Around two months ago, when Lu Zhou was at his busiest, he would plan in his mind from time to time. He would go for a walk or do something that he wanted to do but didn't have the time to do.
However, when he finally had some free time, he found out that he didn't have the mood to do the things that he wanted to do.
No matter where he went, it wasn't as comfortable as staying at home. Especially staying in his study room.
In the entire mansion, this was the only place that could make him feel the most relaxed and tranquil.
However, the only problem was that as long as he stayed here, his thoughts would inadvertently drift to the unsolved research project.
Even though the process of creating knowledge was enjoyable, if he spent his vacation thinking about these problems, then the vacation would be meaningless.
Only now did Lu Zhou realize how important it was to have a hobby that had nothing to do with research and could distract one's attention.
Lu Zhou thought back to how relaxed he was when he was at Princeton. On the second day of his vacation, Lu Zhou couldn't stay idle at home. He sat in Wang Peng's car and went to Jin Ling University.
Originally, Lu Zhou planned to walk around here, but he did not expect to bump into Principal Xu. Therefore, Lu Zhou was invited to sit in his office for a while.
Lu Zhou asked his assistant to make two cups of tea and sat on the sofa. Principal Xu spoke in a casual tone.
"How's it going? Are you used to living here? "
Lu Zhou smiled and said, "You make it sound like I haven't been back for a long time."
Principal Xu smiled and said, "I'm not asking about your life, I'm talking about your research. You're living in Zhongshan International, and you're living a comfortable life as a professor at Jin Ling University. What's there to be unhappy about? "
He paused for a second and said, "The domestic research environment is a bit different than foreign research institutions."
Lu Zhou: "There's definitely a difference, but I think it's okay."
At least he was quite satisfied with his Institute for Advanced Study.
"Speaking of which, how is your controllable fusion project going?" Principal Xu seemed to have thought of something and added, "Ah, if it's not convenient, just pretend I didn't ask."
Lu Zhou shook his head and said, "There's nothing inconvenient about it. It's an open research anyway, and everything is going according to plan. The eyes, the head, and two legs have all been assembled. Other than a few small problems, we're probably just missing a torso. "
The eyes were the He-3 atom probe technology, the head was the supercomputer controlled by Xiao Ai, the legs were the external field coils made of SG-1 superconducting material, and the rest of the body was the reactor itself.
Strictly speaking, there were actually two hands responsible for "doing work", which was the ferrofluid electric generator, but this part was mainly handled by China National Nuclear Corporation.
Headmaster Xu sat up straight in surprise. "Doesn't that mean there's hope?"
Lu Zhou sighed and said, "Difficult. The most difficult part is probably the torso."
From the carbon fiber composite of the first wall to the liquid lithium neutron recovery system, the problems he faced were far more than he had originally imagined.
The only good thing was that at least he had a research idea that seemed to be feasible to solve the problem.
Next, he just needed to continuously solve the problems he encountered along the way.
Lu Zhou reached out and picked up the teacup on the table. He then changed the topic.
"Let's not talk about nuclear fusion. I'm on vacation these few days, so I came here to take a walk. I just want to stay away from the research."
Headmaster Xu smiled and said, "If you really want to relax, you should go fishing or climbing a mountain. Why are you coming to a university? Oh yeah, if you're not busy, school is starting in September. How about you say a few words at the opening ceremony? "
Lu Zhou smiled awkwardly and said, "I'm not busy, but I don't have anything to say."
Headmaster Xu smiled and said, "You don't have to give a long speech, just say a few words, even if it's just one sentence. Most of the students who applied to Jin Ling University are here for you. "
"Let's talk about the opening ceremony later. If I'm free, I'll definitely come. " Lu Zhou suddenly remembered something, so he smiled and said, "Oh yeah, I said that I would be a full professor when I come back. It's been half a year, why haven't I received an offer?"
Headmaster Xu said, "You want to be a professor at Jin Ling University?"
Lu Zhou jokingly said, "My alma mater doesn't welcome me anymore?"
"Of course not, you should have said so earlier!" Headmaster Xu slapped his thigh and laughed. He said, "The reason why I didn't mention this was because I didn't want to waste your time. If you're willing to come back to teach, it doesn't matter if it's mathematics, chemistry, or physics, you can be the dean of any department! "
Originally, Headmaster Xu wanted to mention this matter, but he didn't expect things to change so suddenly. After Lu Zhou returned to China, he became the chief designer of the domestic stellarator project and the academic leader of controllable nuclear fusion research.
