1900: A physics genius wandering around Europe

Chapter 177 Li Qiwei is too scary, his students are all professors
Through Xia Yuanshao's undergraduate thesis, Nagaoka Hantaro has been able to confirm that Li Qiwei also has his own unique methods in training students.

The other party does not teach in a direct rote manner, but instead raises an inspiring question for students to study.

Nagaoka Hantaro even suspected that Li Qiwei already had the answer and was just testing Xia Yuanshao's thinking ability.

Thinking of this, he felt a sense of frustration.

Then he looked at the other two people next to Li Qiwei.

One of them sat upright with a calm expression, sometimes frowning and sometimes smiling slightly.

There is no need to think about it, this must be a top student, at least not worse than Xia Yuanshao.

As for the other one, he was lively and active, with an excited expression, and kept talking to the other two.

Nagaoka Hantaro was a little unsure, he thought this student should be the weakest.

However, with the previous experience of Xia Yuanshao, he did not dare to let Ishihara Jun continue to test him, for fear of being hit again.

But he couldn't lose face, so Nagaoka Hantaro pretended to be curious and asked:
"Mr. Li, there are probably not many students as outstanding as Mr. Xia in your country."

"Being able to graduate from Cambridge University in the UK is definitely a gifted person."

"The future is limitless. Maybe I can surpass my teacher."

Nagaoka Hantaro thought he was quite humorous, and Li Qiwei also laughed a few times, otherwise it would have been too embarrassing.

"Um, Professor Nagaoka, you got one thing wrong."

"My three disciples are no longer students now."

"Huh?" Nagaoka Hantaro was shocked. If he wasn't a student, then what was he? It couldn't be a professor.

"Li Sang, what do you mean?"

Li Qiwei smiled and said, "I founded a private university in my own name."

"Xia Yuancong is currently a mathematics professor at the school."

"As for my other two students, He Yujie is a professor of physics, and Xu Qitai is a professor of biology."

"By the way, their professor titles were approved by the education department, not something I gave myself."

As the second-in-command of educational reform in the Qing Dynasty, Li Qiwei certainly had to seek some benefits for himself.

In the middle of last year, he submitted a memorial to the Qing court, requesting the establishment of a complete educational title system in the country to facilitate international integration.

Otherwise, if people sent scholars of different levels to visit, the Qing Dynasty would not be able to find equivalent people to receive them, which would cause a joke.

Among them, the professional titles of university teachers are divided into four levels: teaching assistant, lecturer, associate professor, and professor.

Teaching assistant: The main task is to assist in teaching and help professors and students complete the normal operation of the teaching system.

Lecturer: A university teacher who can independently teach one or more courses.

Associate Professor: Not only has the ability to teach courses and has a full understanding of the overall situation of the subject, but can also lead research projects on his own and continuously turn the latest research into new courses.

Professor: Leads the teaching and scientific research work in the university and is responsible for the development of the discipline worldwide. Commonly known as the leader.

This division is the same as the division of China in later generations, except that each level is not subdivided.

For example, in later generations, professors were divided into level one to level four.

In this era, there are only a few professors in the entire Qing Dynasty, so Li Qiwei is too lazy to divide it into such details and will wait until it is complete in the future.

As for academicians and other positions above professors, there is no need to consider them for the time being.

According to Li Qiwei's ideas and plans.

Undergraduate students who graduate from domestic universities and are engaged in university education can be given the title of teaching assistant.

If the student is an undergraduate from a well-known overseas university, you can consider giving him the title of lecturer directly.

If you are a doctoral student at a well-known overseas university, you will need to undergo an assessment. If you pass the assessment, you will be awarded the title of associate professor.

As for the title of professor, it is very strict and there are two situations.

One is that domestic university teachers go through layers of selection and upgrading and finally obtain the title of professor.

Another type is that foreign professors or associate professors come to the country to work and are awarded the title of professor.

Moreover, Li Qiwei suggested that private universities and public universities in China be placed on an equal footing because most foreign universities are private.

That is, the professional titles of the two are mutually recognized.

Therefore, He Yujie, Xia Yuancong and Xu Qitai, as undergraduate students of Cambridge University, were able to directly become professors in China, which shows the favor that Li Qiwei showed to them.

This is also due to the fact that everything is still in its infancy. If it were another ten or twenty years, even if Li Qiwei had reached an incredible height by then, he would not be able to do this, otherwise he would be the first to break the rules and lose his credibility.

As Li Qiwei said, this professor title was not self-proclaimed by him, but was officially recognized by the Qing Dynasty.

Funny enough, there is no official education department in the Qing Dynasty at this time.

The planned ministry has not yet been formally established, because the prerequisite for establishing a ministry is to abolish the imperial examination system.

The last imperial examination will be held in July this year. The court must give an explanation to those students who have studied hard for more than ten years.

If we set up a department now, those people would probably want to die.

