I Have a Research Support System

Back at 216, Xu Qiu tactfully conveyed Wei Xingsi's intentions to everyone, saying that the team would reduce the amount of article bonuses in the future.

However, there was no obvious reaction from the crowd, and they all behaved very calmly.

Xu Qiu thought about it carefully, and found that this incident seemed to have a great influence, but in fact it did not affect many people.

Duan Yun and Chen Wanqing are graduating soon, and Wu Shengnan is a postdoctoral fellow, so it has nothing to do with the three of them.

Sun Wo can't publish a few articles a year, and Mo Wenlin was jointly trained. Compared with reducing the basic subsidy, it is more beneficial for them to reduce the article bonus.

Xu Qiu and Wu Feifei, both of them received relatively high monthly subsidies. Although they lost a bit in terms of article bonuses, they still received a part of the basic subsidy bonus.

After much calculation, Tian Qing and Han Jiaying were the only ones left, and both of them were rich women, so they weren't poor in money.

At this time, Tian Qing suddenly said: "Wu Feifei, you are going to the beautiful country embassy for a visa interview tomorrow, how are you preparing?"

Wu Feifei turned her head and glanced at Xu Qiu and Han Jiaying: "The three of us have prepared all the materials...By the way, Tian Qing, how did you get your visa back then? Do you have any secrets?"

"Don't tell me, there is really a secret, I have a four-character mantra here..." Tian Qing put on a mysterious look, and after a long while, after earning enough attention from everyone, she said: "...that is adapting to the situation. "

"Hey," Wu Feifei rolled her eyes at Tian Qing, "Do you dare to say something constructive?"

"Well... I was traveling in the beautiful country, and you guys had a meeting in the past, so the interview situation will definitely not be exactly the same," Tian Qing spread her hands, and then added:

"In short, it's good to behave normally. The main purpose is to let the interviewer know that you have no intention of staying in the beautiful country and not coming back. They mainly prevent illegal immigration.

Tian Qing then asked: "When is your appointment time?"

Wu Feifei replied: "13:45 in the afternoon."

Tian Qing nodded and said: "Then you don't have to rush there tomorrow, you won't be able to get in if you go too early, and the wave of people in front may not be able to finish interviewing so quickly, but it's okay to be late, so you guys About half an hour to an hour in advance is better."

"That's it," Xu Qiu suggested, "Then let's have lunch tomorrow and leave school at twelve o'clock."

"Yes." Wu Feifei and Han Jiaying nodded in agreement.

After chatting with Tian Qing for a few more words, Xu Qiu and the others began to sort out their interview materials, and checked each other to see if there were any omissions. After confirming that they were correct, they put them into a transparent plastic file bag.

In the afternoon, Xu Qiu searched the Internet for some US visa interview experience. Although it may not be useful, it can be regarded as a psychological comfort for myself. It is probably equivalent to as long as I rush before the exam, then it is not considered a naked exam.

Opinions vary on the Internet.

Some people think: "The main consideration of the interviewer is how to eliminate the doubts of the visa officer, to show that you will not stay in the beautiful country, but only for a short stay, and you can prove it yourself, for example, you have a good job, and you are in the country. The income is good, your family is in the country and so on.”

Some people also think: "Basically, 50% of the people have already decided whether they can pass the visa interview before the interview, and 50% of the people have already had their opinions, so they can confirm through dialogue."

Some people shared their personal experience: "You need to make an appointment in advance for the interview. I made an appointment at 10:30, and I arrived before 8:00 in the morning. There are huge crowds of people, and there is a long queue. Register at 10:40. Remember not to bring Bags, it is best not to bring any extra items, and empty your pockets. Go in and get it done in 2 minutes. The visa officer asked: Does the beautiful state have relatives? The answer is no. Are you from the capital? The answer is yes. After two questions, the visa officer On the spot, I said: Congratulations on your visa approval. It is more advantageous for the interview time to be later. When I went, the visa officer was already tired and numb. Many people who entered after 8 o'clock in the morning were rejected because the visa officer was very energetic."

