From top student in college to scientific research powerhouse

Chapter 25: Can a PhD student really be better than us?

A doctoral student was publicly expelled from Donggang University in February for academic fraud.

I enrolled at Jiangzhou University in March.

"Isn't that amazing!"

"What is his background? Who is he? He is currently pursuing his doctorate at our university and is also a teaching assistant for Atomic and Molecular Physics."

"Having connections makes all the difference; even if something goes wrong, it won't affect you at all."

"You look very young!"

This matter is very topical.

After Zhou Jie and his roommates found out, they couldn't help but tell others.

More people found out.

As the information spread by word of mouth, some people posted it on campus forums and even online platforms.

A new post appeared on Jiangzhou University's forum, titled "A PhD student with extraordinary connections has appeared!"

The post briefly explained the situation: "This newly enrolled doctoral student was originally studying at Donggang University, but he was expelled for falsifying his experiments, which even made the news. Now he's come to Jiangzhou University!"

"The process was incredibly fast; they were expelled in February and enrolled in school in March!"

Later replies added several screenshots as 'evidence'.

There's also a related post on Weibo, with more detailed information.

The blogger posted four pictures.

One is the expulsion notice from Donggang University, another is a picture of the electromagnetic engineering laboratory at Donggang University, and the third is the list of doctoral students admitted to Jiangzhou University in March.

Finally, there's the photo of Zhang Minghao standing on the podium, taken by a student with their phone during class.

The accompanying text reads, "Expulsions will be made in February, and enrollment will begin in March."

From Donggang University to Jiangzhou University, he was able to continue his doctoral studies and work as a teaching assistant.

"Then tell me, who else?!"

……

Zhang Minghao was unaware that his story had gradually spread throughout the school and even online.

He remained engrossed in his studies.

Learning involves reading professional papers and materials; continuous learning is also a process of increasing knowledge.

Knowledge can enhance thinking.

He felt that his 'thinking assessment score' was about to increase, but he didn't find any new prompts after checking the system several times.

It's like being almost leveled up in a game, but every time you're just 'almost' or 'so close'...

I'm really looking forward to it, but also really anxious!

The only thing we can do is keep learning and keep increasing our knowledge!

Chen Lanjun kept turning her head to look over, feeling increasingly agitated.

She rolled her eyes, sighed, and muttered, "Too curly!"

For the entire morning, both she and the other person remained in the workspace without moving an inch.

She watched TV dramas, ate snacks, played with a Rubik's Cube, and scrolled through short videos for a while. All of her work time combined didn't exceed one hour.

The other party, on the other hand, kept carefully reading the documents.

It hasn't stopped at all!
"How can we compare? I need to work harder too..." Chen Lanjun looked at the information with a feeling of frustration.

She switched to the field of tinene.

It wasn't because of any 'financial prospects,' but simply because with the guidance of Chen Shuai and Zhang Minghao, the work in the stanene direction was very clear.

In simple terms, it involves analyzing the state of bismuth telluride substrate material in each experiment.

The next step is to link it to the properties of tinene.

The correlation between tinene and stanene properties is achieved by comparing experimental product measurement data with tinene properties and then relating it to the phenotype of bismuth telluride.

By finding some correlations in the data, the research made progress.

This research is simple, direct, and has a clear direction; everything that needs to be done is crystal clear.

At 11:30, Zhang Minghao finally stopped.

He took a stroll around the campus and had lunch at the cafeteria.

Back in his workspace, he closed his eyes for a short rest before diving back into his studies. Suddenly, a gruff voice rang out from outside, "Zhang Minghao!"

You can tell it's Xue Kun just by his voice.

As Zhang Minghao stepped outside, he heard Xue Kun say, "The people from Xinchuang Technology are here again. I wonder what they're up to."

"They're heading this way. The administration said so; they're probably looking for you."

"Let's go and see it together!"

Zhang Minghao and Xue Kun walked outside together. He looked at his phone, puzzled, and found that there were no messages.

He and Li Jiaxin are good friends.

Li Jiaxin didn't send any prior messages or make any phone calls to discuss anything; the people from Xinchuang Technology just came directly to him.
What are you here for?
After waiting for about five minutes at the lab entrance, I saw several people walking over quickly together.

Zhang Minghao knew Wang Guiyuan and Zhou Qi, but he had never met the others.

Wang Guiyuan also took the initiative to introduce, "This is Shi Yaokun, the director of the New Creation Technology R&D Base!"

"This is Zhang Minghao, the student you've been looking for!"

Shi Yaokun and Zhang Minghao shook hands briefly.

After Wang Guiyuan finished introducing them, he glanced at the person next to him and added, "Director Shi, this is Professor Xue Kun, Zhang Minghao's mentor."

"Nice to meet you!"

Shi Yaokun shook hands with Xue Kun and asked, "Professor Xue, you are Zhang Minghao's mentor. Did you provide guidance on the research and development of the semiconductor model?"

One question made Xue Kun's face turn black.

He replied bluntly, "That model is his own research!"

Shi Yaokun quickly turned to Zhang Minghao and said with a smile, "Zhang Minghao, this is a bit sudden. I didn't tell you in advance."

"We've encountered a calculation problem with our model and would like to ask you for help... Is now a convenient time?"

"sure, no problem."

Zhang Minghao agreed readily, stating that he would sell the research results and methods and also handle some after-sales service.

It's just a data issue, so it's not really a big deal.

A group of people went to the conference room.

All the unrelated people left, including Wang Guiyuan, Zhu Bingkun, and others, leaving only Zhang Minghao, Xue Kun, and Zhou Qi.

Xue Kun wanted to stay and see what was going on, but he was also worried that Zhang Minghao might encounter some problems.

Zhou Qi was responsible for administrative reception, and he had to continue accompanying them even if there was nothing else to do.

Shi Yaokun's group consisted of six people.

Apart from himself, the rest were all math elites specially selected by the research and development base.

Two of them are already discussing the issues with Zhang Minghao.

Xue Kun listened from the side.

Simply put, they have a set of data they don't know how to calculate and want Zhang Minghao to help them calculate and analyze it.

"Ideally, the entire process should be analyzed, especially the three parts of manual calculation of output data, approximate transformation, and convergence verification."

"We still don't quite understand these three parts!"

"The data is here..."

not far away.

Shi Yaokun and the others sat together, discussing in hushed tones, "Will it work?"

"It took more than a dozen of us a whole day to finish this, and you expect him to calculate it? Even with the methods he researched, he probably wouldn't be able to finish by tomorrow."

"It's hard to say, let's see!"

"If we can figure this out today, we should poach this talent as soon as possible..."

"He will also encounter the same problems as us. The first step of manual calculation is very complicated, and the convergence verification is even more so... Just thinking about it makes me dizzy!"

Shi Yaokun reminded him, "Keep your voice down. We're launching a surprise attack, so don't let anyone know..."

"Li Jiaxin recommended collaborating with him, but can a PhD student really be better than us?"

"I don't really believe it!"

(End of this chapter)