Li Qiwei guessed that he would not be able to change the time of establishment of the department, and it would probably have to wait until 1905.

Therefore, at present, the Emperor, the Empress Dowager, the Office of Supervisory Affairs, the Minister of Education, and the Ministry of Personnel, in principle, can all express their opinions on the field of education.

Finally, it was Empress Dowager Cixi who issued an edict, ordering the Office of Supervision of Government Affairs to be in charge of the matter. In Empress Dowager Cixi's eyes, professors and associate professors were not officials, but just a group of craftsmen entertaining themselves.

The bigwigs in the Administrative Affairs Office also think so.

In their view, a professor may not even be as good as a juren, and cannot directly become an official, so the title alone is of little use.

So, with a stroke of the pen, he agreed to Li Qiwei's plan.

Of course, they also took Li Qiwei's identity as the emperor's teacher into consideration and did him a favor.

If Li Qiwei's student status is too low, how can he be worthy of the title of God's teacher? The emperor has no face.

So, including Li Qiwei, He Yujie, Xia Yuancong, Xu Qitai and Zhou Ziyu all became professors.

Originally, Li San, Wang Luyao and Song Xianglan were also on Li Qiwei's list, but it was not approved.

It seems that those big guys are not fools and they know Li Qiwei very well.

Therefore, in the country, Li Qiwei and others’ professor titles are officially recognized and of great value.

As for whether other countries in the world recognize it or not, that is another matter.

If your country is strong, your title of professor will naturally be recognized; if you are in a small and barren country, it will be useless even if the emperor personally confers the title on you.

At present, even though the Qing Dynasty is not a first-class country, it is not as weak as imagined.

Therefore, the professor titles of Li Qiwei and others still have some weight, at least compared with the Sakura Country, it is not in vain. Big brother, don't laugh at the second brother.

So, when Nagaoka Hantaro heard that even Li Qiwei's students had become professors, one can imagine how shocked he was.

You have to know that Li Qiwei is only 24 years old this year, not an octogenarian. His students are all professors. It's simply shocking.

"Haha, Li Sang, you really gave me a big scare."

"I didn't expect that Mr. Xia is only 20 years old and has already become a university professor. I am so sorry for my disrespect."

Xia Yuanzhen was still a little embarrassed and quickly smiled back.

At this time, Jun Ishihara was already dumbfounded. Damn, you are teasing me. You are making me look like a clown by doing this.

That's a professor!

Even though the Qing Dynasty had just begun its new policy reforms, a professor would definitely receive the proper courtesy and reception if he arrived in the Land of Sakura.

It’s an identity affirmation.

Only when you recognize others will others recognize you.

Therefore, the more the Sakura Country respects the professors of the Qing Dynasty, the more it will elevate the status of their own professors.

You have to know that in the country of Sakura now, there are only a few universities in the country. There is no essential difference between them and the Qing Dynasty. They are all in constant development.

If Xia Yuanzhen visited Sakura Country, according to their strong hierarchy, Ishihara Jun would not be qualified to sit at the table.

Today, he was able to chat and laugh with the big guys thanks to his teacher.

Thinking of this, Ishihara Jun's cheeks immediately turned red. It seems that he is still a rookie who has not been beaten by the society and is relatively thin-skinned.

Nagaoka Hantaro was much more experienced and continued the topic: "Mr. Li, I think Xia Jun's physics level is very good."

"Why did you make him a professor of mathematics instead of a professor of physics?"

"This is a bit of a waste."

Li Qiwei said: "Alas, there is no other way. The domestic education reform has just begun, and high-end talents are needed everywhere."

“Almost every one of our country’s 22 universities has vacancies for teaching staff, especially in science and engineering.”

"It's not that we don't want to recruit, but we really can't find the right person."

"Even national universities are like this, not to mention my private university."

"So, for now, I have no choice but to let three disciples each take charge of a module, and then make plans when we have more personnel."

After saying that, Li Qiwei shook his head, looking very helpless.

Nagaoka Hantaro finally heard some good news today.

From Li Qiwei's words, he learned that although the education reform in the Qing Dynasty seemed to be in full swing, it was just a lot of noise but little action.

If we can’t even recruit enough teachers, how can we train students?

He calculated that, at present, his country's university education was at least 20 years ahead of the Qing Dynasty.

The country's talent pool is five or six generations larger than that of the Qing Dynasty.

Don't underestimate this slight lead, the gap is widened through accumulation bit by bit.

Even if the Qing Dynasty had the strong support of Li Qiwei, it would probably take more than ten years to close the gap.

By then, Sakura Country will definitely have reached a higher level.

Nagaoka Hantaro was secretly delighted, but his face was very calm. He echoed: "It's okay, Li-san, everything will be fine."

"I believe that under your leadership, Qing's education will surely advance by leaps and bounds and surpass Europe sooner or later."

Li Qiwei: Even though you are telling a lie, I will turn it into the truth.

(End of this chapter)