Professor Dr. Phan Van Ngan, a famous scientist in oceanography, is well-known among the Vietnamese community in Brazil.

Brazil's Antarctic Research Center on King George Island in the Antarctic Peninsula (Photo: baoquocte.vn)

Having settled for nearly 50 years in Brazil, Ngan has devoted most of his life teaching and guiding students at the Oceanographic Institute under the University of São Paulo to study marine biology in the Antarctic.

Ngan was born in 1936 in northern Hai Duong province. He won a scholarship to study in Japan in 1958. After earning his doctorate in fisheries at the University of Tokyo and working in Japan for several years, he received support from the São Paulo Research Foundation and the Brazilian National Council for Scientific and Technological Development to join research about fish at the Oceanographic Institute under the University of São Paulo in 1974.

Ngan gained the professor title in 1979 and began teaching and guiding graduate and doctoral students to write theses on the physiological condition of marine species. He became the head professor in the marine biology faculty at the university nine years later.

As Brazil joined the group of countries studying the Antarctic under the Antarctic Treaty in 1981, the Oceanographic Institute under the University of São Paulo was selected to establish the Antarctic Research Team to carry out some research projects in the programme. Ngan was assigned to lead the team twice.

After the Antarctic Research Team stopped its operations, Ngan continued to research and teach in Brazil’s Antarctic Research Programme and work at Brazil's Antarctic Research Center on King George Island in the Antarctic Peninsula until 2016.

During that time, Ngan also represented Brazil in the International Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources from 1989 to 1998.

Ngan has retired. However, the professor has still been participating in seminars or presentations on scientific issues. He also likes to cook Vietnamese food during his free time.

He said a few Brazilians know about Viet Nam and vice versa. Ngan suggested increasing exchange activities in the fields of culture, sports, arts and tourism to boost bilateral relations between the two countries.

Source: VNA