"nglong, how was your October 1 holiday?" The next morning, bright and early, Zhang nglong received a call from his senior, Zhu ngchao.
"Not bad, and you, senior?"
"Us miserable PhD students, of course, were just shaking those bottles and jars in the lab," Zhu ngchao said helplessly. "I don't know what got into my head, finishing grad school and then enrolling in a PhD program. My hair is thinning by the day, yet my pockets have never bulged."
"Don't you get a decent monthly subsidy?" Zhang nglong asked curiously.
"Subsidy? Forget about it! The university's three-thousand subsidy is barely enough to live on, a casual purchase by the girlfriend and it's all gone. This year, Teacher Han's research funding is too tight; our labor fee has already been cut from four thousand a month to eight hundred. More tears than words!"
"Oh?" Zhang nglong's eyes lit up. It seed that due to this year's overall situation, these traditional enterprises had been affected, and even university professors were unable to secure research funding.
"Let's not talk about that anymore. You should start preparing for your thesis. Let's start tomorrow; I'll send you so materials to look over, and tomorrow I'll take you to start the experints."
"Alright," said Zhang nglong.
Zhang nglong turned on his computer, and indeed a file had already been sent to his email.
"Graphene surface modification?" Zhang nglong glanced briefly at his topic. Graphene was a very popular inorganic material recently; its excellent performance plays a critically important role in many domains.
However, the cost of producing graphene was quite high; the most common Humr's thod produced in labs results in less than one gram per week, and its purity was very low.
Those high-purity graphenes even sold for thousands of yuan per gram, ten tis more expensive than gold!
"Wow, indeed, engaging in scientific research is the most expensive!" Zhang nglong glanced at his experint content; just the price of this one gram of high-purity graphene reached 2000 yuan. No wonder these professors are always trying to make money in various enterprises, a research group is simply like a money-burning machine.
Thinking this, Zhang nglong imdiately called Zhu ngchao again.
"nglong, what's up, do you have any questions about the topic?"
"No issues with the topic," Zhang nglong said, "I just wanted to ask, senior, whether our research group's funding is really tight?"
"Ah, speaking of this, I'm really troubled!" Zhu ngchao lowered his voice. "Last year, Teacher Han secured 30 million yuan in research funding, hoping to achieve so breakthroughs in graphene. We've had so success now."
"But this 30 million in funding will last less than a month at most. The enterprises collaborating with us are also pressing us for results. Business is tough, and they are unwilling to increase their research investnt anymore. Teacher Han has been worried sick during this period."
"Is the funding gap huge?" Zhang nglong tentatively asked.
"Quite huge, at least 25 million I'd say. But don't worry, the funding for your graduation project is still sufficient, but we are the ones who will suffer, alas..."
"Senior, is Teacher Han at the university these days?"
"Teacher Han went to the enterprises again these past two days, but he will be back at the university the day after tomorrow. Is there sothing you need?" Zhu ngchao asked. "Wait, you aren't thinking of doing a graduate study, are you? Don't make that mistake, advising people to get a PhD is like cursing their lineage; don't step into this pitfall of a major, you have a bright future ahead."
"Senior, I'm thinking of investing so research funding into our research group."
"What? Could you repeat that?" Zhu ngchao thought he had misheard. Investing in research was no joke; not only did it bear enormous risks, but even if there were results, turning research achievents into an industry took a very long ti.
Most importantly, Zhang nglong was just an ordinary senior undergraduate student; where would he get the money to support research? Even millions wouldn't last long with their research group's rate of spending.
"Senior, I an I want to invest so research funding into our research group." Zhang nglong repeated, "You just said there is still a 25 million gap, right? I'll first invest 50 million."
"What? 50 million? Wait, junior, you must be joking, right? You..."
"Seriously, I'm not joking. Look, I'm about to leave the university, and I just thought of making a contribution to our school, to our research group before I graduate."
"But..." Teacher Han had a notoriously tough temperant. If Zhang nglong was joking, he, as a senior, would have to face severe repercussions from Teacher Han.
"Senior, this is what we'll do, give Teacher Han's contact info, and I'll speak to him myself; that way, even if there are issues, it won't affect you," Zhang nglong knew what Zhu ngchao was worried about. 在这种事情上,换做一般人,谁能相信呢?
Even though that 30 million had been hard-won by Professor Han making trip after trip, signing many agreents and clauses, the school still took a portion of it for the so-called "procedural fees", so what he actually got was nowhere near 30 million.
"Okay, but you must not say that I gave you the number."
"Don't worry, senior, I'll treat you to a al when the ti cos!"
"No need for a al," Zhu ngchao said, "If you can really help our research group solve the funding issue, I'd be more than thankful. This way, Old Han won't deduct our labor fees anymore."
"Hahaha, don't worry, senior, I'll definitely talk to them for you!"
Zhang nglong got Professor Han's phone number smoothly from Zhu ngchao.
Professor Han, full na Han Jinyu, was a well-respected professor at Jiangnan University of Science and Technology and also the head of the Materials Science departnt. He held the title of Yangtze River Scholar, and if this project succeeded, he even had the chance to beco the second self-developed Academician of the university, which was no small feat for an ordinary university like theirs.
Han Jinyu lay on the hotel bed with a troubled expression, surrounded by a thick stack of docunts.
Though he appeared to be a suave professor, only they knew how painful it was to deal with business owners.
Especially when asking them for money, it was like bowing and scraping.
Today, he had been given the cold shoulder again. The project had been ongoing, and its achievents were rely on paper. However, the businesses were completely uninterested in what level of papers were published, even if they were on top-notch international journals like Science or Nature.
They only cared about how the research results could be applied to the industry, how it could help them make more money, and that was all.
Having already invested 30 million, they had seen no returns yet, and now Han Jinyu was asking them for more funds. Wasn't that a joke? Businesses were not charities!
Just as Han Jinyu was on the verge of a breakdown, his phone rang, but on the other end was the voice of a very young man.
"Hello, may I speak to Professor Han?"
"Who is this?"
"Professor Han, I'm Zhang nglong, who chose your research group for my graduation project this year. You should rember , right?"
"Oh, it's you," Han Jinyu said, "Didn't I assign Zhu ngchao to guide you with the experints? What's the matter, did sothing go wrong with the experints, or has your senior neglected his duties?"
Han Jinyu's attitude quickly made Zhang nglong feel favorable towards him. He knew many teachers who always acted high and mighty towards ordinary students. Just for that, Zhang nglong was willing to help him.
"No, not at all, senior has been taking good care of ."
"Well, that's good. So, did you call for sothing?" Han Jinyu really couldn't imagine why a graduate would call him unless he hoped for leniency in his graduation project.
"Professor Han, I heard that your research group has recently encountered so financial problems, so…"
"Did ng Chao tell you that?" Han Jinyu's tone suddenly beca serious. That kind of information was supposed to be confidential within the research group. How could it be casually ntioned to a student doing a graduation project?
"Teacher, please don't be angry, here's the thing: I have so funds I'd like to invest in our research group as research funds. When would you be available to discuss this matter?"
"Research funds?" Han Jinyu couldn't help but laugh, "How much are you planning to invest in our lab?"
"Let's start with 50 million for now?"
"What? 50 million?"
"Yes, and if that's not enough, I can add more later. You said you're out of town these days, so I…"
"No, no, no, where are you right now? I'll return to the university imdiately!" Han Jinyu suddenly seed to regain all his energy. This ti, his research was saved!
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