluate the strength of arguments made by others in real-life situations. It includes practice in inductive and deductive reasoning, presentation of arguments in oral and written form, and analysis of the use of language to influence thought. The course also applies the reasoning process to other fields such as business, science, law, social science, ethics, and the arts.

Immunology

The immune system helps body in resistance to the foreign substances, e.g, bacteria, viruses, parasites, allergens, toxins. Immunology studies the cells, organs of immune system, antigen, antibody, and the molecules in the cell interactions and the antibody formation. Nowadays, there are a lot of applications of immunology in studying vaccine, treatment for autoimmune disease, cancer, monoclonal antibody, and in tissue or organ transplantation.

Introduction to Business Administration

To provide knowledge of the scope, depth, and mission of the University

To introduce the functional areas of business and the integration among them

To give students a strong awareness of global issues, including an understanding of approaches to business ethics and multinational issues

To develop students' basic research, analysis, writing, computer, teaming, and presentation skills

To develop students' applied critical thinking skills and communication through the development of a portfolio of a firm in an industry in which they are interested.

Research Methodology

Research methodology is a compulsory course offerred to second year students. Through this course students can approach basic scientific methods such as identification of research problem, experimental and sampling design, application of statistical softwares for data analysis and presentation. Apart from lectures a course project will be developed and conducted by students in order to apply theory into practices.

Biostatistics

It is a core major course, provided for sophomore-level students at school of biotechnology. The main content includes: scope, nature, tools, language, and interpretation of elementary statistics. Descriptive statistics; graphical and numerical representation of information; measures of location, dispersion, position, and dependence; exploratory data analysis. Elementary probability theory, discrete and continuous probability models. Inferential statistics, point and interval estimation, tests of statistical hypotheses. Inferences involving one or two populations, anova, correlation and regression analysis, and chi-square tests; use of statistical computer packages (spss).

Molecular Biotechnology

This course introduces students to molecular biotechnology, a scientific discipline arises from the combination of recombinant dna technology and biotechnology. Students will learn the key recombinant dna techniques, which including polymerase chain reaction, dna cloning and sequencing, the principles of expression of recombinant proteins in prokaryotic and eukaryotic systems, in particular strategies to improve the yield of recombinant products in prokaryotic systems. Molecular biotechnology has great contribution in many aspects of our life, ranging from human health care to agriculture and environment. Selected examples of these applications will be studied in this course. In addition, various ethical issues related to the exploitation of molecular biotechnology will be considered.

Business Communication

This course covers both the theories and tools needed to build and manage e-commerce sites. Specific topics include e-commerce business models, marketing, security, hosting options, secure-transactions, web server installation and configuration, web services and interfacing with legacy systems.

Marine Biology

This course provides an introduction to marine biology and marine ecology. It covers the ‘science’ of marine biology; describes the ecosystems and cycles that operate within different marine environments; details how organisms have adapted to the extreme abiotic factors; considers the importance of the ‘ocean’ to life on earth and how mans exploration and management of marine resources requires an understanding of the systems generating the resources.

Field trip

This course is a compulsory one. Students will assess the resource status of a particular water body and its characteristics. Main issues are physical and chemical characteristics of water, organism community, and environmental impact assessment.

Scientific Writing Workshop

Through a series of lectures and workshops, students will: revise the concept of forming and testing a hypothesis; learn how to structure and organize ideas and concepts, carry out a comprehensive literature review, present research results and discuss them in relation to existing published data, draw conclusions and make recommendations for future research. Examples from a range of journals will be studied and significant differences in style and citation methods discussed.

Bioinformatics

Bioinformatics is the field of science in which biology, computer science, and information technology merge to form a single discipline. The goal of this subject provides students with basic concepts of bioinformatics, online biological databases, as well as several methods and tools to analyze biological targets of interest.

Internship

Student has to work for 2 months or 176 hours at manufactory or research institute that relates to at least one of below categories:

- Molecular biotechnology (microbiology, genetics, plant / animal biotechnology)

- Biomedical science (pharmacology, pharmaceutical biotechnology, analytical chemistry, molecular dianosgtic, immunology)

- Industrial biotechnology (biochemistry, food biotechnology, fermentation biotechnology, bioinformatics, bio-product quality assessment)

- Marine biotechnology and aquaculture (environmental biotechnology, aquaculture, environmental  toxicology)

- To whom working at manufacturing factories: the students get knowledge in materials; structure and operating machines, equipments; and technological process in manufacturing and preservation of biotechnological products.