Seeing this, Xu Qiu couldn't help but relax a lot, because the interview at 1:45 pm is later, it might be easier.

Of course, it is not ruled out that this is just the subjective thoughts of netizens, for example, it is also possible that his Beijing household registration played a big role.

What the specific situation is, you have to experience it yourself to know.

Tuesday noon.

The three of Xu Qiu took the subway and went to the embassy of the beautiful country in Shanghai. The location is located at Meilong Town Square, No. 1038 Jinling West Road, Shanghai.

Among the three, only Xu Qiu carried a backpack. He packed his own file bag, together with the file bags of his classmates and Wu Feifei, so that it was more convenient for storage.

Arriving at Westgate Square, about an hour before the appointment time, Xu Qiu and the others took out their transparent file bags from their backpacks and carried them with them, then put their mobile phones, keys, wallets and other belongings into the backpacks, and finally put the Backpacks are deposited at a specially opened storage point nearby.

The location of the visa interview was on the eighth floor of the Westgate Plaza building. It was the first time for Xu Qiu and the three of them to come here. They were not familiar with the venue, so they looked around, looking for possible entrances.

Soon, they saw a more eye-catching slogan "Visa processing in a beautiful country" on the building. At the same time, there was still a long queue in front of a small door next to the building.

Although he roughly guessed that this is the entrance, Xu Qiu still walked to the front of the line and confirmed that it was the entrance for visa application at the embassy. Then he and Wu Feifei and the others stood at the end of the line and started queuing up.

The main reason is for insurance, if after queuing for a long time it turns out that they are queuing to buy a house or something, it will be embarrassing and lonely.

The queue is very long, and most of the people in the queue have made appointments for interviews at 1:45 p.m.

Because it was still far away from the scheduled interview time, the guards at the gate did not let them go, so the team remained motionless.

Since there was no mobile phone to pass the time, Xu Qiu chatted with the school girl.

At first they were still discussing visa interview-related matters, and Wu Feifei could occasionally interject a few words, but the topic quickly shifted to scientific research, involving the optimization of PTQ series donor materials, and Wu Feifei could only watch from the sidelines.

Han Jiaying first said: "The current performance of the PTQ series donor materials is not bad. Do you have any further optimization and improvement plans?"

Xu Qiu replied: "There is a plan, but I don't think there is a need to rush to improve the molecular structure of PTQ1. First, we should organize and publish the work in hand. At least the two works of J4 and H5 should be 'sold' out. J5 can be put aside temporarily, just like the previous H3 system."

The optoelectronic performance of J5 material was tested by Xu Qiu in the simulation laboratory, and the performance of the device is not as high as that of J4. This trend is consistent with the previous result that "the performance of J3 is weaker than that of J2". The photoelectric performance of the BDT with the sulfide side chain is not as good as that of the BDT with the normal alkyl side chain, so Xu Qiu did not let the school girl continue to make J5.

When there are new and better systems that can be done, some "failed" systems can be postponed for publication, and it will not be too late to pick up again when research in new fields is hindered, or when such a new system happens to be needed.

For example, the H3 series materials developed by the former school girl, at the beginning, because of the poor performance of the device, if they want to publish the work, they may only publish articles at the ACSAMI level, so they did not write articles. Later, they were selected by Tian Qing and applied to In her system, it is expected to publish higher-level articles.

This is a strategy that can maximize scientific research output.

Han Jiaying nodded obediently, agreed with Xu Qiu's suggestion, and then said: "I also have an idea, didn't Teacher Wei ask Lanhe to buy a scraping machine before, and when I have a scraping machine, I think it can be used in PTQ1 In our system, the adaptability of this donor material feels very good."

"This idea is indeed possible," Xu Qiu thought for a while, and added: "We combine PTQ1 with IDIC, integrate the concepts of large size, scrape coating, and thick film, and even try to analyze the theoretical production per degree of the current system. The cost of electricity, compared with other types of solar cell devices, although this data is only in the laboratory, but few people have done this part of the work in recent years, we can put forward this concept.”

