From top student in college to scientific research powerhouse

Chapter 27 Nonsense! Utter nonsense!
Shi Yaokun was stunned.

He hadn't expected Zhang Minghao to refuse so decisively, and to appear so resolute.

He couldn't understand.

A PhD student received an offer from the R&D department of a high-tech company. Upon joining the company, he was appointed as the 'R&D team leader' and received a top salary of two million plus year-end profit sharing.

Isn't that appealing enough?

Let alone doctoral students, even some well-known university professors would have to seriously consider it.

As for academic studies, it is possible to pursue a doctorate while working.

For top talents, academic qualifications are not so important; experience as a project leader in a large research institution is far more valuable than a doctoral degree.

This resume is the passport to becoming a 'semiconductor industry R&D institution'.

How could the other party refuse so decisively?
He said... he was pursuing his doctorate at Jiangzhou University under Professor Xue Kun's guidance?
Xue Kun?

Shi Yaokun glanced at Xue Kun, who had a kind and honest face, and his opinion of the other man improved significantly.

He took a deep breath, composed himself slightly, and said with a smile, "Zhang Minghao, you are focused on your studies, and we cannot force you to do anything against your will."

"We still hope to cooperate with you on the improvement of the semiconductor model."

"How to cooperate?"

Zhang Minghao is prepared for cooperation, but the specific cooperation method depends on the other party.

Shi Yaokun explained, "We wanted to do it through a university-enterprise cooperation model. You are a doctoral student, so the situation is different, but there's no rule that doctoral students can't participate in cooperation."

He looked at Wang Guiyuan as he spoke.

Wang Guiyuan immediately nodded in agreement, saying, "Director Shi is absolutely right. Doctoral students can certainly engage in university-enterprise cooperation; there's no problem with that at all!"

He glanced at Zhou Qi as he spoke.

Zhou Qi immediately realized what was happening and quickly went to move a few chairs. Finding that there weren't enough chairs, he went to other rooms to find a few more so that everyone could sit down.

When it comes to research, I just listen.

When discussing school-enterprise cooperation, wherever the company representative is, that's where the reception room is!

The people in the office sat down.

Shi Yaokun nodded to Wang Guiyuan and then said, "Director Wang is here too, so we can have a brief talk first."

He said he was talking about "university-enterprise projects," but actually he was referring to Zhang Minghao, saying, "This is what we're thinking: the difficulty of the project lies in data analysis and computation."

"The difficulties in data analysis and computation lie in three parts: manual calculation, approximate transformation, and convergence verification..."

He then discussed the cooperation methods.

Simply put, it involves breaking down the process of calculating and analyzing experimental data.

The computer analysis and approximation transformation were done by their team; the manual calculation, the initial and analysis parts of the convergence verification, which were also the most difficult steps in the analysis process, were completed by Zhang Minghao's team.

The final part of the convergence verification was completed by their team.

This part involves the correction of model parameters, which in turn involves confidentiality issues.

For Zhang Minghao, keeping the final part confidential was meaningless; knowing the convergence verification data would allow him to understand the parameter correction of the model.

It's different for other people.

It's difficult for them to deduce anything from the data they handle, thus ensuring a certain level of confidentiality.

Zhang Minghao thought about it carefully and shook his head, saying, "Director Shi, your idea is very good, but the problem is that what we are doing is not groundbreaking research."

"We're just helping you with the complex computational analysis; we won't produce any results or publish papers, so it's not very attractive, is it?"

Shi Yaokun frowned and remained silent.

Zhang Minghao continued, "I've recently been researching visual light perception models."

"It's a project by Professor Sun Wen's team in the Micro-Nano Optics Laboratory. It's very interesting. Once the research is successful, we can use the technology to make objects invisible."

"Harry Potter, you know? There's an invisibility cloak in it. You can wear it and become invisible so that no one can see you."

"Perhaps it really will come true in the future..."

