If Lu Zhou could really solve the controllable nuclear fusion problem, a research institute wouldn't be a big deal. Lu Zhou could even consider a more generous salary.
After all, China was a flexible country, and the introduction of top international talents was always one of the priorities.
Forget about the reaction of the Chinese academic community.
October was getting closer and closer. The physics community wasn't the only ones that were having a headache because of the name Lu Zhou. The Nobel Prize in Chemistry committee in Stockholm was also having a headache because of this name.
The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences was located in a quiet corner of the research institute building.
Olof Ramstrom, who had just finished an internal meeting of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry committee, was sitting at his desk. He was reading a thesis in his hand.
"Physics? You sure have a wide range of interests. " Professor Peter Brzezinski, who had also just attended the meeting, looked at the thesis in his colleague's hand. He raised his eyebrows and spoke with interest.
"I'm not researching physics, it's just that this thesis seems to have caused quite a stir in the physics community. I heard several professors talking about it, so I asked an acquaintance to get me a copy."
Olof obviously didn't understand the mathematical formulas listed in the thesis. After all, he wasn't in the right field.
However, this didn't prevent him from reading the Physical Review Letters and referring to the professional comments. He wanted to understand why this thesis was outstanding, or rather, what problem did this thesis solve that had troubled the physics community for many years?
Peter stared at the thesis for a while and said in an uncertain voice, "Lu Zhou?"
"That's right, the guy that gives me a headache." Olof paused for a second and said in a joking tone, "Maybe we'll see him nominated for the Nobel Prize in Physics next year."
Olof Ramstrom was a professor of biochemistry at the Royal Swedish Institute of Technology and an academician of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. He was also a member of the 2018 Nobel Prize in Chemistry committee.
Standing next to him was Peter Brzezinski, a big name in the field of biochemistry from the University of Stockholm. He was also an academician of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences and a member of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry committee.
Over the past month, the name Lu Zhou had taken up more than half of the Nobel Committee's arguments. They had held several meetings, but they still hadn't reached a consensus on this name.
What was interesting was that the focus of the debate wasn't around the results themselves. After all, whether it was the "shuttle effect" of lithium-sulfur batteries or the lithium anode dendrites, they were both quite high-level research results.
Moreover, it wasn't just in the application field.
Just last year, the "Theoretical Model of Electrochemical Interface Structure" he established caused quite a stir in the fields of computational chemistry, surface chemistry, and even condensed matter physics. He also won the Hoffman Medal.
However, the Nobel Prize wasn't an ordinary honor, after all. It wasn't just a single aspect or field that needed to be considered.
It was true that he had achieved outstanding results, but there were still many other outstanding results waiting in line.
Many people had queued for decades without being selected. Some people had queued from the prime of their lives until they were in their graves before they were finally selected …
There was a huge difference of opinion within the Nobel Prize in Chemistry committee. Some people thought that Lu Zhou and his research results were too young, but some people thought that being young wasn't a reason to ignore the importance of the results.
For example, Professor Olof was one of the people who supported the latter view.
In his opinion, the modified PDMS material and HCS-1 still needed to be considered. After all, even though these two results had broad prospects for industrialization, they weren't outstanding in terms of contribution to the field of chemistry. However, in his opinion, the theoretical model of electrochemical interface structure had undoubtedly reached an outstanding level.
Over the past year, many scholars had produced valuable results based on the theoretical model he built.
It was no exaggeration to say that the theoretical model he established redefined the field of surface chemistry and opened up new research ideas for computational chemistry.
"The 2017 Chemistry Prize has been awarded to cryogenic electron microscopy. The DNA repair mechanism research that won the award in 2015 is something that the Karolinska Institute should consider. Seriously, if we don't consider real chemistry results, the Nobel Prize in Chemistry Committee should just change its name to the Nobel Prize in Biology Committee. "
Professor Peter, who was in the field of biochemistry, awkwardly coughed.
"Don't be like this, my friend. Biochemistry is also a part of chemistry … Also, cryogenic electron microscopy can't be considered a result in the field of biology. It can also be considered a methodology in analytical chemistry, right?"
Olof shook his head and said, "This kind of word game is meaningless. We all know whether it's changing biology or chemistry."
Someone had done a very interesting statistic. Among the five second-level chemistry disciplines, the most Nobel Prizes were given to polymers and biochemistry. They even accounted for one-third of the total number of Nobel Prizes. Biochemistry had won 26 Nobel Prizes in Chemistry, and structural biology had won six Nobel Prizes.
In contrast, the Organic Synthesis Methodology Award was only given to chemists 12 times. As for inorganic chemistry, it was even worse …
If DNA was viewed as a macromolecule, then there was nothing wrong with the Nobel Prize Committee's choice. Logically speaking, it was also self-justifying.
However, everyone knew that this was unfair to the chemists.
After all, in addition to the Nobel Prize in Chemistry, the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was a better choice for biologists.
Now that the cryogenic electron microscopy had won a prize, it was impossible for the chemists not to have any opinions.
Looking at his old friend, Peter sighed softly.
"I can understand how you feel. His work in the field of surface chemistry is outstanding. Even though I wasn't there to see the report in Berlin, I talked to many professors from the Max Planck Institute afterwards. Their opinions were all very high … But I have to say, this result is way too young. "
Olof said, "What does that matter? When we gave the award for the 'design and synthesis of molecular machines', weren't we thinking about the possible future contributions of this technology? "
"Therefore, that year's award was indeed controversial, and it surprised a lot of people. However, that's not the main point. The main point is that he's too young. "Professor Peter shook his head and said," A 24-year-old nominee … If he was awarded the Nobel Prize, there is no doubt that he would be the youngest winner. "
Prior to this, the youngest Nobel Prize winner was Lawrence Bragg, who was 25 years old.
Even though the Nobel Prize didn't specify how old the winner had to be, not everyone was willing to break the rules and set a new record.
Unless Lu Zhou was really good.
However, this kind of subjective question was quite difficult to judge. Unless the Nobel Prize Committee happened to have a surface chemistry scholar who could objectively describe Lu Zhou's work …
Unfortunately, there were no surface chemistry scholars among the committee members.
Actually, Olof was also hesitant about whether or not he was right.
However, he just felt that this year's Nobel Prize should be purely in the field of chemistry.
In other words, they should award the theoretical model of electrochemical interface structure.
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