Research starts with PhD students

Chapter 149 The youngest winner in history!

At the "Shuimu Station" of the trip to the capital, Qiu Chengwen and Zhang Shuo talked about some problems existing in the academic circle, including misleading academic research and the relatively backward evaluation mechanism in the academic circle.

The so-called "induced academic research" means that research on a certain content is conducted in order to achieve academic achievements and obtain material rewards.

This inducibility is a matter of mechanism.

For example, various types of fund support projects are divided into reward methods such as Excellent Young Scholars, Young Thousand Talents, and Outstanding Young Scholars. Many universities stipulate that only these scholars with "hats" will be provided with generous salaries and housing allowances.

Therefore, young scholars are fighting hard for the "hat"!
On the other hand, there is the evaluation mechanism of the academic circle, including the review of application projects and the evaluation of research results.

A big decisive factor lies in the judges.

Some judges do not understand cutting-edge innovative content and are unable to evaluate innovative research; others classify research and use international recognition as the criteria for judging.

Some judges are even selfish and very resistant to innovative content.

If innovative research becomes popular, it will be difficult for them to gain a foothold.

In this regard, we can give a simple example.

For example, two mathematics papers.

One was published in a Zone 1 mathematics journal and its content was a study on the regularity of complex partial differential equations; the other was published in a Zone 2 journal and its content was an innovative equation proof method.

If we compare the two papers together, which paper's results are more valuable?

Many judges and experts will choose the former without hesitation.

The journals published by the former have a larger impact factor and are conventional studies on the regularity of nonlinear partial differential equations. Their results have a stable international influence.

The latter involves many uncertainties.

One reason is that the journal in which the article is published has a low impact factor, and we do not know where the mathematical methods studied can be used specifically.

This makes it easier for the former to apply for high-funded projects, and brings personal salary and position increases.

The latter may just become a paper that can be included in a resume.

This is the problem that innovative research encounters.

Zhang Shuo never thought that he would encounter a similar problem one day. In his previous life, he was doing theoretical verification experiments on the source point theory, and his direction had never been questioned. This was probably because the source point theory had been deeply rooted in people's hearts and its status was higher than that of string theory in this life.

Many scholars in the field of physics are engaged in the research of the origin point theory. The origin point theory has been recognized internationally, and several teams are conducting verification experiments. The only obstacle to conducting experimental work is the funding that can be applied for.

Things are different now.

In this life, even the unknown physical phenomena have not been identified, let alone the various theories derived from them.

The theory of source point does not exist yet.

Therefore, experimental research is also rootless and unfounded, and may be seen as very innovative but also uncertain by others.

"It's normal to have opposition."

Zhang Shuo thought about it carefully and didn't think anything of it. He comforted Yu Fei instead, "It doesn't matter even if the review meeting doesn't pass. Our research is related to the large-scale experimental deviation analysis algorithm of the computing center."

"As long as we can identify the unknown physical phenomena, we will be able to continue our research."

"Besides, it's not certain that the proposal will not be passed at the review meeting. I think the probability of it being passed is still very high, right? At least, there are few voices of opposition within the Institute of High Energy Physics."

Yu Fei nodded after hearing this. "Director Wu and Academician Gao both support it. Even Academician Tan doesn't seem to be so opposed to it anymore."

He talked about an interesting thing, "The last time I went to the Physics Center, Academician Tan took the initiative to talk to me. He seemed to want to return to the CP group..."

“No one would agree to that.”

Yu Fei said a few words about Tan Zhiming, and then continued, "Director Wu has been working on this matter these days. I hope it can be resolved."

……

As the director of the Institute of High Energy Physics, Wu Jianning is very concerned about the CP group projects.

That's the scope of his work.

The research direction of the Cp group was also determined at the meeting of the Institute of High Energy Physics Center.

Wu Jianning does not participate in the work of the Cp group, but as the director of the Institute of High Energy Physics and one of the nominal leaders of the Cp group, he certainly does not want the project to be suspended due to external reasons.