Normally speaking, not many people would be willing to teach undergraduate students even if they had a research grant of 20 to 30 million yuan, let alone tens of billions of yuan.
If one became an academician and had dozens of projects in their hands, forget about teaching undergraduate students, they might not even bother teaching their PhD students.
After all, there weren't many people who treated teaching as a way to relax.
Therefore, Headmaster Xu never mentioned this matter again.
However, he didn't expect Lu Zhou to take the initiative to mention this matter, which surprised him.
"Forget about being a dean, I can't do an administrative position. Just give me an office in the mathematics department," said Lu Zhou as he looked at Headmaster Xu. He coughed and said, "If I don't teach well, at most it will affect the students' final grades. If I don't do well as a dean, thousands of people's bright futures will be wasted."
For him, thinking about some simple problems outside of research could not only relax his tense brain, but it could also help him gain inspiration from some obvious things.
Not to mention, research itself wasn't a one-person job. If he could train a few talented disciples, it would be a lot easier for him.
As for administrative work, that would be putting the cart before the horse.
After all, he didn't have much desire for power.
"Okay then, we won't force you if you don't want to do administrative work. It's decided then!" Headmaster Xu smiled and said, "From now on, Jin Ling University has a Nobel Prize Scholar."
Lu Zhou smiled and said, "Hasn't it always been like this?"
Headmaster Xu: "There's a big difference between an honorary professor and an in-service professor. I'll get someone to help you with the paperwork. When you have time in a few days, go to the academic affairs office and collect the things. Or if you don't have time, I'll get someone to send it to you. It's not far from Purple Mountain anyway. "
Lu Zhou: "I'll do it myself —"
Suddenly, there was a knock on the office door.
Soon after, a respectful and unfamiliar voice came from outside.
"Is Professor Lu here?"
…
Europe.
Wendelstein 7-X Research Institute.
Professor Schmilek, the president of the Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres, stared at the equipment that was gradually stopping not far away. He spoke calmly.
"What's the result?"
Professor Keriber took a deep breath and spoke.
"We tried to improve the control scheme, and the plasma confinement time increased slightly. However, there is still a long way to go."
Millek: "Specifically?"
After exchanging glances with the assistant next to him, a bitter smile appeared on Keriber's face.
"… 102 seconds."
If it was a few months ago, a breakthrough measured in seconds would still be an exciting thing. It could even be used as an in-progress achievement to hold a press conference and be widely reported in the newspapers.
But now, a breakthrough in seconds had lost its meaning …
Professor Millek nodded and didn't say anything.
He was the only one here; there were no government officials accompanying him. As a scholar, he knew very well that he didn't need to criticize Keriber too much.
Every research had its own objective law of development. Being impatient would only cause trouble, but it would not solve any problems.
After a moment of silence, Millek suddenly spoke.
"The Americans are planning to kick China out of ITER."
When Professor Keriber heard this, his heart trembled. He spoke in disbelief.
"Why?!"
"The reason is intellectual property … or an excuse. After all, when it comes to the specific content, in my opinion, a lot of things are unclear. "
Keriber: "… Will the ITER Council agree?"
Professor Millek said, "If necessary, maybe."
Keriber had a complicated expression on his face as he said, "What about China's funding? Even if it's for the sake of money — "
Professor Millek: "The Americans seem to be willing to pay for it."
Keriber said, "Another promise? They've never fulfilled their funding promises! "
"It's useless for you to tell me this. After all, we didn't fulfill our promise." Professor Millek looked at Keriber and said, "Also, I'm just conveying this fact to you."
Keriber took a deep breath and calmed down. He muttered, "I don't understand, why don't they just leave?"
The Americans have been talking about leaving ITER since ten years ago. Now, not only are they not leaving, but they're also kicking us out.
After a moment of silence, Professor Millek pretended like he didn't hear Keriber. He sighed and spoke.
"… ITER is considering changing the tokamak demonstration reactor into a stellarator demonstration reactor. Fortunately, this project hasn't started yet, so the loss isn't too big. After the next meeting, the relevant documents will be officially released. The Wendelstein 7-X, which is you guys, will play a key role in this. "
Professor Keriber smiled bitterly and said, "So what you're saying is, you want us to 'defeat' Professor Lu?"
That was just too stupid.
Scientific research isn't a competition.
Instead of competing, it's better to seek a win-win situation through cooperation.
Especially when it came to exploring the future, cooperation was far more meaningful than competition.
Professor Millek seemed to understand what Keriber was thinking. However, he didn't express his opinion. Instead, he slowly nodded.
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
