Research starts with PhD students

Chapter 122 Six hundred thousand lecture fees? Tan Youming: I am willing to be vulgar every day!

In an interview, Qiu Chengwen said that Zhang Shuo's research was good enough to be nominated for the three major international mathematics awards. When the media reported it, it became that Zhang Shuo's research was able to win the three major international mathematics awards.

This is how the media reported it. It was a little exaggerated and was lenient. Otherwise, Fields might have been confirmed directly.

The report sparked heated public debate.

Many people are discussing the three major mathematics awards and analyzing which award Zhang Shuo might win.

"The three major international mathematics awards, Albert, Wolf, and Fields, should we win all of them, or just one of them?"

"Fields is the most famous. Qiu Chengwen has won Fields and Wolff. I don't know about Albert. Wolff may also have a chance..."

“Which award specifically?”

"Academician Qiu only said that it can be obtained, not immediately? The report did not make it clear..."

In the eyes of professional scholars, the relevant discussions are somewhat ridiculous.

Even if Qiu Chengwen's judgment is correct, the only prize Zhang Shuo has a chance of winning is the Fields Prize, which is known as the 'Nobel Prize in Mathematics'.

The Albert Prize was only first awarded in 2003. It has had a significant impact since its establishment, but it is generally awarded as a personal lifetime achievement.

The Albert Prize does not specify the age of the winners, but since 2003, the winners have all been over 60 years old, some even 70 or 80 years old.

The youngest winner was Andrew Wiles, who proved Fermat's conjecture. He won the award at the age of 63.

At the age of 63, he is already the youngest winner.

Zhang Shuo is only 25 years old, so it is obviously impossible for him to win an award in the short term.

The Wolf Prize in Mathematics also has no specified age limit for the winner, but is generally awarded to mathematicians over 40 years old.

In fact, the Wolf Prize in Mathematics was first established because the Fields Medal was awarded to young mathematicians under the age of 40, and older mathematicians had no chance of winning the award. Therefore, the Wolf family donated million US dollars to establish the Wolf Foundation.

Considering Zhang Shuo’s age, the only player who could possibly get it is Fields.

After receiving the message from Tan Youming, Qiu Chengwen realized that something was wrong. He looked at the public opinion on the Internet and realized that the media's reports were exaggerated.

This kind of thing is very normal, and there is nothing wrong with it if he thinks about it carefully.

What he said was 'enough to be nominated', but it was misinterpreted as 'enough to get', and barely is acceptable.

Nomination actually means 'queuing up'.

Fields is an award for contributions to mathematics in various fields. A contribution can be a major achievement or continuous work, which is a combination of several important achievements.

The former is more important.

The most representative winner was Andrew Wiles, who was older than Fields' 40-year age limit, but because of his outstanding contribution to completing Fermat's conjecture, the Fields Award Committee still awarded him a silver medal.

For the latter, you need to queue up.

International academic awards also require queuing. Whether it is the Nobel or Fields, many people continue to be nominated as award candidates.

These are the people who are 'in the queue'.

There are queues, and of course there will be queue-jumping. If you achieve sudden great results, you can jump the queue and directly get the next award.

In Qiu Chengwen's opinion, Zhang Shuo's research on 'NS equation computational simulation' is not good enough to win an award.

However, superimposing the research on 'general algorithm for second-order PDE' is also enough to qualify for 'queuing up'.

There is nothing wrong with the media reporting that Zhang Shuo's research is good enough to win the award, it's just that he needs to wait in line, but we don't know how long it will take.

"Tan Youming should also know this..."

"Just, why did he specifically say that I 'reviewed it too early'?"

Qiu Chengwen was so depressed that he couldn't even sleep because of thinking about it. "I won't talk to this guy named Tan anymore!"

"I have something to say!"

"What did you do? Isn't this uncomfortable?"

Tan Youming really meant well to remind me.

Zhang Shuo has not only one paper, but three related research papers!
There are three articles, one is a computational simulation, and the other two are analytical transformation methods of the NS equations.

The other two papers have also passed peer review, and the reviewers are two famous Fields winners:

One is the Italian mathematician Alessio Figali.

Another is the famous British mathematician Martin Hale.

Alessio Figali and Martin Heyer are both famous geniuses and top scholars in the field of nonlinear partial differential equations.

It is not easy to find scholars in the field of partial differential equations who are more famous and accomplished than them throughout the world.

The fact that Advances in Mathematics asked the two of them to serve as peer reviewers showed that they had put in a lot of effort, and it naturally shows the importance they place on research.

The review has been passed and it has been confirmed that it will be published in the next issue, which shows that both Fields Medalists have a positive attitude towards the research.

At the same time, it also shows that the research must be very important.