Before, Xu Qiu didn't have much influence in the academic circle, so he accumulated academic achievements step by step, kept publishing large and small articles, and at the same time improved his comprehensive ability in scientific research.

The situation is different now. Xu Qiu’s review article on "Joule" has been published, and "Nature Energy" is on the way. He may have the opportunity to publish CNS in the future. His influence in the field of organic photovoltaics cannot be ignored.

The so-called "greater ability comes with greater responsibility", Xu Qiu believes that he is now obliged to remind his colleagues:

The ultimate goal in the field of organic photovoltaics is to use photovoltaic devices to generate electricity. In fact, it is competing with traditional inorganic silicon cells that have been commercialized. The cost issue is an important indicator that cannot be ignored. This is also the original intention of his original design of PTQ1.

At this time, Wu Feifei suddenly interjected: "Xu Qiu, Han Jiaying, you two usually chat like this, always discussing academics? Don't you think it's a bit strange..."

Xu Qiu asked back, "Is it strange?"

Han Jiaying also echoed, "I think it's quite normal."

Wu Feifei explained: "I mean, you don't usually do the kind of things that... couples would do?"

Xu Qiu stretched out his hand to hug the junior girl, and gave a short artificial respiration, and immediately said: "Is that so?"

Wu Feifei hurriedly waved her hands: "Be careful, it will affect you, in broad daylight, you actually..."

Xu Qiu shrugged: "Didn't you mention this? Besides, I found the angle just now, and the other people's sight was just blocked by your broad shoulders, senior sister, so they couldn't see us."

Wu Feifei: "..."

The three continued to wait in line, and after an unknown amount of time, the line finally started to move.

Xu Qiu and the others followed the people in front and moved to the entrance of the small gate they saw earlier. There was a guard guarding the gate and three staff members. None of these people were foreigners. The other party asked Xu Qiu and the others to show their passports, DS-160 forms, and Interview signing confirmation document.

Xu Qiu presented the materials, and after being checked by the staff, he got an admission card.

This entry card has obviously been used repeatedly, it is a bit tattered, and the words on it have been worn out very blurred.

After entering the building, Xu Qiu and the others took the elevator up to the eighth floor under the guidance of the slogan on the wall.

After walking a few steps, we encountered a checkpoint again, and after passing it was the embassy of the beautiful country.

Xu Qiu misunderstood the embassy before, thinking that the area where the embassy of the beautiful country is located in other countries belongs to the territory of the beautiful country, but after checking the information, he found out that this is not the case.

The embassy or consulate is not the territory of the sending country, but enjoys the right to be "deemed" as the territory of the sending country under international customary law. Officials from the relevant countries (mainly the host country) are not allowed to enter the embassy without permission Take special responsibility to take all appropriate steps to protect the premises of the embassy against intrusion or damage.

This is clearly stated in the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations formulated under the auspices of the United Nations in 1961. Article 22 of the Convention stipulates that "embassy premises are inviolable", and Article 29 stipulates that "the person of diplomatic representatives is inviolable".

However, this kind of agreement is similar to a gentleman's agreement. On the surface, people will abide by it, but it's hard to say what will happen in the dark.

The staff guarding the checkpoint here are still not foreigners.

Under the instructions of the staff, Xu Qiu showed his passport, DS-160 form, interview signing confirmation document, and the admission card he had just received.

The staff took the materials, looked at the AA code on the DS-160 form, compared it with a row of stickers in their hands, found the sticker corresponding to Xu Qiu's AA code, and pasted it on the back of the passport.

This sticker is still quite large, taking up about one-third of the space on the back of the passport.

There is also a lot of information on the above, including: Xu Qiu’s passport number, the appointment time for the interview, which is "13:45", Xu Qiu's English name "Qiu Xu", the type of visa application "B1/B2", and two Barcodes, one of which is AA and the other is unknown.

