CHAPTER 492: CHAPTER 157 COLLABORATORS_4

After all, as one of the team members in Qiao Yu’s project, even if it was just verification work, he was still one of the people who understood Qiao Yu’s axiomatic system the best.

But to be honest, Chen Zhuoyang hadn’t let it get to his head. He was well aware that his main work lied in calculations.

The part that Qiao Yu was responsible for was the real soul of the project. It was both abstract and reliant on inspiration...

"Actually, I think Qiao Yu shouldn’t have released the two papers so early. Instead, more in-depth research should have been done first before revealing the modal axiomatic system to the public.

After all, if these core ideas enter the public domain too early, everyone can quickly upgrade and extend based on Qiao Yu’s theory, and if subsequent research falls behind, it would be unfortunate. It’s like all the subsequent influence getting hijacked."

The one expressing this opinion was a professor from Nanzhou University, next to Jinzhou.

A comment that left Chen Zhuoyang feeling a bit embarrassed...

Qiao Yu indeed hadn’t planned to publish the papers so early; if not for him, they could have waited until the more complex content was completed and then published together.

Of course, he hadn’t actually asked Qiao Yu to publish the paper early.

Before he could speak, another professor from Nanjin University immediately refuted: "Actually, early publication has its advantages, at least it establishes priority.

Moreover, I think this system is inherently complex and abstract, and in the future, researchers from different fields will need to join in to expand it.

And the original team certainly understands this thing the best. With more collaborators, it definitely pushes things forward faster, right, Mr. Chen?"

Alright, Chen Zhuoyang roughly understood what these two were getting at, he promptly said: "Professor Liang, Professor Jiang, telling me all this is of no use.

The project is indeed long-term, but you know I’m really just doing odd jobs. If you really want to join or collaborate, you have to discuss it with Qiao Yu. I’m not the decision-maker here."

"Mr. Chen is being too humble. Being the first author on a paper and still claiming to do odd jobs, what does that mean for us who’ve been doing odd jobs for so many years?"

"Yeah, if doing odd jobs could get me a first author in a top journal, I’d love to do odd jobs every day. How about this, could you introduce us after the conference? Maybe there’s a chance for collaboration in the future..."

"Alright, but first, let me say, introductions I can do, but I can’t guarantee anything."

"Haha... Mr. Chen, just your willingness to help is much appreciated. By the way, I heard that at Jinda, you’re not getting along well with others? Are you interested in coming to Nanjin University?

You should be under a 3+3 contract with Jinda, right? You can look into it, there should be a clause to terminate the contract with a sixty-day notice.

Which means as long as you haven’t taken on school or other projects, then termination could probably be finalized by next semester.

Our dean mentioned, if you’re willing, there’s absolutely no issue with coming to our side, the school currently has an associate professor position available."

"Uh... this..."

The invitation was too sudden, and Chen Zhuoyang wasn’t prepared, after all, he hadn’t even spent a semester at Jinda yet.

Alright, even though he knew that they were inviting him because of Qiao Yu, he still couldn’t help but feel tempted.

After all, when it comes to Nanjin University, though it’s in the same city as Jinda, the School of Mathematics at Nanjin University is much better than Jinda’s, not to mention the position being for an associate professor...

...

According to the law of conservation of happiness, someone being happy naturally means someone else feels troubled.

For instance, Dean Zhang at Jinda felt utterly exasperated at the moment.

Who would’ve thought that Chen Zhuoyang, a doctoral student clearly marginalized, usually so quiet, would have such a good relationship with that Qiao Yu.

Out of nowhere, such a big news broke out.

He had read the two papers in Ann.Math, and frankly, although Chen Zhuoyang’s paper as the first author didn’t show much academic capability,

it was clear someone was backing him, and it was the first paper Jinda had in a top-four journal in over twenty years.

To make it to a position like vice-dean requires much clearer insight than a regular professor focused only on academic research.

Isn’t that how the global academic world operates? Individual capability is, of course, important, but having the ability and getting noticed aren’t correlated. Quite the opposite, if you have capable people backing you, you’re more likely to get noticed.

Even at the level of an academician, there are subpar individuals. It’s impossible to know nothing at that stage.

But some people can use their social networks to do some academic packaging. Even if they’re slightly less competent than their peers, they can still advance.

Fair? What a joke!

Current academic research often involves large teams, and universities frequently channel resources towards individuals to promote them, everyone knows this unwritten rule.

Driven by profit, some professors who are purely academically gifted but lack interpersonal skills, or conflict with others, naturally won’t be prime candidates for resource allocation.

So Zhang Guohong would rather offend those professors who only focus on their studies than offend those adept at networking.

But Chen Zhuoyang clearly doesn’t belong to the networking-savvy type.

His daily interactions were very simple; apart from classes, he mostly stayed in his dorm, rarely going out to socialize.

And in Zhang Guohong’s view, Tian Yan’s students, if they truly were savvy networkers, probably wouldn’t have been placed at Jinda in the first place.

Who would’ve thought this lad was hiding so deeply?

This put him in a very awkward position.

Originally, yesterday Academician Shi just mentioned he should communicate more with Chen Zhuoyang, which was manageable.

All he’d have to do is go back and apologize a little, and that would be it. But after today’s developments, Shi Yunchuan now suggested he actively meet with Chen Zhuoyang for a chat tonight in his room.

To actively go there...

That implies he needs to apologize!

Doesn’t Zhang Guohong care about his face?

A dignified vice-dean apologizing to a young newcomer who’s only been at the school for a few days...

Well, alright, in fact, it’s doable.

Once you’ve been in an administrative position long enough, you can let go of things like face.

Though it certainly wouldn’t feel pleasant.

Zhang Guohong, holding his phone, was still pondering over how to phrase his words to Chen Zhuoyang when the dean called.

"Old Zhang, just now Xiao Liu from the administrative side told me that Mr. Chen inquired about the termination of his contract this afternoon. You happen to be in Linhai, hurry over and find out what’s going on with Mr. Chen.

Make sure to have a good chat, and see if he has any demands. How come he just got here and is already thinking about leaving? But also, watch your attitude.

When dealing with young people, don’t be too blunt or forceful, pay attention to your approach, anyway, I’m leaving this for you to handle. Just make sure you pacify him first."

After hearing this on the phone, Zhang Guohong suddenly regretted taking this trip...