After the project review meeting, Wu Jianning had been in contact with relevant persons. Later, he simply went to the office of the Project Review Committee and found the chairman of the review committee, Vice President Wang Jin.

He asked directly, "President Wang, the research of the Cp group is an important direction of the Institute of High Energy Physics. Why did the project review fail?"

Wang Jin is the chairman of the review committee and also the vice president, but in fact his rank is the same as Wu Jianning.

Both of them were academicians with the same rank, so Wang Jin could not act like a leader. He made a cup of tea for Wu Jianning and then explained, "Director Wu, don't worry. This is the decision of the review committee."

"You may also be aware of the problems with the new direction of the CP group. The basic theory has not been recognized internationally. We cannot determine the experimental direction of a project worth hundreds of millions of dollars based on mathematical knowledge."

"What if the theoretical basis is wrong? We think that there is a high probability that there will be no fruitful discoveries in the new direction. Isn't this a waste of national wealth?"

Wu Jianning took a deep breath and said seriously, "We have made a report on the new direction, and invited many scholars from outside the institute, including Academician Xu Jianming and representatives from the Science and Technology Department, who all agree with the research."

“They are not professional.”

Wang Jin said, "A theoretical basis must be generally recognized by peers. Academician Xu Jianming also conducts high-energy physics research, but he should not be a professional scholar in the field of particle physics, right?"

Wu Jianning continued, "Our theoretical physics office also agrees with the research."

"Your theoretical physics office?"

Wang Jin smiled and asked, "Yan Ming? As far as I know, he studies string theory. To put it bluntly, Yan Ming doesn't have much influence internationally."

Wu Jianning was choked by these words and trembled all over. He stared at Wang Jin and asked loudly, "Dean Wang, you are also a theoretical physics major. You have conducted research on the standard model of particles and participated in experiments in Europe, right?"

"I believe that you are capable of understanding those theories. Don't you think their contents are very interesting?"

“It’s wonderful.”

Wang Jin nodded in approval, "Not only is it brilliant, it's even stunning. It shows that Professor Zhang Shuo has an extremely high level of mathematics."

"But what's the point?"

Without waiting for Wu Jianning to speak again, he continued, "Director Wu, this is not my personal opinion. It was decided by the review committee, and it was decided by a vote."

"Whether your project will continue or not depends on the subsequent project review meeting. There will be many people participating, including some academicians, professional scholars, and other people. They will vote to decide. If the review is passed, the project can continue."

Wu Jianning was so angry that he trembled. He could no longer remain calm. He pointed at Wang Jin and said, "Mr. Wang, you are speaking in an official manner to me?" "Everyone knows that you are the vice president and the chairman of the review committee. If you didn't take the initiative to say that you wanted to block the project, how could the review committee not pass it? What's the point of voting or not? Everyone knows the situation."

"Who doesn't know this? To put it bluntly, you don't think highly of the theory, you don't think highly of the research? Right?"

"Okay, we'll just wait for the council!"

Wu Jianning yelled a few times, not caring about other people's looks, and walked out angrily.

After we left the building, two reporters came up to the door to interview us.

Generally speaking, Wu Jianning would not accept interviews, especially when it comes to matters related to the institute's projects, there are many things he cannot talk about.

Now he couldn't care less and said directly to the reporter, "I came here today for the CP group project."

"Wang Jin thought Zhang Shuo's theoretical research was worthless, so he blocked the CP group's review..."

Wu Jianning said a few words in an atmosphere and then walked away.

The reporters' eyes were shining!

This is big news!

In just half an hour, related reports appeared in the media and even quickly became a hot topic.

The hot keywords are, #Wang Jin thinks Zhang Shuo’s research is worthless#.

If you only look at the hot keywords, you would think that Wang Jin denied all of Zhang Shuo's research. In fact, he denied the relevant research in theoretical physics, and it was Wu Jianning who said this to reporters.

However, the topic is still very hot.

Zhang Shuo has long been a popular figure, and a large number of netizens have paid attention to him and even started discussing it, saying, "The two academicians are in conflict over this matter!"

