If he just copied the paper, Zhou Xin would only need to spend one morning.
The biggest difficulty was that he needed to use content that could be found in journals subscribed to by the Yanda Library and the Department of Microelectronics as theoretical support for this email.
rather than citing unpublished results.
The next morning, at nine o'clock in Beijing time and five o'clock in the afternoon in San Francisco, Zhou Xin received the email from Hu Zhengming on time at the computing center of Yenching University.
The night before, they did not communicate about the email itself. They focused more on asking about Zhou Xin's personal situation and examining Zhou Xin's oral expression.
No matter in any aspect, Zhou Xin met Hu Zhengming's psychological expectations.
Oral expression is the first difficulty that international students of this era face after going abroad, and many international students need about half a year to adapt.
With Zhou Xin's oral expression, you can skip this stage and start your doctoral work seamlessly.
Yes, the PhD stage is more about work than study.
Research-oriented work.
The English abbreviation of the department where Hu Zhengming is located is EECS. This department is divided into three major blocks, namely electrical engineering, computer science and other interdisciplinary disciplines, and pure computer science.
Integrated circuits are a sub-item of electrical engineering.
When Zhou Xin, a later generation, entered school, there were already seven subdivisions in the field of electrical engineering:
Information, Data, Network and Communication Sciences (IDNCS)
Computer vision and artificial intelligence, control systems and robotics, integrated circuits, micro/nano electromechanical systems, physical electronics, signal processing.
In 1998, electrical engineering was not divided into such details.
“These test questions are actually mainly about the breadth of your knowledge and whether you have a deep enough grasp of the basic knowledge in the field of integrated circuits.
Not a lot of bells and whistles. "
(I have never done the test questions of EECS.INC and I can’t even understand them, but I heard experts who have done it say it is not difficult.)
Most of the time is spent typing, and the time for thinking is not too long.
After Zhou Xin sent the email, Hu Zhengming responded almost instantly.
Zhou Xin looked at the time in the lower right corner of the WIN98 system, and then mentally estimated the time in San Francisco. It was now nine o'clock in the evening in San Francisco. "I guess the teacher has set a notification tone and has been waiting for my reply.
It seems that there is a shortage of labor force recently. "
For professors, doctoral students are their free labor force. Doctors can exchange their labor for degrees and inherit the professor's connections in industry and academia.
As for how much you can inherit, it depends on the character of your mentor and whether he or she appreciates you.
Perhaps Zhou Xin was the last doctor that Hu Zhengming led personally, so Hu Zhengming spared no effort in introducing contacts to Zhou Xin.
But this does not mean that Hu Zhengming's requirements for Zhou Xin are not high. On the contrary, Hu Zhengming's requirements for Zhou Xin can be described as strict.
Even under such strict requirements, Zhou Xin still got his doctorate in four years.
This shows his level of genius.
According to Berkeley's regulations, it will take 5 to 6 years for those who start studying for a PhD at Berkeley with a bachelor's degree.
Those who can graduate with a bachelor's degree in six years are still in the engineering field of integrated circuits, and even at Berkeley there are very few.
But at this time, Hu Zhengming's demand for doctors was more about talented and immediate combat capabilities.
Because he started his own business, he started a company called Silui Electronics in 1996. While working at Berkeley, he started his own business privately.
If it continues on its original trajectory, the company will do very well and will eventually be acquired by Cadence.
Those who work in EDA, even with the founder Hu Zhengming, still have not been able to work in Cadence.
Cadence is the world's largest integrated circuit design software manufacturer. BGI Jiutian, which is listed on Big A, does this. The difference is that BGI Jiutian mainly focuses on the domestic market, while Cadence's products are spread all over the world.
Therefore, Hu Zhengming was short of people to work for him at this time.
For people with extraordinary talents like Zhou Xin, if they had a solid foundation, they would have been able to start working directly in the past.
It couldn't be more perfect.
At this time, Amerikans had long begun to pay attention to work-life balance.
Almost all the Chinese students Hu Zhengming met had a desperate spirit.
Zhou Xin knew so much about these things because he had a chat with Liang Mengsong later when he was starting a business, and the other party revealed it to him.
The general meaning of Liang Mengsong's joke is: Fortunately, you studied for the teacher's doctorate after 2010. If you had studied for his doctorate during the time when he started his business, it would have been a huge workload.
Of course, even if you know this is a pit, you still have to jump into it.
Because timing is so important.
It's 1998, and the dot-com bubble is about to burst.
On the night that Zhou Xin finished his Ph.D. entrance examination in Berkeley's integrated circuit subdivision, Hu Zhengming called him again.
I asked several professional questions, and Zhou Xin answered them fluently.
Hu Zhengming also did not beat around the bush: "I will arrange for someone to help you transfer to another school.
You are a sophomore now, right? You started studying as a senior right after you came to Berkeley.
TOEFL and GRE will be taken slowly after coming to California.
Since you have just passed the first semester of your sophomore year, you only need to study for one semester as a senior, and then come directly to study for my Ph.D.
In the middle, you need to make up some exams for classes you have not taken.
But given your ability, these exams will be a breeze.
I will also help you arrange a scholarship to ensure that your basic life at Berkeley will be no problem at all.
Also, let me tell you in advance that you may need to work part-time in my company after you come here.
This part-time job will also be paid.
It’s just going to be a little hard, and you may need to be mentally prepared.”
Zhou Xin agreed simply: "Okay."
At this time, moisturize first and then talk.
As for work, it’s not yet certain who will take charge of who.
Berkeley has dedicated staff to handle transfer matters. Zhou Xin only needs to go to the Academic Affairs Department of Yanda to go through the procedures.
In fact, the most difficult step is to apply for a visa.
Before China joined the WTO, there was a high risk of visa rejection when applying for a visa to stay in the United States.
Fortunately, Berkeley's sign was loud enough, so everything went smoothly.
“It’s amazing that I went directly to Berkeley. I was still very proud of myself for going to Santa Barbara.
As a result, Zhou Xin went directly to Berkeley.
I went to Santa Barbara as an exchange student, but you actually transferred directly.
I finally know what it means that there are people outside the world. "
There is a lag in the delivery of messages.
Zhou Xin had started the transfer process a few days ago, and Cao Yongluo only learned of the news.
Wang Wei and Li Li were half lying on the bed when they saw it, and they both sat up straight:
"What!
Zhou Xin, have you applied? "
