The research paper titled "Market Reaction to the Announcements of Free Trade Agreements: Evidence from Vietnam"* co-authored by Phuong Thao has shown that the Vietnamese stock market reacts negatively to the information related to the announcement of the signing of free trade agreements (FTAs), especially bilateral FTAs. In addition, the negative reaction will be stronger for stocks in sectors that do not have Vietnam's strengths such as finance, real estate, heavy industry, and energy. The research results recommend carefully considering the signing of the FTA, and at the same time, have reasonable support policies for the industries affected by the FTA.

This is a worthy achievement for Phuong Thao's study and research at the Faculty of Finance and Banking, affirming the scientific research capacity of students in the international applied research environment of UEB - VNU.

Let's meet Nguyen Thi Phuong Thao to learn the secret of success of the small but powerful girl in class QH-2018- E TCNH CLC3 K63!

Reporter: Hello Phuong Thao! Congratulations on your achievement with a scientific article published in a prestigious international journal.

At UEB, how were you and the students oriented in the process of studying and doing scientific research?

UEB is one of the typical universities in Vietnam that orients students to practical applied research.

Since being a 2nd year student, I and my fellow students have had access to and done small research papers. After that, when we were in our 3rd year, we were able to participate in scientific research competitions at faculty, university and VNU levels, as well as being supported in the process of doing scientific research by the lecturers. Student clubs such as the RCES Science Research Club are an environment to incubate and develop students' abilities and passion for scientific research, helping us to learn and exchange experiences from each other.

With the trend of internationalization in training and research, UEB has really created the passion and development of our students' scientific research activities.

Reporter: During the research, did you encounter any difficulties?

For students, doing serious and methodical research is not easy. We students often do not have the opportunity to access official sources, data mining will be difficult and take a long time. Due to my inexperience, I myself encountered many obstacles in running the regression model as well as in the writing process.

Reporter: How has the learning and research environment of UEB created motivation and conditions for students to overcome difficulties and develop their capacity?

UEB really gave me great motivation in the process of doing scientific research. The university regularly organizes programs and contests for students of scientific research. The lecturers are dedicated to supporting students in the process of doing research, such as opening training courses for students on research methods, providing reputable sources...

In addition, groups of students participating in competitions on scientific research are supported with a part of the funding, researches with good results are added to some elective subjects.

In particular, the lecturers of the University of Economics, VNU always orient and support us to have the best research papers submitted to domestic and international conferences and prestigious international journals. This is a very important step for us to communicate, grow and be more stable after graduating from university.

Reporter: How did the lecturers of the Faculty of Finance and Banking inspire and support me during the process of doing research in general and writing the above article, especially, this is a scientific research paper published in the journal prestigious international press?

UEB with the orientation of applied research and internationalization of research products is an environment to develop the scientific research movement of lecturers and students. Over the years, the university has made many achievements in research and transferring research results to the Government, organizations, businesses and society. The passionate spirit as well as the achievements of the teachers have given students a lot of motivation in the research process.

Participating in and winning the third prize in the Faculty of Science Research Competition also helped me realize my love of research. With the support of lecturers in the Faculty, I gained more knowledge and experience in doing research and gradually nurtured my passion.

In addition to the scientific research movement, the teachers of the Faculty of Finance and Banking also support students a lot in other activities. As a participant in the CFA Research Challenge, I always receive suggestions and support from the lecturers, helping us to go deeper into the next round and be honored to become the Top 9 CFA Research Challenge Vietnam 2021.

Reporter: How do you plan to develop scientific research in the next years of study at UEB?

I hope to connect with lecturers in the Faculty in particular and in the University in general so that I can have more international publications in the near future. As a final year student, I am also gradually completing my graduation thesis. I hope that my graduation thesis topic can be a springboard to help me continue to develop that topic in the future.

Reporter: Thank you and once again congratulations on this outstanding achievement! I hope you continue to be more successful at UEB with the guidance of the lecturers!

>> Detailed information about the article co-authored by Phuong Thao in the Forum for Social Economics Journal of the prestigious Taylor and Francis Publishing House: https://doi.org/10.1080/07360932.2022.2037448