Now that only one paper has been published, Qiu Chengwen says he can win the Fields Medal. What will he say when the remaining two papers are published?
Has it reached the point where if Fields doesn't award it to Zhang Shuo there must be something fishy going on?

Don't be too confident when talking.

It is really hard to say about Fields’ selection. Even if he reaches the level of being selected for the award, he may not be selected in the upcoming session.

In addition, computational mathematics belongs to the category of applied mathematics.

The research results may be worthy of Fields Medal, but looking at the past Fields Medal winners, there are relatively few winners in applied mathematics.

In short, it is uncertain whether or not one will win the award.

Tan Youming thought about it and shook his head. Putting aside Qiu Chengwen's matter, just the fact that he published three papers in four major journals in one go, just the research on numerical simulation of NS equations, was enough to surprise people.

That is the numerical simulation of the NS equations, and the application significance of the research is enormous.

Previously, there was controversy in the media as to whether Zhang Shuo was the number one in computational mathematics in China. Once the remaining two papers are released, there will probably be no more controversy, right?

Who has the courage to stand up and compete with the scholars who have completed the numerical simulation of the NS equations for the position of the number one in computational mathematics!

There is no best in literature because the gap is not that big.

The gap is so huge, the first place will be undisputed!

……

Capital, headquarters of the Second Academy of Aerospace Science and Technology.

Before the paper was published, the Second Academy of Aerospace Science and Technology had already known about Zhang Shuo's research. The manuscript brought back by Xu Jun and his colleagues went through the Bureau of Science, Technology and Industry and finally reached the hands of experts from the Second Academy of Aerospace Science and Technology.

The Second Academy of Aerospace Science and Technology found many relevant experts to analyze the contents of the manuscript and were amazed at Zhang Shuo's research progress.

The manuscript is not the complete paper, so they cannot judge whether the research is correct or not.

After the new issue of the Journal of the American Mathematical Society was published, they no longer needed to make any judgments and began to discuss internally.

The NS equations are directly used for aerodynamic simulation of aircraft and rockets, and aerodynamic simulation is directly related to the design and safety assurance of aircraft and rockets.

this is very important.

Zhou Yongchang, chief designer of large launch vehicles, chaired an internal meeting and said, "We need to upgrade the electronic simulation system, but the numerical calculation of nonlinear partial differential equations has always been a big problem."

"Our cooperation project with the Institute of Science, Technology and Engineering of Soochow University can only solve some of the calculation problems of partial differential equations. The numerical calculation of complex nonlinear equations such as the NS equation has always had large deviations."

"Professor Zhang Shuo from Soochow University is a top expert in this field. His latest research has solved the problem of numerical simulation of the NS equations."

"I think we should cooperate with him..."

Zhou Yongchang explained his idea, that he hoped to cooperate with Zhang Shuo to improve the aerodynamic simulation system and the electronic simulation system. Du Bin was a little pessimistic, he said, "This is difficult, right? We wanted to find Professor Zhang Shuo to conduct research on the PDE algorithm before, but we were rejected."

"I know Professor Zhang Shuo. He only likes to do innovative research and is not interested in pure algorithm research."

An expert frowned and said, "What should we do? We can't hand over this level of algorithm project to other teams or organizations, right?"

"Or, can we do it ourselves?"

Du Bin thought for a while and said, "Professor Zhang Shuo may not agree to work on the project together, but if we ask him for more detailed research materials, he probably won't refuse."

"You only study by referring to the materials? You still don't understand the content you don't understand?"

"I read the paper and found a lot of content, so there may be some misunderstandings."

"Yes, algorithm research still needs to be more rigorous. If there is a deviation in understanding, the algorithm produced may have a large deviation."

"We need a more precise algorithm..."

A lot of people started discussing it.

Du Bin thought for a moment and made a suggestion, "Or, could we invite Professor Zhang Shuo to give a lecture?"

"We can ask Professor Zhang Shuo for research materials and study them ourselves first. If we have any questions or difficulties, we can ask him specifically during the lecture. That should be fine, right?"

Others started discussing it and all felt that Du Bin’s proposal was feasible.

One expert asked doubtfully, "It's fine to let him come to the lecture, but will he come if we ask him to? He is not a researcher at the Second Academy. I heard that he has joined the CP group of the Institute of High Energy Physics and is very busy at work."

"If we ask him to come in the name of the Second Academy or the Science and Technology Industry Bureau, wouldn't that be a bit inappropriate?"

Asking Zhang Shuo to give a lecture in the name of the Second Academy or the Science, Technology and Industry Bureau is a bit like moral kidnapping, which would be offensive to anyone.

Zhou Yongchang thought about it carefully and said, "This is it!"

"We'll pay for the lecture. Six hundred thousand should be enough, right?"