- To whom working at research institutes: the students get knowledge in working in a laboratory such as lab safety, lab equipments and apparatus. They also learn how to do a research, looking for research issue and methods, technical analysis, etc.

Marine Biotechnology

Marine biotechnology is the application of scientific and engineering principles to the processing of materials by marine biological agents to provide goods and services. This course introduces the history, current status, technologies and research needs of marine biotechnology. Basic knowledge is provided together with practical examples; all are relevant to Vietnam’s development context. The content of this course encompasses (i) exploitation and development of marine bio-resources, (ii) identification and extraction of natural bioactive products for uses in medical treatment and different industries, (iii) application in utilizing marine fisheries by-products and (iv) application in marine environmental monitoring and management.

Project management

This course provide the foundation knowledge for student on project management which strengthens their competence on competitive labour market, as well as equip them with a strong skill to organize and manage the project in the future career.

Aquatic Ecology

Aquatic Ecology course provides basic knowledge about: ecology and ecological characteristics of living organisms in aquatic environment; organic environment, biomes and their relationship in the aquatic areas of freshwater, brackish and salt water; ecosystem, basic characteristics of ecosystem and take advantage of them in management of aquatic resources.

Introduction to ARM

This course provides basic knowledge about natural resources, aquatic resources, current exploitation and management, threats and interference ability of science and technology.

Aquatic Microbiology

Aquatic microbiology introduces to students knowledge about characteristics of aquatic microorganisms, such as micro-algae, bacteria, yeasts, viruses; their role in the cycles of physical transformation; applying in fisheries sector.

Global Climate Changes

Global climate changes course provides students with knowledge and updated information about the causes of climate change, progress and prediction. The interaction between climate change and aquaculture, aquatic resources management is considered as the key component of the course, helping students to orient future practices in a way that makes use of these changes and at the same time avoid.

Fish Physiology

This course provides knowledge about physiology of fish with a special focus on tropical species. Key topics include: fish development, circulation system, respiration, metabolic processes, osmoregulation, hormonal control in reproduction.

Hatchery Technology

This course provides the basic knowledge of artificial propagation for aquatic species, including establishment of broodstock population, broodstock conditioning, induce-spawning, larval and juvenile rearing, principles of hatchery design and hatchery operation.

Aquaculture Genetics and Selective Breeding

This course introduces the theoretical basis for breeding and selection in aquaculture species. Topics include: Basic principles of inheritance based on a single locus; basic statistical parameters and prediction of breeding value, breeding strategies and election approaches, design of breeding programs, and molecular genetic methods to identify DNA markers and their applications.

Monitoring of Aquatic Environment and Resources

This course introduces the state-of-the-art technologies in monitoring of open water and its resources, emphasizing on optical and biological approaches. The major contents include environmental monitoring, surveillance of pollution progression, biological monitoring systems, biological analysis and biological sensor.

Fish Management

Students will gain the key features of fisheries in Vietnam and its current status of fisheries management.

Modeling in Natural Resource Management

The course addresses the beneficial use of mathematical modeling in natural resource management. As a result of studying this course, students will achieve the knowledge and skills of development and interpretation of the mathematical models that will be applied in natural resource management.

Integrated Coastal Zone Management

Habitat demand and industrial development of multi-disciplines along coastal zones cause several conflicts of using water, land and related resources. The course of Integrated Coastal Zone Management equips students with the understanding and improved skills of management to balance the benefits and minimize the conflicts resulting from any development plans and uses of water and related resources. Many case-studies of integrated coastal zone management from Vietnam and the world will be used to demonstrate the course.

Aquaculture Systems Design

This course provides the basic knowledge in development and operation of an aquaculture system together with the required facilites & equipments.

Fish Nutrition and Feed Formulation

This course addresses many aspects of nutrition of aquaculure species, including the nutritional and energy requirements of cultured aquatic animals. Students who completed this course will be able to analyze the nutrients of various feed ingredients and to develop a diet formulation for certain aquaculture species. In addition, the students would carry out the trial to evaluate the roles of dietary nutrients for development and growth of aquatic species.

Live Foods Production

The course provides the knowledge for students and trains the methods for biomass culture of microalgae, artemia, copepod, rotifers and enrichment technique.

Fish Diseases

‘Fish diseases’ is a compulsory course; this course provides basic knowledge about fish diseases, common diseases, disease diagnostic and testing, effective methods for prevention and treatment.