Three years devoted to the research
The article says Huyền spent three years working on the thesis. She described the milestone as the beginning of further responsibility towards research rather than a final destination and said she wanted to continue studying other topics.
Associate Professor Trường Giang, an academy deputy director involved in supervision, initially questioned whether Huyền could balance public activities with sustained academic work. She said the supervisors set demanding requirements and that fame or beauty titles conferred no special preference. Their work together led her to recognise the candidate's initiative and persistence.
Journalism alongside an earlier public career
Huyền won Miss Vietnam in 2004 and reached the Miss World top 15 that year. In 2007 she went to Britain's Middlesex University to study journalism before returning to further study and work in Vietnam.
More recently, her academy work has taken priority over artistic appearances. She has also worked in film, television, editing and presenting. That career background explains her connection with journalism, but it does not replace academic assessment of the thesis. The new development is the 13 October defence and her stated intention to continue research, rather than any claim that a beauty title establishes scholarly quality.