Material Empire

"Ning Jing, how is your graduation thesis doing?"

Outside the gate of the Superconductivity Research Center of Capital University, Tranquility met her classmate Yan Jiamin, who greeted her with a smile.

"Come on, the experiment has been done, just wait for the results to be analyzed." Tranquility also said to Yan Jiamin with a smile.

Yan Jiamin said enviously: "You are really good. Of the students in our class, you are probably the first to complete the graduation thesis, right? And I guess, no, I can be sure that your thesis will definitely win this year's Ministry of Education Award." Excellent doctoral dissertations, think about it, how many of them have been published in Nature during the Ph.

"I was a blind cat and a dead mouse." Tranquility said modestly. She knew in her heart that she was able to make so many achievements in iron-based superconductivity, but it was definitely not as simple as blind cat hitting dead mouse. The direction of iron-based superconductivity was chosen by Qin Hai for her. Qin Hai's amazing foresight ability is beyond the reach of many "old cats" in the world.

It is not easy to do a doctorate in superconductivity, because there are countless masters in the world who are working in this direction. It is not easy for a doctoral student to make something different and stand up to scrutiny. What Yan Jiamin is doing is theoretical research on copper-based superconducting materials. This field has already been cultivated several times. If we continue to do it, we can only do some work to fill in the gaps. It would be a shame to publish one or two SCI-level papers. It is not difficult, but it is not enough to support a doctoral thesis. Because of this, Yan Jiamin was in pain all day long, dreaming that he would suddenly discover a problem that no one had paid attention to before, and quickly finish his doctoral dissertation.

Serenity, by contrast, is much more relaxed. She is the first researcher in the world to discover iron-based superconducting materials. She has a lot of directions in her hands, and she can produce very beautiful papers in each direction. After several selections, she decided to take the magnetic flux vortex state of iron-based superconducting materials as the topic of her doctoral thesis. After a period of arduous experiments and analysis, she has established a perfect model, and now she only needs to organize the text before she can officially submit it.

Among the doctoral students at the same level as Ning Jing, several people have changed their research direction from copper-based superconductivity to iron-based superconductivity, and have quickly achieved very good results. Yan Jiamin belongs to the part that is still making copper-based materials. Over the past few years, the road has become narrower and narrower. If this continues, maybe she will have problems even graduating.

"Jia Min, it's really not possible. You should also switch to making iron-based materials? Teacher Chen has a lot of research topics. If you just follow a topic, you can finish your doctoral thesis in a year or two." Tranquility enthusiastically suggested.

A haze flashed across Yan Jiamin's face, she shook her head and said: "I told my supervisor about this idea, and she firmly disagreed with me making iron-based materials, saying that copper-based materials are the right way, and iron-based materials have been so far The critical temperature is still far lower than that of copper-based materials, which is unlikely to be promising."

"This isn't..." Tranquility almost wanted to say the word "nonsense", but she finally remembered that Yan Jiamin's tutor, Zhang Shengying, was also her teacher. As a student, she couldn't accuse the teacher like this, so she could only swallow the rest of the words.

"Theoretical research on copper-based materials has now entered a dead end. It is almost impossible to obtain copper-based superconducting materials with a higher critical temperature through theoretical research. The theory of iron-based materials is now very clear. There are many things that can be done about the microscopic mechanism of superconductivity, how can Teacher Zhang confuse right and wrong like this?" Tranquility said, and at the end, she still used a weak word to express her dissatisfaction with Zhang Shengying.

Copper-based material is a material with superconducting properties formed by copper oxide as the main body and doped with other elements. This material is essentially a ceramic material, and the research on the conductive properties of ceramic materials has always been difficult. Therefore, the theoretical research on copper-based superconductivity has been in a state of divergent opinions for a long time. Jing Jing said that research in this area has entered a dead end. That's what I mean.

If Yan Jiamin is not a doctoral student facing the pressure of graduation, then it is understandable to devote himself to the research of copper-based materials. After ten years of hard work, he may eventually be able to grind out some interesting things. But there is a conflict between reality and ideals. Yan Jiamin does not have so much time to wait for a result that is not yet visible. Zhang Shengying does not let her do iron-based superconductors, but keeps her on copper-based superconductors. Somewhat impersonal.

Yan Jiamin himself is also a dumb eater of Coptis chinensis, so he can't tell what he has suffered. She is already a 28-year-old young woman, and she already has a boyfriend she likes. The obstacle that stands in front of her and her boyfriend now is that she has not graduated yet, regardless of her future work unit. Young people in this era are very pragmatic. If she fails to graduate as scheduled, the future will be unpredictable.

