Super God-Level Top Student
Chapter 893 - 337: Hesitation Leads to Defeat

Xu Dajiang's hint was pretty obvious—he was just short of outright saying, "Professor Qiao, go ahead and make an outrageous demand for official positions. After all, I won't be the one dealing with the headache."

Of course, Qiao Ze didn't really need such hints. Although he personally didn't care much about official positions, his time at Xilin University of Technology had already helped him grasp the various rules of the academic training and research system.

In general, the requirements for Ph.D. graduates are increasing linearly these days. But the requirements for employment are rising just as steeply.

Especially within universities and research institutes.

Nowadays, even getting into a slightly better university requires a Ph.D. as a minimum, along with the looming "publish or perish" pressure. It's also becoming a trend for research institutes to hire without offering formal positions. And once you're in, securing a promotion is extremely difficult.

This leads many Ph.D. graduates, even if they manage to join a university or research institute, to lose hope during crucial promotion periods. They often end up voluntarily going to a postdoctoral station for two years of research before seeking employment at a new institution.

And that's the fortunate ones.

A significant number of Ph.D. graduates fail to find good opportunities and end up lingering in postdoctoral stations long-term, barely scraping by. In summary, that's just the way things are. It's not that universities don't want to provide official positions; it's that position management has become increasingly strict. Everyone wants them, but there just aren't enough to go around.

So, it's not surprising that people in universities and research institutes would fight tooth and nail over an official position.

Qiao Ze could even discern Xu Dajiang's little schemes.

If there were surplus positions at the Mathematics Research Institute, they could help alleviate some issues within the School of Mathematics. For the School of Mathematics to grow quickly, it also needed a pool of senior talent for reinforcement. But the amount of positions allocated each year wasn't enough—there was no way to kick out all the old professors, right? And even if you did, it wouldn't solve the problem.

So, Qiao Ze directly asked, "Two hundred?"

Faced with this ambitious number, the otherwise conservative Xu Dajiang seemed to think Qiao Ze was being too reserved.

Considering Qiao Ze's contributions to Xi Gong University, to Xilin City, to microchips, to the high-tech industry chain, and to materials science, Xu Dajiang felt that Qiao Ze was being far too modest.

"This building might end up serving as a postdoctoral station for mathematics Ph.D.s in the future. It could accommodate over 1,500 people, with 800 permanent researchers. Two hundred positions are way too few. Professor Qiao, you have no idea—it's incredibly hard to retain talent without offering official positions these days.

Not everyone is like Professor Xu, who already had an official position before arriving here, sparing us from having to deal with the issue. Many postdocs who joined the institute from postdoctoral stations only managed to secure a formal position after six months of fighting for it.

And let me tell you, if our initial allocation of official positions isn't sufficient, expanding it in the future will be nearly impossible. Each year, we're only allocated a pittance, which is far from enough. Not to mention, the higher-ups may make cuts—for example, you ask for two hundred, but in the end, they settle on one hundred.

Of course, they might not outright disrespect you like that, but giving you 150 or 180 is absolutely possible. That's why I think we should aim for 500 positions and initially request 800, then negotiate downward."

Xu Dajiang earnestly proposed.

By this point, he had already led Qiao Ze and Su Mucheng into the building, climbing the steps as he explained. His lengthy speech left him slightly out of breath—after all, he was no longer young.

"Negotiate?" Qiao Ze glanced at Xu Dajiang, shook his head, and said, "If the goal is 500, just apply for 500. There's no need to play mind games with this kind of thing."

Xu Dajiang seemed to grasp this point.

Carefully reflecting on it, he had to admit Qiao Ze had a point.

He had been too shortsighted.

This type of situation couldn't be approached with subjective assumptions.

Submitting a report might lead the higher-ups to negotiate with him to pacify him; after all, his standing was limited.

But Qiao's reputation as a man of few words and strong action meant he wasn't the type to haggle over such matters...

So, Xu Dajiang quickly changed his tone and said, "No, what I mean is the target should be 600. Yes, 600. That should be approximately enough."

"Alright," Qiao Ze nodded and agreed, then asked, "How many does the School of Mathematics need?"

"Haha… A few dozen, a hundred at most, should do. Oh, Qiao Ze, you wouldn't believe how hard it is to recruit people these days. Anyone slightly outstanding wants an official position. Seriously, if Li hadn't published a paper just in time, he probably wouldn't have stayed. So many talented individuals are stuck being wasted by the lack of available positions, sigh..."

"Then make it 100. Have Li allocate 50 of them, and Dou Dou distribute the other 50. As for the institute, tie the positions directly to Dou Dou's research contribution system. The positions can be allocated based on individual performance during the probation period," Qiao Ze decisively instructed.

"Alright! Let's stop debating this and move on. Let me show you the future offices. Professor Qiao, I'm not bragging, but when this building was under construction, I came by every day to make sure everything was in order," Xu Dajiang said with a grin.

Ha, over a hundred positions—what other secondary college at the university could be as wealthy as the School of Mathematics in the next decade?

Sure enough, following a real leader brings rewards!

...

A formal application document bearing Qiao Ze's stamp was submitted through official channels. Although there was no reply confirming approval yet, the next day Dou Dou's Weibo account had already posted a recruitment announcement.

For the Xilin Mathematics Research Institute, whether it was recruitment or any other promotional materials, there was no need for additional publicity channels—Weibo alone was enough. Though it might not seem entirely professional, it was undoubtedly effective at reaching the audience.

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