From top student in college to scientific research powerhouse

Chapter 90 This has blown up! It can even create a whirlwind! Unbelievable…

Each case will be discussed on a case-by-case basis, and special cases will be approved on a case-by-case basis!

Once Professor Chen made the announcement, the Provincial Department of Science and Technology and its subordinate Provincial Science Foundation quickly sprang into action.

Song Xiaofeng, the head of the Provincial Department of Science and Technology, attached great importance to the project and was very pleased, because he felt that having the project of Zhu Bingkun's team conducting follow-up research on the Zhang phenomenon approved by the province was tantamount to a political achievement being handed over to them.

The "Zhang phenomenon" was reported to the Ministry of Science and Technology as soon as it was discovered. The Ministry of Science and Technology also organized an expert group to conduct an acceptance review. Normally, subsequent research would be supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China.

Research on new physical phenomena is bound to be a major project, with funding often exceeding ten million yuan, which is beyond the reach of provincial science foundations.

Both the National Natural Science Foundation of China and the Provincial Science Foundation support scientific research, but in reality, they belong to different systems.

The National Natural Science Foundation of China is under the Ministry of Science and Technology, while the Provincial Science Foundation is under the Provincial Department of Science and Technology.

The Provincial Department of Science and Technology is part of the provincial government and is not part of the Ministry of Science and Technology. Research projects are approved at the provincial level and funded by the Provincial Science Foundation. If research results are achieved, the Provincial Department of Science and Technology will naturally be credited, and it will have nothing to do with the Ministry of Science and Technology or the National Natural Science Foundation of China.

Of course, this is on the premise that the research and development results are achieved.

But just as Teacher Chen said, Song Kaifeng also trusts Zhang Minghao and Zhu Bingkun's team.

The other party is researching a high-tech material, and the technology transfer fee can reach 100 million yuan, while the maximum support from the provincial science foundation is only 10 million yuan.

Moreover, Zhang Minghao has clearly stated that the research has made great progress.

So what are you hesitating about?

The Provincial Department of Science and Technology and the Provincial Science Foundation demonstrated exceptionally high work efficiency.

Fast approval of project application reports.

After communicating with Jiangzhou University to expedite the project approval process, and symbolically publicizing the project approval documents, an expert review meeting was held just two days later, at which the project was unanimously approved.

Once the expert review is passed, the project is officially approved and can be made public.

Jiangzhou University's official website published an announcement titled "Our Electromagnetic Laboratory Applies for Provincial Scientific Research Fund 'Case-by-Case' Major Project".

The official website of the Dongchuan Provincial Department of Science and Technology published the "Announcement of the Approval of Major Basic Scientific Research Support Projects under the 'One Case, One Discussion' Approval System".

After opening the announcement page, you can see that the project name for the "one matter, one discussion" public notice is "Experimental and Mechanism Research on Zhang's Conjecture".

The project belongs to the Applied Electromagnetism Laboratory of Jiangzhou University.

Each case is a major project and cannot be treated like an ordinary project with only one name.

Therefore, the announcement page also includes a brief introduction to some projects, including the research team, past research experience, research content and main direction, and laboratory photos, etc.

The announcement of this project immediately attracted the attention of scholars in the same field.

The academic circle in China is not large, and the physics circle is even smaller. If you narrow it down to electromagnetics, condensed matter physics, or even metamaterials and Zhang's phenomenon research, the circle is so small that even if you create a group and bring in all the major researchers, you still can't get a hundred people.

In such a small circle, no news can be kept secret, let alone the public announcement of major projects.

Within an hour of the announcement being released, a lively discussion broke out in the group chat where Zhu Bingkun and Zhang Minghao had left.

No one expected that Zhu Bingkun's team would apply for a provincial science fund instead of a national natural science foundation project after their application was rejected by the National Natural Science Foundation of China.

Ten million yuan in funding is the maximum support that the provincial science foundation can provide, which is quite enviable.

This matter has nothing to do with most people.

For example, Cui Ji.

Cui Ji was just gossiping with others, thinking that even if he couldn't get the National Natural Science Foundation of China, getting support from the Provincial Science Foundation was not bad.

A grant of ten million yuan is not much less than that of a major project supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China.

Some people, however, think differently, especially those related to the rejection of Zhu Bingkun's team's application, because the public announcement stated that Zhu Bingkun's team's research direction was still 'increasing liquidity'.

The reason why Zhu Bingkun's team's project application was rejected was because they believed that researching 'electromagnetic transfer' was the correct direction.

The two directions are in direct conflict.

The fact that the direction of 'electromagnetic transfer' is correct indicates that research on 'increasing fluidity' is not advisable and will not make any progress.

vice versa.

Peer review and expert evaluation are conducted after considering their opinions before rejecting project applications. In fact, some of these experts are reviewers themselves.

It can also be understood that they "coerced" the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) into acknowledging the "electromagnetic transfer" direction, while Zhu Bingkun's team did not bow down and simply gave up applying for the NSFC and instead applied for the provincial science foundation.