He explained, "Last time at the rocket launch base, Professor Zhang Shuo helped us solve the pogo problem in the rocket test launch. We were going to give him a bonus, but in the end we didn't."

"Now, in the name of a lecture, I can give him another 50, and then add the normal lecture fee, , is that okay?"

The others discussed it and all thought it was feasible.

This is killing two birds with one stone!
On the one hand, the bonus that was not given out last time is given out.

They didn't think there was any benefit in keeping the bonus. Other scholars helped the Second Hospital solve big problems, so it was natural to give them the bonus.

If you are reluctant to even give out bonuses, other scholars will not sincerely help you when you encounter problems in the future, after all, it is not your own research.

The lecture fee of 100,000 is relatively high, but compared with the numerical simulation of the NS equation, it is nothing at all.

Zhang Shuo’s lecture can solve many problems and the benefits it brings far outweigh the expenses.

……

Soo Dong University.

Vice President Zhang Qiu Sheng also knew that Zhang Shuo had published three papers, and the remaining two had passed the review and would be published in the next issue of "New Advances in Mathematics".

This news made him distressed, or rather, made the management of Soochow University distressed.

Zhang Shuo's performance was so outstanding that they were very afraid of losing this talent.

How can we retain talent?
Zhang Qiu Sheng pondered for an entire night and talked with several administrative directors and professors, and finally came up with a good idea.

He immediately found Tan Youming and went to Zhang Shuo's office together.

Zhang Shuo was writing materials and drawing in his office. He was preparing for a new experimental direction for the CP group. When he saw Zhang Qiusheng and Tan Youming coming together, he stopped and asked, "What is this...?"

"Professor Zhang Shuo!"

Zhang Qiusheng said with a smile on his face, "It's like this. The school considered your situation and decided to appoint you as a 'distinguished' professor."

Zhang Shuo immediately shook his head, "I don't have time to teach for the time being."

As a teaching position, you are responsible for undergraduate courses. As long as you teach a course, you have to spend a lot of time every week teaching.

Zhang Qiusheng shook his head and said, "That's why I said 'distinguished professor'. Distinguished professors are different from professors. There is no set course length."

"Let's put it this way..."

“As a distinguished professor, it is sufficient to give one or two lectures each semester.”

He explained in detail.

Distinguished professor is a special appointment, which is first and foremost an honor and is given specifically to scholars who have made special academic contributions or have academic expertise.

Distinguished professors are not on a lifetime basis and generally sign contracts for one to five years.

Many contracts of this type are prepared for foreign scholars. For example, some famous mathematicians will serve as distinguished professors at a certain university, but in reality, it is good enough if they can come twice a year.

Zhang Shuo was originally a researcher in the School of Mathematics, which could also be called a professor. Soochow University signed a contract with Zhang Shuo as a distinguished professor, which was almost equivalent to giving him double salary benefits.

Zhang Shuo understood and had no reason to refuse. Being a teacher was too troublesome and required a lot of time to prepare courses and teach students. However, giving one or two lectures in a semester was not a problem.

He agreed.

Soon the school had a protocol ready.

Zhang Shuo went to the administrative building to sign the agreement. He just looked at the contract, signed it, and it was over.

After signing, Wang Duoju walked in and said, "Professor Zhang Shuo, did you know that the Second Academy of Aerospace invited you to give a lecture?"

"what?"

"what happened?"

Zhang Shuo was a little confused, and Tan Youming and Zhang Qiu Sheng also asked curiously.

Wang Duoju explained.

The school received an invitation letter from the Second Academy of Aerospace Science and Technology, inviting Zhang Shuo to give a lecture on computational mathematics at the Second Academy of Aerospace Science and Technology.

"Going to Xijing? Did they say when? Isn't that a bit too much trouble?"

Zhang Shuo asked several questions in succession.

Wang Duoju said, "The invitation letter said that we were going to the capital, to the headquarters of the Second Academy of Aerospace Science and Technology, and it also listed the lecture fee as 600,000 yuan."

"How many?"

"Six hundred thousand? Are you sure?" Tan Youming asked in surprise.

"I looked at it for a long time and it was indeed 60. I even called to ask." Wang Duoju confirmed, "It is 60!"

Several people looked at Zhang Shuo together.

Zhang Shuo thought about it for a while, then hesitated, "Well... okay."

"I happen to be going to the capital to join the CP group at the end of the month. When I do, I'll go over there for a visit."

"The Second Academy of Aerospace Science and Technology may need help with some important research, and we can't refuse..."

He sighed and shook his head.

After hearing this, Tan Youming felt so envious that he wanted to cry.

Although it's a bit vulgar for scholars to talk about money, but, the Second Academy of Aerospace Science and Technology invited me to give a lecture and paid me 600,000 yuan for each visit?
If he could be invited, he would be willing to be vulgar every day...

(End of this chapter)