Afterwards, the staff put on an additional piece of purple label paper the size of a fingernail, and wrote down the number "DL517" with an oil pen. Xu Qiu didn't know the meaning of this number. He guessed that it was probably the number of people who came to sign today. .

After a lot of tossing, it was originally a brand new passport, but now it feels old in an instant. Xu Qiu reckoned that if he got more visas, he might have to paste the entire back cover of the passport.

Holding the passport, Xu Qiu went to the security checkpoint. The guard scanned the barcode on the back of his passport and started the security check.

The security check here is more careful, even stricter than that at the airport. However, Xu Qiu didn't bring any contraband, so he passed it smoothly, and then entered the embassy with a plastic file bag containing various documents.

The sign next to it marked the next two things to do: take fingerprints and interview with the visa officer.

The first step is to take fingerprints. There are relatively few people queuing here, and soon it will be Xu Qiu's turn.

The staff member was a middle-aged Caucasian man. He first scanned the barcode on Xu Qiu's passport, and then communicated with Xu Qiu in broken Chinese: "passport", "left hand", "right hand", "thumb", "other four refer to".

Xu Qiu did as he said, using the fingerprint scanner in front of the counter, first pressed two thumbs, and then pressed the other four fingers of both hands together to complete the fingerprint entry of ten fingers.

Xu Qiu couldn't help but wonder, some people have six fingers, so how to record fingerprints?

Probably the thumb first, and then the remaining five fingers press together?

The second step is to interview with the visa officer. This step is a more critical step, and there are more people in line.

Looking around, there are several windows where you can queue up for processing. The visa officers sitting inside are all foreigners. There are men and women, white and black, but there seems to be no yellow ones.

These windows are similar to the windows of banks for handling business. There is a thick layer of glass barrier in the middle, and microphones are needed to communicate. There are staff on site to maintain order.

Xu Qiu and the others belonged to the same group, and it was more convenient to interview together, so they took the initiative to ask the staff to assign them to the same window and queue up.

Xu Qiu asked, "Who are we waiting for first?"

Wu Feifei and Han Jiaying looked at each other and pointed at Xu Qiu at the same time.

Han Jiaying said with a smile: "Brother, you go and help us find the way first."

Xu Qiu spread his hands helplessly: "Well, as expected, I shouldn't have asked this question."

About half an hour later, there were only three groups of people left in front of Xu Qiu, and it was his turn soon.

At this position, you can already see the facial expressions of the visa officer, and you can also vaguely hear the verbal communication between the visa officer and the interviewer.

Therefore, Xu Qiu began to observe carefully.

The first group looked like a family in Shanghai, two elderly people and an older single girl. Because they were far away, they couldn't hear what they said clearly, but judging from the visa officer's expression, they knew they were going to be cool.

The old man felt like he didn’t know what to ask. Most likely, it was the DS-160 form and other information that the travel agency helped to fill. up.

The second group, a student around 20 years old, he should have a student visa to study abroad.

When encountering those who are studying abroad, the visa officer immediately asked questions in English. The young man looked confused. After a while, he took out a document, and the visa officer shook his head. It is estimated that the young man’s heart is broken, and it is likely that he was cheated by the study abroad agency. up.

The third group, a single 30-year-old girl, after seeing the form, the visa officer operated on the computer and asked three questions: "Why do you want to go to the beautiful country?", "Where do you live?", "Your family Education?", and then the girl didn't even have a chance to collect the materials, so she was rejected.

To be honest, Xu Qiu was a little confused, he didn't understand how the last group was rejected.

And more importantly, three consecutive rejections! The promised US visa is easy to pass?

However, it was his turn to interview, and Xu Qiu didn't have the time to think about these miscellaneous things.

He hurriedly took a few deep breaths, adjusted his state, and then walked towards the visa officer.

The visa officer is a white male about 40 years old.

Xu Qiu knows that the visa officer can speak both Chinese and English. If the interviewer speaks Chinese, the visa officer will also speak Chinese. On the contrary, if the interviewer speaks English, the visa officer will speak English.