This has really blown things up!

What started as a difference in academic views has now escalated into an academic dispute, a struggle for discourse power over research directions.

Once the other party's research yields results, it means they are wrong, and everyone in the academic circle will know it. They won't need to say anything about the research direction of the ZXZ phenomenon anymore.

Yan Lihua could no longer laugh.

He was well aware of the seriousness of the matter, as he was one of the review experts.

"Didn't the Dongchuan Provincial Department of Science and Technology consider the research direction at all? The project was approved so quickly? Wasn't it even reviewed?"

Gao Haijun said, "Jiangzhou University is in Dongchuan Province. Zhu Bingkun's team has done so much research, and their team also has Zhang Minghao, who is such a genius... Of course, Dongchuan Province will give them strong support."

He shook his head as he spoke.

Gao Haijun also knew that things had gotten out of hand. If he continued to apply for the National Natural Science Foundation of China, even if he went to the Ministry of Science and Technology at a higher level, he could still say that they had different judgments on the research and development direction.

Zhu Bingkun's team applied for a provincial science foundation project, which means that if the application is rejected, they will not apply again. Their research results are also unrelated to the Ministry of Science and Technology or the National Natural Science Foundation of China.

What will the leaders of the higher-level departments think then?
What will my academic peers think?
Yan Lihua was a direct review expert, and his comments on the projects were all recorded. His judgments were seriously flawed, and his influence in the same research direction is undeniable. It will be difficult for him to be invited to be a project reviewer again in the future.

It could even affect future applications for projects.

Thinking deeper, because the research direction was not recognized, the National Natural Science Foundation of China did not approve the project, but the Dongchuan Provincial Science Foundation not only approved it, but also provided the strongest support.

Once a project yields results, will the professionalism of the National Natural Science Foundation of China's project review be questioned?

This involves damage to reputation. Will the leaders in the higher-level departments who are related be held accountable?
Gao Haijun broke out in a cold sweat just thinking about it.

Yan Lihua also realized the problem. He took a deep breath and said, "Let's organize a professional academic conference."

"We need to discuss the phenomenon of 'electromagnetic transfer' with others, so we will hold a special seminar on the phenomenon of 'electromagnetic transfer'."

"Let's clarify our research directions, exchange ideas, and discuss with each other. Ideally, we should achieve a breakthrough in our research..."

……

Applied Electromagnetism Laboratory.

The entire laboratory was overjoyed, as they received two pieces of good news in quick succession.

One of the meetings held by the Ministry of Science and Technology specifically mentioned the Applied Electromagnetism Laboratory.

Jiangzhou University and other relevant departments have discussed building a new laboratory, still named the Applied Electromagnetism Laboratory, located on an open space on the west side of the school, adjacent to the Institute of Micro-Nano Optics.

The initial budget for the construction of the laboratory reached 30 million.

This is equivalent to investing 30 million to relocate the applied electromagnetics laboratory from its original location, which is no different from building a new house and buying some new furniture.

This is the best solution for the laboratory, and everyone will benefit from it.

The original researchers can get promoted to higher professional titles when they work in the new laboratory; for example, they can be promoted from associate researcher to researcher.

After the laboratory expands, some additional positions will be created, and some specially appointed researchers, i.e. postdoctoral fellows, will have the opportunity to stay on directly.

The second piece of news is about the project.

Provincial key projects worth tens of millions of yuan are not much different from national key projects. With a large amount of project funding, the initial laboratory expenses can be reimbursed, and the laboratory funds can also be covered.

In addition, there has been progress in materials research.

After Professor Han Xiaoxu from the Heterogeneous Materials Physics Laboratory joined the project team, he worked with Zhu Bingkun, Xue Kun, and others to study the preparation of cermet materials with progressively decreasing nickel content. The difficulty in developing this material lies in the progressive reduction of nickel content, which must also be within a threshold range that allows the material to enter a special state of negative permittivity.

Material preparation and gradual content control are both extremely challenging.

This cannot be prepared by simply mixing nickel and aluminum oxide powder.

After numerous experiments, the team decided to use a special wet spraying method, which involves wetting the two powders, continuously and rapidly stirring aluminum oxide in a spherical stirrer, and allowing nickel powder to spray out from the edges.

To achieve uniform mixing, the nickel powder is sprayed out in six directions: up, down, left, right, front, and back. Then, through high-temperature stirring, the nickel is slowly pulled from the edge to the center.

The stirring process can be paused when the nickel content at the center reaches the threshold edge.

The next step is to carry out processes such as material drying and sintering.

After the material is prepared, it becomes a non-uniform sphere because nickel is continuously added. The nickel content at the edge is higher than the upper limit of the threshold, so it needs to be tested and cut.

After being cut, it becomes almost a perfect sphere.

In preparation for their first formal experiment, they spent three days creating two spherical materials, each about one decimeter in diameter.

