Shangjing, in the second ring road, an antique study.

At the desk in red logs, an old man sits reading a letter in his hand.

Although he didn't understand the letter very well, his assistant had already marked the main points for him. If you put aside those paragraphs that are too professional and just pick the key points, he can still understand them.

Just then, footsteps were heard outside the hallway, and there was a soft knock on the office door.

The old man put down the letter in his hand and said, "Come in." ”

The door opened, and an old man in formal clothes walked in, saying with a respectful expression.

"Elder, are you looking for me?"

"There's something I can't make up my mind about, I want to consult you," looking at Old Wu who walked in the door, the old man sitting behind the desk, and said slowly, "Regarding that young man, do you think it's better to win the first prize or the second prize?" ”

Although the old man didn't say the name of that person, nor did he say what the first prize was, Wu Lao immediately guessed who the old man was talking about.

After hesitating for a moment, Wu Lao spoke.

"I don't think it's appropriate to have either the first prize or the second prize, and it's more appropriate than the National Natural Science Award or the National Science and Technology Progress Award."

Although the National Science Progress Award is also one of the top five national awards, it is slightly lower than the National Natural Science Award.

To make an inappropriate analogy, it is probably similar to the difference between the three good students in the city and the three good students in the district.

Without answering the question, the old man thought for a moment, and said as if talking to himself.

"In the 80s, Mr. Chen won the first prize of the National Natural Science Award for the research of Goldbach's conjecture, and according to this reason, he deserves this honor."

As if guessing that the old man would say this, Wu Lao smiled bitterly in his heart and persuaded him.

"The situation in the 80s was different from now, when the domestic academic community lagged behind the world a lot, and the Goldbach conjecture at that time was not only the Goldbach conjecture, it was a banner. But now it's different, the Goldbach conjecture is just the Goldbach conjecture, it's just a mathematical proposition. ”

The old man smiled and said, "What about lithium-sulfur batteries?" This is finally a practical achievement. ”

According to the plan made in the original 135 plan new energy development strategy white paper, the capacity of the battery should be increased to 300-350h/kg in 2020, and the cost target of 1 yuan/h should be reached at the same time.

Now, with the continuous breakthrough of lithium-ion battery-related technology, the battery capacity on the market has increased several times compared with the expected data, and this goal has undoubtedly been exceeded.

As the solver of the "lithium dendrite problem" and the technical problems of lithium-sulfur battery cathode materials, the research results of that young man can undoubtedly be recorded in the strategic layout of China's entire new energy development.

For this capable and daring young man, how does the old man think and how he likes it.

Probably guessed the attitude of the elder, as the leader of the Ministry of Science and Technology, Wu Lao couldn't help but make a mistake for a while.

In fact, out of reasonableness, he also thinks that Lu Zhou deserves this honor.

However, awards issued by state institutions are different from those issued by academic institutions, and what needs to be considered is not only academic issues, but also the actual situation, especially the reactions of others.

After being silent for a moment, Wu Lao changed his euphemistic angle and opened his mouth to persuade him.

"You present this honor to him, what if he is waiting for him to achieve even more? Is it possible to award him the honor of the highest scientific and technological award? ”

The old man smiled indifferently, "If he really has this ability, why not?" ”

Wu Lao sighed softly: "The average age of the winners of the highest national science and technology award is more than eighty years old, if it is awarded to a young person, I am afraid it will be difficult to convince the public......"

After a moment's hesitation, he continued.

"Moreover, the wood is beautiful in the forest, and the wind will destroy it, which may not be a good thing for him."

Not necessarily a good thing.

This time, the old man did not speak, as if he had thought of something, and nodded thoughtfully.

After a minute of silence, the old man spoke.

"You can get busy with your going first, and I'll think about this later."

Director Wu breathed a sigh of relief and nodded, "Yes." ”

With that, he turned and walked towards the door.

However, just as he reached the door, the old man's voice came from behind him.

"Wait a minute."

Stopping at the door, Director Wu looked back and said respectfully, "Is there anything else?" ”

The old man picked up a letter from his desk and gently pushed it out with his index finger.

"I have a letter here, you can take it back and think about it."

Director Wu immediately took the letter and looked at it after unfolding it.

Then, he was slightly stunned.

I saw a headline written on the letter.

On the Application of Computational Science in Frontier Research and the General Trend of Future Discipline Development

……

At this moment, Lu Zhou, who was far away in Germany, did not know where the letter he sent to Jinling University was sent layer by layer, and who finally handed it over to whom.

He was more interested in pure science than in politics.

After returning from the embassy, he and Professor Klitzing traveled to the eastern German city of Greifswald.

With a population of less than 70,000 people, this small town exists almost exclusively for the University of Greifswald and is quietly located on a corner of the Baltic Sea coast. To use an inappropriate analogy, it's like a German version of Princeton, far from the hustle and bustle of the city, perfect for reading and retirement.

However, the destination of Lu Zhou and Professor Klitzing on this trip was not the University of Greifswald, but the Spiral Rock 7-X Institute on the outskirts of the town.

Walking into the research institute, Professor Kleezing took Xiang Lu Zhou to a laboratory, found the person in charge of the place, and introduced him to him.

"This is Professor Ralph Kreber as I told you, and he's been working here for ten years, probably one of the oldest researchers and engineers here."

"That's right, I've watched this little guy grow up, including his father," Professor Kreber, who took off his hard hat and tucked it under his arm, the bearded Professor Kreber grinned and stretched out his right hand to Lu Zhou, "Welcome!" Professor from Princeton University, I'm glad you're interested in this great project. ”

Speaking of stellarstellars, it has a lot of roots with Princeton University. While Germany is now leading the way in this technology, the concept was first developed by Princeton University physicist Lyman Spitzer. Spitzer).

However, at the time, this idea was considered too advanced and could not be realized from the perspective of materials science and engineering.

It wasn't until more than a decade later that the first stellarator was actually born. However, until today, 50 years later, the stellar simulator is only a prototype, and there are still 50 years to go before the idealized blueprint is fully realized.

Holding his hand and shaking it, Lu Zhou smiled embarrassedly and said modestly.

"I'm just a professor of mathematics and don't have any research on nuclear fusion, so I'm here to bother mainly to satisfy my personal curiosity, and I'm afraid I won't be able to help you much."

"Haha, what's the matter? In my opinion, Princeton's mathematics professors are more remarkable than physics professors," Professor Kreber smiled, and said a rude remark to a physicist in front of a Nobel laureate in physics.

Without giving Professor Cléching a chance to refute, after a pause of less than half a second, he put his hard hat back on his head.

"You're here at the right time, and there's an experiment scheduled today. Come with me, I'll take you to see our little one. ”

With that, he beckoned and led the two of them out the door.