After he finished speaking about his ideas, he asked, "Director Shi, New Creation Technology mainly focuses on semiconductors, but you might also be interested in other high-tech fields, right?"

Are you interested in this project?

Zhang Minghao evaded the question, leaving the others somewhat confused.

Wang Guiyuan leaned close to Zhou Qi's ear and whispered, "Why did he suddenly bring this up?"

"Invisibility technology sounds high-end, and he even actively sought sponsorship for the project. If we can secure this cooperation, the funding will be substantial!"

Zhu Bingkun then looked at Xue Kun, his eyes conveying a clear message: 'Zhang Minghao is researching this?'

Xue Kun's face was filled with confusion.

I do not know!

Shi Yaokun understood.

The other party mentioned 'impractical' research, and combined with what was said before, the meaning is quite clear.

He quickly assured them, "New Creation Technology has always maintained a high level of investment in cutting-edge technology research and development."

"In the field of cutting-edge technology, high investment is the only way to achieve high returns. Our only goal is to 'make it faster and better'."

To put it bluntly, there's plenty of funding!

Zhang Minghao nodded in satisfaction and quickly moved on to the next question, "How much experimental data is there?"

"We plan to complete the data entry for at least one hundred experiments, which includes several thousand datasets..."

The following discussion goes into more technical terms.

Zhang Minghao needs to understand the specific data situation, because some data sets are very complex, while others are relatively simple.

The workloads of the two groups differ significantly.

The difficulty of high school math olympiad problems is obviously different from that of elementary school math problems.

What are your demands?

"As I just said, the goal is to achieve it faster and better, and the faster the better, while ensuring accuracy."

"If you want it to be faster, the costs will be different."

"Don't worry about that. We've always maintained a high level of investment in research and development. Technological research and development is inherently a race against time..."

Shi Yaokun and Zhang Minghao discussed the matter, each taking turns speaking.

Everyone else understood as well.

Although I didn't fully understand, it was clear that the two 'shady businessmen' were testing each other's capabilities and bottom lines.

After a long time, an agreement was finally reached.

Shi Yaokun and Zhang Minghao stood up and shook hands, both with smiles on their faces, seemingly very satisfied with the result.

Both parties reached a verbal agreement. Shi Yaokun then prepared to leave with his men, and before leaving, he discussed the issue of school-enterprise cooperation with Wang Guiyuan.

Although the collaborator is a doctoral student, we still need to follow a specialized university-enterprise cooperation route.

It's done through proper channels and is subject to oversight.

The school also needs to do its work, including supporting Zhang Minghao in building a research and development team and communicating with the startup technology companies on issues such as funding and projects.

Wang Guiyuan readily agreed.

As soon as Shi Yaokun and the others left, a large group of people surrounded Zhang Minghao, asking, "What happened just now? Did you reach an agreement, but didn't you mention the funding?"

What is the scale of the project?

"Is it not groundbreaking research? Is it because of the high funding? It seems to involve a lot of mathematical work?"

"What kind of collaboration do you need to build a team for?"

Zhang Minghao's head was spinning.

He quickly added, "They will send someone to negotiate, then we'll find out."

……

The next morning, in the Publicity Department office of the Administration Building.

Clerk Wang Shuo hurriedly found Director Yang Liping, "Director, take a look at this!"

“A post on the campus forum said that a doctoral student who had just been expelled from Donggang University enrolled in Jiangzhou University.”

"They were expelled in February and enrolled in March, and the reason for the expulsion was falsification of experimental data and papers, which involves academic ethics issues!"

Wang Shuo continued, "It's also online, and it's become a hot topic on Weibo..."

Yang Liping frowned.

After Wang Shuo finished speaking, she carefully read the posts on the forum and the information on the internet.

The post on the school forum has hundreds of replies, and there are many things to be careful about in the comments, such as, "A second-generation rich kid has come to our school?"

