Top Student at Their Peak
Chapter 320 - 124: Is Mathematics Just Going Around in Circles?!_2

Chapter 320: Chapter 124: Is Mathematics Just Going Around in Circles?!_2

If it can be a major paper, the reward will be even greater. It’s just too exhausting to stick to the lab doing chemistry. There’s no time for a side job, sigh... unlike you guys in mathematics, no need to guard the lab. You’ll be free and easy when you do a PhD in the future.

Zhang Haoyuan sighed and said.

Qiao Yu really wanted to tell Senior Brother Zhang that their advisor makes tens of millions each year, but as the advisor’s student, one has to work hard, and with subsidies, the monthly income barely breaks ten thousand, which somehow doesn’t seem right. But after thinking for a moment, he decided to let it go.

Seeing that Senior Brother Zhang seemed quite satisfied, perhaps they are already earning more than many other graduate students under other advisors?

Quite pitiful.

However, there was a sentence that caught Qiao Yu’s interest: "Senior Brother Zhang, you guys get rewards for publishing papers?"

Zhang Haoyuan nodded and said: "Of course we do, you can check the school’s and the faculty’s regulations on scholarships and paper rewards. Right now, publishing an SCI English Zone 1 paper can get you a hundred thousand yuan, and a Zone 2 one gives you fifty thousand. Anyway, the submission fees for journals are not a worry at all; they have been reduced now, and it used to be even more.

By staying with our boss, as we have advanced equipment in the lab, publishing papers is naturally much easier than those poor research groups. Got it? You still look like you’re an undergrad, right? So young and already recommended to our lab for model optimization, you surely have some talent.

I just want to tell you, you must choose a good advisor in the future. Like our group, although it’s tough now, as long as you work well with the boss, you can at least mix in the boss’s company after graduation. Sometimes choice is more important than effort."

Qiao Yu nodded, thinking that perhaps Senior Brother Zhang had spent too long in the lab, talking only with a few acquaintances, resulting in a lack of conversation topics.

Today, he was babbling without a filter.

But alas, mathematics is different from chemistry; the former doesn’t require experiments.

Recalling Brother Liu’s reminder that the experiments his senior brothers were conducting recently weren’t going smoothly, affecting their mood, he decided not to reveal his advisor.

But there was something that Qiao Yu remembered.

After his paper is published in Ann. Math, he will have to ask Director Tian if there’s any paper reward.

Ten thousand yuan...

It’s not a small amount for him right now.

Moreover, publishing in a mathematics SCI Zone 1 journal doesn’t seem that difficult. If it’s not one of the four top journals, it should be even easier. So a paper with a school reward of ten thousand yuan, if he publishes ten papers a year, that’s a hundred thousand. After two years, he’d have the seed capital to start a company, wouldn’t he?

Wait a minute, theoretically, he’s jointly cultivated by Yanbei University and Huaqing University, so technically, in the future, the papers he publishes might get rewarded on both sides. If he’s more diligent...

Indeed, going to university means first learning how to raise projects and publish papers; this is the fastest way to accumulate wealth in the early stage.

"Thanks for the reminder, Senior Brother. I’ll definitely remember it. Would you mind briefly explaining your experimental process to me now, and then I’ll go analyze the data and do the modeling?"

"Alright, the first step is naturally the preparation of cobalt-based catalysts..."

Soon, Zhang Haoyuan briefly explained the entire experimental process.

Apparently, Liu Hao said recently that everyone was conducting experiments every day, and he wasn’t joking. While Zhang Senior Brother was introducing, the whole process was already so familiar that it couldn’t be more familiar, including little details such as the adjustment of the gas feed system, the setup of the reactor, and the collection and analysis of products...

The entire process was detailedly introduced, and Qiao Yu quickly simulated it in his mind.

He also had a rough understanding of several important values needed for the model.

What needs to be calculated are just the rate constants, activation energy calculation, and finally performing a key step analysis.

Mathematics modeling, well, it’s basically about doing this.

"I understand pretty much now. Thanks, Senior Brother Zhang, let’s go back. I’ll check what problems the data has."

"That’s all you’ve got?"

"Yeah, I learn things pretty quickly." Qiao Yu replied with an embarrassed smile.

Back in the office area, Liu Hao had already called up all the recent data. Seeing Zhang Haoyuan bringing Qiao Yu back, he asked, "Qiao Yu, are you going to take these data back or...?"

Qiao Yu thought for a moment, then shook his head and said, "There’s no need, these data are useful to you guys, and I’m afraid I’d be responsible if there’s a data leak, so I’ll just look here."

Liu Hao awkwardly smiled and said, "Actually, there’s no need for that; these data used to be packed and brought back by Professor Lu... And since the experiments all failed, these data aren’t that confidential."

Qiao Yu didn’t respond and just sat in front of the computer, looking at the data while saying, "From what Senior Brother Zhang described just now, cobalt-based catalysts work by surface adsorption to activate reactants, altering the electronic structure and reaction pathways, providing a selective path and continuously recycling the reaction.

This reduces the activation energy for hydrogenating CO₂ and H₂ to produce methanol, allowing the reaction to proceed rapidly at relatively low temperatures. Your lab’s goal is to improve the catalyst’s formula and production process to speed up the reaction rate and increase the selectivity for the target product methanol, right?"

Liu Hao, standing beside Qiao Yu, said, "Yes. This technology is primarily intended to optimize the production line. Currently, our production line lags somewhat behind foreign companies in production efficiency. The boss and the company’s technical staff have done preliminary analysis, and the gap is likely due to these two areas.

If our lab can improve the methanol production rate by 10%, it should roughly match the most advanced technology abroad. Of course, we also have to consider some issues related to mass production, so for now, we’re only conducting experiments at three different temperatures. By the way, do you want to look at the previous models?"