"Director Wu obviously supports Zhang Shuo, while Vice President Wang Jin thinks Zhang Shuo's research is worthless and is not optimistic at all. Some support and some do not. What are they arguing about? It can't be the numerical simulation of the NS equation, right?"

"That's of course impossible. It should be related to the CP group project. It's basic physical theory."

"I see."

"What level is Wang Jin? He actually said that Zhang Shuo's research is worthless..."

Wang Jin's face turned dark when he saw the news.

He never expected that Wu Jianning would dare to tell the truth, which would put him directly on the opposite side of Zhang Shuo.

Normally, it doesn’t matter much, but the problem is that under the public opinion environment, the situation is different when standing opposite Zhang Shuo.

Zhang Shuo is an academic star and has a large number of supporters among young people in universities.

These supporters have relatively higher education levels and will not do anything extreme, but their influence is definitely very bad.

Wang Jin also began to pay attention to public opinion, and things turned out to be just as he had imagined. A lot of content appeared on the Internet. Someone even dug up Wang Jin's resume, analyzed what kind of research he had done one by one, and then directly compared it with Zhang Shuo's results.

In terms of the number of published papers, Wang Jin wins.

However, in terms of the influence of the top achievements, the two sides are not even on the same level.

Wang Jin is similar to Yang Haifeng. His main research is to promote the shaping of the standard model of particles. He also has a certain influence internationally, but he can only be said to be a relatively large "screw" in the work of shaping the standard model of particles.

Then there were a lot of words that were unfavorable to Wang Jin.

Fortunately, the "academician" still has a certain influence, and the public opinion hotspot did not last long before being suppressed.

However, many people still have the impression that Wang Jin thinks Zhang Shuo's research is worthless.

……

A few days later, Zhang Shuo received good news.

Physical Review Letters informed him that his paper had passed the review and would be published in the next issue.

Zhang Shuo breathed a sigh of relief. He had originally thought that there would be problems with the paper review because it was pure theoretical physics research, targeting unknown physical phenomena that had not been determined, and it involved a completely new construction.

If you want such content to pass the review, luck is also an important factor.

If you encounter a reviewer who does not like the new theoretical content, you may simply fail it.

It is difficult to say the value of theoretical physics research. The string theory, which has the greatest influence internationally, is worthless in the eyes of many scholars because the relevant theory cannot be verified. Some scholars even comment on it as a "castle in the air."

Castles in the air are beautiful, but they do not exist.

After the paper was approved, Zhang Shuo also paid attention to the work of the CP group and noticed the controversy between Wu Jianning and Wang Jin in public opinion. His research was the focus of the controversy.

Many people on the Internet are also discussing "What is the research that Wang Jin thinks is worthless?"
Many people also left messages to Zhang Shuo.

Zhang Shuo simply posted a Weibo, with the title of the paper in the message - "Electromagnetic Force and Chaotic Force Field - Unknown Physical Phenomena in Particle Collision Experiments", and also noted that it could be viewed on the pre-release website.

Finally, he said, "The paper has passed the review of Physical Review Letters and will be officially published in the next issue."

After sending the message, the phone suddenly rang. The caller was Wu Jianning, director of the Institute of High Energy Physics.

He picked up the phone and asked in confusion, "Director Wu?"

Wu Jianning on the opposite side shouted, "Zhang Shuo, congratulations!"

Zhang Shuo was stunned for a moment. He looked at the time when the Weibo post was published and confirmed that it was published half a minute ago. He immediately asked, "You found out so soon?"

"You know it too?"

Wu Jianning's tone was obviously a little surprised, and then he said, "Anyway, congratulations on winning the first prize in natural sciences, that's amazing!"

"This is the first first prize since the reform, and also the first first prize in mathematics since the reform!"

Zhang Shuo was stunned for a moment before he understood. "First prize in natural sciences? Has it been confirmed?"

"confirmed."

Wu Jianning said, "I know the people on the award committee. They told me that you deserve this award. The numerical simulation of the NS equations has solved many problems in applied engineering."

"At the same time, you have made history for the award."

"The youngest winner in history and the first first prize in mathematics since the reform, it's amazing!"

(End of this chapter)