"Donggang University committed academic fraud, so he came to Jiangzhou University to continue his doctoral studies?"

"You dropped out of school for a week and immediately enrolled in another school. Even transferring schools doesn't happen that fast!"

The internet is full of pictures and Weibo posts, clearly explaining the situation.

A large number of self-media outlets on Weibo reposted the article, along with some rather sharp comments, such as, "A student expelled from Donggang University is immediately enrolled at Jiangzhou University. Do they think all the universities in China belong to them?"

"We can't help but ask Jiangzhou University: Are students with academic blemishes admitted arbitrarily?"

"Do PhD students tend to focus on research? If they've already fabricated experiments, how can they continue doing research?"

Yang Liping knew that something was amiss.

Universities today are most afraid of online public opinion, as even a small matter can be blown out of proportion.

Once it's exposed online, it will attract media attention, and the next step will be reporters coming to interview...

There's no need to wait for the next step.

Wang Shuo has already started answering the phone. When reporters call to inquire about the situation, he can only say that he is "not clear at the moment" and "has not received any news".

"We can't delay any longer!"

Yang Liping immediately called the academic affairs office and obtained Zhang Minghao's detailed information, discovering that it was ultimately approved by Academician Tan Yanming.

Academician Tan Yanming?
After thinking for a moment, she called the Faculty of Science's administrative office.

Wang Guiyuan answered the phone.

When he heard that it was about Zhang Minghao's school admission, Wang Guiyuan said nonchalantly, "Director Yang, it's not a big deal, why did it get escalated to the internet?"

"Isn't this a big deal? If it gets circulated online again, it'll almost be trending!"

Wang Guiyuan thought for a moment and then said, "Director Yang, don't worry, listen to me."

“If any reporters call again, you should clearly state that there is no problem with Zhang Minghao’s admission. You should show a strong attitude of protecting him and be firm.”

"Don't feel guilty. Zhang Minghao's admission was not a problem in the first place. He fully meets the school's requirements."

"Don't worry, nothing's wrong."

Yang Liping was stunned.

Is there really no problem with enrollment? The reporter called again and gave a firm reply.

How did Wang Guiyuan become so tough!

Aren't you afraid something might happen?

Yang Liping thought for a moment and then called the optics lab, who then transferred the call to Tan Yanming.

Tan Yanming was talking to someone about what happened yesterday, "One of our doctoral students is collaborating with New Creation Technology and may be about to get a big project."

"It has little innovation and cannot publish papers, but it has high funding and a lot of funds available for allocation."

"From what I understand, it seems that most of it involves mathematics..."

Standing next to him is Zhao Jianyang, Dean of the School of Mathematics at Jiangzhou University.

Zhao Jianyang didn't care at first.

Later, when they heard "lots of funding" and "lots of funds available for allocation," their eyes lit up with envy.

In school, the person who had the worst time was the math professor.

Many mathematics professors, especially those who do pure mathematics work, are lucky if they have a project worth a few hundred thousand yuan. Only the top mathematics professors can get projects worth hundreds of thousands of yuan.

Over a million...

It's basically reserved for academicians.

A project that requires a lot of mathematical work and has a high degree of financial freedom is practically a boon to the mathematics department, isn't it?
The two were talking.

Tan Yanming received a phone call and heard Yang Liping on the other end talk about public opinion issues.

"Zhang Minghao?"

"Is it the PhD student who got the project?"

Before Tan Yanming could say anything, Zhao Jianyang was already furious.

He snatched the phone and shouted, "Nonsense!"

"It's just nonsense!"

"What problems could there be with a doctoral student's admission!"

"PhD students aren't like undergraduates, where a supervisor can take them on whenever they want and not take them on whenever they don't!"

“You should tell the public that Jiangzhou University is willing to admit Zhang Minghao, and no one else can interfere!”

"If anyone has a problem, let them come to me!"

(End of this chapter)