"I really regret it now, I shouldn't have followed Boss Zhang." Yan Jiamin lowered his voice and said in a complaining tone. I don’t know since when, graduate students in colleges and universities have uniformly called their supervisors bosses, not only behind their backs, but sometimes in front of their supervisors, they will also call them bosses, and supervisors generally accept this title with a smile of.

"It's too late to change your mentor now." Tranquility said, "Since your boss insists on making you make copper-based materials, I'm afraid you can only do it. It's not that you can't make things with copper-based materials, but you may need to transfer them. some way of thinking."

"I know, what my boss is doing now is a bit outdated... Tranquility, what are you talking about, it's not all your boyfriend's fault!" Yan Jiamin gave Tranquility a false look when he said this, but there was a smile on his face. With a wry smile.

Yan Jiamin's mentor, Zhang Shengying, used to be one of the superconducting authorities at Capital University, but now he seems very lonely. The reason is that Zhang Shengying did not want to yield to Qin Hai's request, and was unwilling to devote some time and energy to the industrialization research of superconducting materials, and thus had a dispute with Qin Hai.

Qin Hai is the funder of the Superconducting Research Center, so he will not be polite to those who are not willing to cooperate with him. With a single notice, Zhang Shengying was put into another book, and all aspects of experimental conditions and funds were checked. control. Everyone knows that superconductivity is a direction that burns money. Without money, it is difficult to achieve achievements based on theoretical research alone. Compared with Chen Zongze, Du Xiangwang, Cao Guolin and others in the same teaching and research section, Zhang Shengying has a huge difference in experimental funds. After a few years, his academic ability and academic status have dropped significantly.

Zhang Shengying didn't want Yan Jiamin to switch to iron-based materials, not necessarily because he didn't have the mentality of fighting against Qin Hai. Iron-based superconductivity is a direction pioneered by Ning Jing, and it is also a direction that Qin Hai focuses on supporting. Zhang Shengying can't understand Qin Hai, hates Wujiwu, even Tranquility, and iron-based superconductivity, so whenever he hears the words iron-based superconductivity, his nose is not a nose, and his eyes are not eyes. Don't get angry.

Students may not know much about the academic achievements of their tutors, but they will never miss the gossip about their tutors. Yan Jiamin witnessed the bickering between Zhang Shengying and Qin Hai, so he naturally knew the reason. She just felt so sad when she thought that following such a mentor would not benefit her much, and would delay her graduation and even her entire future.

Tranquility also knew about these things. As a person who was firmly on Qin Hai's side, she didn't have a good impression of Zhang Shengying, and felt that it was reasonable for Qin Hai to wield a big stick of money to deal with him. However, because Yan Jiamin was affected by the sanctions against Zhang Shengying, Tranquility felt a little uneasy.

"Jia Min, I have an idea, I don't know if it's suitable or not." Tranquility said.

Yan Jiamin said casually: "If you have any ideas, just say it, I don't mind."

In Yan Jiamin's view, what Tranquility said was meaningless to her. Men are afraid of entering the wrong profession, women are afraid of marrying the wrong man, and what doctors fear most is following the wrong mentor. Yan Jiamin now has a bit of a resentment mentality, but no matter how strong this resentment is, it can't change anything.

Tranquility said: "Jia Min, you also know that I have attended several academic conferences abroad, and my friend Qin Hai also has some contacts with some authorities in the international materials industry. If you don't mind, I can help you contact Let’s take a look at some authoritative scholars in the field of copper-based materials in the world, such as Müller, Bernolds, etc. You go to them as an exchange student for a year, and do a doctoral dissertation there, I don’t think Teacher Zhang is either What did Fa say?"

"The exchange students are not so easy to contact." Yan Jiamin said dubiously.

Tranquility smiled and said: "Qin Hai still has a bit of face. If you let him say something, it will most likely succeed. Jia Min, if you have such an idea, I will tell Qin Hai right away."

"Of course I have this idea." Yan Jiamin confirmed anxiously. The plan that Tranquility said was actually something she had considered, but she just couldn't find a chance to communicate. Now that Tranquility said it with such certainty, her heart couldn't help but jump up. It is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to be an overseas exchange student for a year, and to be an exchange student with world-class masters such as Müller and Bernolds. With this opportunity, not only will she be able to write an excellent doctoral thesis, but she will also benefit endlessly in her future development.

"Well, I'll tell him." Tranquility nodded and said, she did this purely out of apology to Yan Jiamin, but it's inconvenient to say this.

"Thank you, Tranquility, you are really my best sister." Yan Jiamin put his arms around Tranquility's neck and said exaggeratedly.

Before Tranquility could say anything, Yan Jiamin's face suddenly changed as if he remembered something. Seeing that there was no one around, she put her mouth next to Tranquility's ear, and said in an inaudible voice: "By the way, Tranquility, I forgot one thing. My boss... seems to be planning to take your graduation matter, Do something."