The choice is mainly based on the individual's fluency in English.

Xu Qiu's spoken English is not bad, and the purpose of going abroad is to hold a meeting. If he pretends that his English is not good and speaks Chinese, it may affect the visa officer's perception of him.

So, he handed over his passport and communicated directly with the visa officer in English: "Hello."

Visa officer: "Hi, why are you going to a beautiful country?"

Xu Qiu handed over the invitation letter from MRS: "Participate in the MRS spring meeting next year."

Visa officer: "When will you go? How long will you stay in the beautiful country?"

Xu Qiu handed over the itinerary: "This is my itinerary, from April 1st to April 7th next year."

The visa officer flipped through the materials and began typing on the keyboard, probably searching for materials, and asked after a while: "Education, school, major?"

Xu Qiu handed over the enrollment certificate issued by the school: "Ph.D. student, Modu Comprehensive University, Department of Materials Science."

Visa officer: "Specific field of study? Have you prepared your resume?"

Xu Qiu handed in his resume: "This is my resume. My research field is organic solar cells."

Visa officer: "Oh, photovoltaic, is it like a silicon battery?"

Xu Qiu simply explained: "The principle is similar, but the materials used are different. We mainly make organic materials..."

Visa officer: "Is there anyone accompanying me?"

Xu Qiu: "Yes, they lined up behind me, named Wu Feifei and Han Jiaying."

Visa officer: "OK, keep your passport, you can leave and wait for news."

Xu Qiu: "Thank you."

Xu Qiu sorted the materials into bags, and then left through another passage.

The materials prepared this time are relatively sufficient, including photos, air ticket purchase vouchers, hotel reservation vouchers, etc., which are useless.

In this case, although the visa was not obtained on the spot, it was not refused on the spot.

It may be because of the status of a doctoral student, it needs to be reviewed for a period of time, so let's do a background check.

At least the other party took away the passport, and the chances of visa approval are quite high.

Then wait for the result of the visa, regardless of whether the visa is approved or not, the passport will be mailed back.

Of course, if you choose to mail your passport, you will need to pay extra, or you can go to the designated place to pick it up yourself, which is free.

However, Xu Qiu and the others chose to spend money on convenience.

You can't stay in the exit channel for too long. There are staff guarding by the side and urging people to leave quickly.

So Xu Qiu didn't wait for the school girls and the others, but left the building first, and went to the bag depository to get his backpack.

When he returned to the exit of the building again, he found that Wu Feifei and Han Jiaying were already waiting for him there.

"So fast? How is your situation?" Xu Qiu asked curiously.

Han Jiaying responded: "I was asked two questions, 'Are you with the person in front?', 'What is the name of the meeting you went to the beautiful country for?', after the answer, the visa officer gave me my passport. Take it away, let me go back and wait for the result."

Wu Feifei echoed: "My situation is similar, probably because we are fellow travelers."

Xu Qiu nodded, and Han Jiaying asked again: "Brother, did you panic when you saw the three consecutive rejections?"

"I was really flustered at the time," Xu Qiu smiled, and said, "But except for the third group, the other two groups were rejected because they didn't prepare well, so I can't blame others."

"The third group, I guess there was something wrong with filling out the DS-160 form, or there was some 'criminal record', so they came and went through a cutscene and were rejected in seconds." Wu Feifei guessed.

"Perhaps, you have to pay more than a thousand dollars to apply for a US visa. It's really wonderful that they let some people who don't meet the standards, reject them immediately and then take the money." Xu Qiu casually complained, and then from I took out my phone from my backpack and checked the time. It was now 3:30 in the afternoon.

It is really "five minutes for the interview, two hours in line".

Then, Xu Qiu noticed that there were two missed calls from Wei Xingsi and several WeChat messages on the phone:

"Are you still interviewing?"

"The review comments of "Nature Energy" are back."

"Call back as soon as you see the message."