In the back row of the laboratory, in the side laboratory, a row of people stood in front of the glass window, from left to right: Zhu Bingkun, Zhang Minghao, Chen Shuai, and Han Xiaoxu.

Xue Kun completed the final step, walked out of the laboratory and stood next to Zhu Bingkun, saying, "We can begin."

"let's start!"

Zhu Bingkun and Xue Kun jointly controlled the experiment.

After the experiment began, everyone stared at the readings on the flow meter. After only about five seconds, the values ​​on the display panel began to change.

7、11、13、13、12、10、14……

Everyone stared at the numbers on the panel, initially excited, but eventually their brows furrowed in dismay.

"Around 10 o'clock?"

Zhu Bingkun said, "The value is too low, did it fail?"

Chen Shuai said, "It's not exactly a failure. It's been going on for over a minute now. Let's wait a little longer."

He continued to stare at the panel as he spoke.

The others also stared intently without moving, but the number on the panel was only a dozen or so points. This continued for about three minutes before the value began to slowly decrease.

The process of decreasing from 13 to 1 lasted for more than five minutes.

Throughout the experiment, the liquidity value lasted for more than eight minutes, but the highest fluctuation was only '16' points. Anything above 50 points was not considered a finding, and 16 points was simply too low.

"How did that happen?"

"The values ​​have remained unchanged for so long, so it can be considered progress, right?"

"Why is the fluctuation not significant?"

Zhu Bingkun, Chen Shuai, and Xue Kun started discussing it together.

Han Xiaoxu said, "I don't quite understand the principles behind your research, but I feel there shouldn't be any problems with the materials."

The three researchers fell silent for a moment.

They don't understand the principles either.

The research so far has involved continuous experimentation, and the experimental direction was also suggested by Zhang Minghao. To study the principles, we must make more discoveries so that we can use experimental findings as a starting point for analysis.

Xu Qiujian's team followed the same approach, making experimental discoveries first and then conducting analysis.

They all looked at Zhang Minghao.

Zhang Minghao continued to stare at the display panel of the flow meter, his brows furrowed, clearly deep in thought.

He couldn't quite understand it.

This experiment is highly anticipated. He believes it is entirely possible to replicate the experiment at Donggang University, and even create higher and longer-lasting airflow.

The current experimental fluidity lasts for a long time, but its intensity is almost the same as none.

why?
The key point is that the "correct perception" judgment of the experiment is correct!
What's the problem?
Zhang Minghao suddenly saw the spherical material clearly, spherical... direction?
"Yup!"

He suddenly realized what was happening, turned around and shouted, "Cut it open!"

"Cut the ball in half! Then experiment."

"This might be related to the direction. If the ZXZ field is like an electric or magnetic field, with a direction of force, then the force generated by the spherical material cancels out in all directions!"

"Yup!"

"Makes sense!"

Zhu Bingkun, Xue Kun, and the others immediately understood and took the materials to the cutting machine, dividing them into two hemispheres like cutting a watermelon.

They began preparing for a new experiment, placing hemispherical material between the electrodes with the spherical cross-section facing upwards, and placing the flexible sheet of the flow meter above it.

After waiting for about half an hour, the group stood in front of the glass window again.

Xue Kun then came out of the laboratory and together with Zhu Bingkun, they started the experiment.

When the power switch is turned on, the flowability meter's display panel shows a reading almost instantly.

15, 73, 130, 178...

The value kept rising and jumped to over '300' at an extremely fast pace.

330、351、349、356、352……

When the value jumps to around '350', the fluctuations on the display panel stabilize.

Outside the glass window.

Everyone was unable to contain their excitement, but they still stared intently at the display panel, their eyes fixed on the numbers that were changing.

Xue Kun suddenly exclaimed in surprise, "Look up there!"

He pointed to the top of the blotting paper.

The others looked in the direction the finger was pointing. At first glance, it seemed like there was nothing there, but upon closer inspection, they noticed something appearing above them...

"whirlwind?"

"It seems so... but I can't see clearly, it's too clean inside."

"Shine a light on it!"

Zhu Bingkun quickly found a flashlight and shone it on the top of the film, making it slightly clearer.

That was a mini whirlwind!
Directly above the hemispherical material, the air appears to form a reverse convection, creating a small whirlwind.

The laboratory was so clean that the cyclone was not clearly visible, but it could be basically identified under strong light.

Chen Shuai stared at the movement above and murmured, "I originally thought it was just a measurement of airflow, but now it feels..."

"We may have made a very, very remarkable discovery."

"zxz, the Zhang phenomenon really does use electromagnetic control to regulate fluidity!"

He took a deep breath after he finished speaking.

Everyone else was also very surprised. They had only tried to measure the airflow at a higher level, but they had actually created a whirlwind.
Electromagnetic materials with negative permittivity, used to create cyclones?
It's a bit hard to imagine...

(End of this chapter)