I Inherited 5,000 Years of Family Property

"Don't underestimate this discipline evaluation, this is our only chance in decades to improve our standing," Han Jinyu placed a stack of documents in front of Zhang Menglong, "Take a look at this first."

Zhang Menglong opened the stack of documents; the title of the documents read "National Top-level Scientific Research Education Pilot Universities Selection Notification."

Having gone through the college entrance and graduate entrance exams, Zhang Menglong was very familiar with the classification of schools by rank; universities categorized as 985 and 211 were the strongest competitors when it came to job hunting.

Many companies specify that graduates from 985 and 211 universities are preferred, and some even exclusively hire from these universities.

However, there was no helping it; these category universities had completed their projects in the last century, and although many current universities have surpassed these in terms of teaching prowess, they cannot join their ranks, leading to much distress among many institutions.

There are 39 universities in the 985 category, and 112 in the 211 category, while Jiangnan University of Science and Technology's current overall ranking is 128th in the nation, which is perfectly competitive with those institutions.

In recent years, the country had initiated the selection for double first-class universities. Although there were some discrepancies in titles compared to the 985 and 211 projects, the competitiveness in the job market was very decent, at least much higher than those of students from ordinary Tier 1, Tier 2, and Tier 3 universities.

However, Jiangnan University of Science and Technology had faltered in its bid for the double first-class discipline last time, missing by one place, which was truly regrettable.

This time, it was a new reshuffling of rankings across Huaxia's universities; according to this document, there were only 18 spots available for becoming pilot universities, which had a much higher Gold Value than 985, 211, or double first-class standards.

If they could achieve this title, it would mean that their university would transform from a second-tier to a prestigious university overnight, which was immensely important for the institution's future reputation and student recruitment.

Of course, to vie for these 18 spots, universities nationwide were going crazy; those ranked higher aimed to maintain their schools' glory, while those ranked lower aspired to surpass them.

The evaluation this time was divided into several dimensions, one being the students' evaluations of their school's teaching quality. Actually, this was a very flexible aspect; as long as the professors were willing to spend time making calls, most students were willing to give their alma mater a good review, making nearly everyone start from the same point.

The second aspect was the scientific research achievements of the schools over the past decade.

These scientific research projects were not limited to provincial and national projects but included all industry-beneficial projects undertaken by businesses.

Here, the disparity between schools was significant, as national project selection tended to favor prestigious universities.

In Jiangnan City, for instance, most of the national fund evaluations each year went to Jiangnan University, one of the top three universities in the nation, whose scientific research achievements were undoubtedly exceptional.

Of course, quantity was one factor, but quality was another, and this time, Zhang Menglong's 2nm chip development project was credited to Jiangnan University of Science and Technology, spotlighting the institution globally.

The third aspect was the publication situation of the schools, which directly related to the universities' scientific capabilities. Superficially, it seemed all schools started from the same line, since anyone willing to put in the effort had the chance to publish papers, regardless of which school or professor they were, as publishers only cared about quality.

But remember, the better-ranked schools had better equipment and more funds; even the most clever homemaker cannot cook without rice.

The final aspect was that each school had to present its most confident project, along with all current achievements, to all participating institutions and judges for a demonstration, the score of which was a composite given by everyone.

So although it appeared to be an opportunity for all universities, everyone knew well that only schools ranked in the national top 50 had a real chance of selection.

Jiangnan University of Science and Technology, ranked beyond the top 100, almost became a laughingstock among neighboring institutions during the selection, who sneered at them for overreaching.

Correct, you currently have money and equipment, but you have only been nouveau riche for one year; compared to other institutions, Jiangnan University of Science and Technology is significantly weaker in legacy.

Perhaps in three to five years, they might have the strength to compete with the top universities, but definitely not today!

Yet, Jiangnan University of Science and Technology refused to believe in fate; even if there was only a 0.01% chance by participating, it was still a chance, but if they didn't participate, there would be no chance at all. What was more important, opportunity or pride?

Actually, Han Jinyu originally had no hopes either, but then he suddenly thought of Zhang Menglong. If this kid could come up with such an incredible contraption, maybe there really was a way?

"Professor Han, at what level is our school currently?" Zhang Menglong asked.

Han Jinyu responded with an awkward smile, "Our student satisfaction is very high, with an almost 100 percent good rate."

"Hmm!" Zhang Menglong looked at Han Jinyu, wanting to hear more, but Han Jinyu stopped talking.

"Hmm? That's it?"

"That's it!"

"Who exactly gave our university the courage to participate in this?" Zhang Menglong felt a bit embarrassed, "Isn't this just humiliating ourselves by participating?"

"You cheeky brat! Show some respect, the president and I applied for this!"

In fact, Han Jinyu was holding onto some hope since the evaluation of scientific research outcomes and papers was based on a scoring system, according to the quality of the projects and papers, the review panel would assign scores.

Han Jinyu dared to apply because he thought the chip development project would definitely score high, which made him somewhat overconfident.

Indeed, the project scored exceptionally high; regular provincial projects got 10 points, national projects 30 points, but this chip project had been awarded a high score of 320 points!

But that was the only impressive thing Jiangnan University of Science and Technology had to showcase; other universities might not have such high-quality projects, but they had quantity on their side.

Take Huaxia Academy of Science Research, for example, their total score reached an astounding 2430 points, they didn't even compare to the fractions there!

As for papers, the gap was even bigger. Those top universities could publish a dozen or even twenty articles a year in top-level journals like Nature, Science, Cell.

It was questionable if Jiangnan University of Science and Technology had published as many papers since its founding as those universities published in a single year.

When Han Jinyu saw this gap, his morale completely collapsed. This was simply like sticking their faces out for other high-profile universities to slap!

Out of the 74 participating universities, their current ranking was 62, almost at the very bottom.

Upon learning this, Zhang Menglong showed a helpless expression, "Professor Han, you're really just torturing yourself to save face, don't you have any clue about our school's real weight?"

"How dare you talk like that!" Han Jinyu slapped Zhang Menglong on the head, "I'm just asking if you have a solution. If not, just come to the research group and work on scientific research honestly. Others might graduate with two papers; you'd need at least five!"

"Professor Han!" Zhang Menglong was speechless.

"Heh, heh!" Han Jinyu showed a sly smile. He knew very well that with Zhang Menglong's capabilities, not to mention five papers, he was capable of producing ten, "So, it's either help our university clinch this pilot title or dutifully do research for three years. Choose one!"

For the first time, Zhang Menglong realized that Han Jinyu could be quite shameless. No wonder he was his advisor. He wondered if he could choose to drop out?

But upon further thought, if he really managed to achieve this, his "Cred Points" would likely reach an astronomical number, right?

"Alright," Zhang Menglong thought for a moment, "let's set a small goal first—push the ranking into the top three within one month!"