Chapter 198 - 178: Inviting Wu Ting to Be an Associate Professor at the Research Institute

Chapter 198: Chapter 178: Inviting Wu Ting to Be an Associate Professor at the Research Institute

Her group had no shortage of ordinary elites, but top-tier talent was a rare resource anywhere.

This Wu Ting had already caught Deng Feifei’s attention.

Professor Jin lectured for a while longer before stopping and putting down his chalk.

"And you are, young man?"

Professor Jin looked at Wu Ting, who answered,

"Wu Ting."

Professor Jin handed him the chalk. "Classmate Wu, since you’re the one who raised this issue, why don’t you draw a schematic diagram of how SIGIRR affects Th1 cells, NK cells, and the TLRs signaling pathway? That way, everyone can get a more intuitive understanding."

This was a highly obscure and profound cutting-edge finding in the field of immune regulation theory.

Based on current theoretical findings, it had not yet been formally translated and introduced in the country. Anyone who wanted to understand it had to read the original foreign-language journals.

By posing such a question, Professor Jin clearly intended to make Wu Ting reveal his true capabilities.

If Wu Ting could draw it, there would be no doubt that he was truly an expert—the one who had formulated the original question.

Conversely, if he couldn’t even draw the schematic for this theory, Professor Jin was prepared to throw him out.

Facing the daunting challenge, Wu Ting calmly took the chalk from Professor Jin.

With an artist’s aesthetic sense, a top student’s foreign language skills, a photographic memory, and Shen Siyuan’s theory of immune regulation, Wu Ting began to draw the diagram.

SCRITCH, SCRITCH, SCRITCH!

On the blackboard, Wu Ting wasn’t just blindly copying the existing theory; he was integrating his own understanding to optimize it.

The structural diagram was almost a perfect replica, but the annotations and the form of the signaling pathways were improved for easier comprehension.

As for the labels, since there was no consensus on their translation yet, Wu Ting wrote down the original terms and added his own translations in parentheses.

After finishing the drawing, Wu Ting began to explain:

"Because this theory hasn’t been introduced domestically yet, we can only summarize certain journal articles and speculate that the mechanism of action is a decrease in SIGIRR expression, which, through negative feedback, leads to TLR4 activation..."

"...This promotes an increase in the levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines such as NKG2A on the surface of NK cells, as well as IL-6 and TNF-α, leading to a decrease in anti-inflammatory cytokines like IFN-γ, IL-10, and IL-18, ultimately causing immunosuppression..."

Wu Ting’s calm voice echoed through the classroom.

It wasn’t just Deng Feifei; all the doctoral students who could understand were utterly in awe.

Especially Wu Ting’s diagram.

"Damn, this guy is a true master! I don’t get the principle and I’ve never seen those foreign words, but that drawing is incredible. He’s a pro at drawing by hand!"

"It’s not just his drawing ability, his foreign language skills are top-notch too. Look at those translations, those technical terms!"

"I think the way Classmate Wu explained the signaling pathway principle based on his own summary really shows his incredible talent!"

"And did you guys notice? He came up with this concept by summarizing several cutting-edge papers from international journals!"

"His reading volume and research level are insane."

"Yeah, and he’s so young."

"Who is this genius underclassman? What school is he from? What’s his major? Who’s his advisor? How have we never heard of him?"

"I don’t know, but he’s not from our School of Life Sciences."

"He’s not from our School of Forestry either..."

"Could he be one of the high-level talents Jinggang University just recruited? A top-shot expert who graduated from overseas?"

"Possible, very possible. Our school brought in a lot of top-tier young faculty from abroad today. This Wu Ting must be one of the new young professors."

"That would make sense. He’s probably one of those child prodigies who finished college in his teens, got his master’s and doctorate from an Ivy League school, and then was recruited as top talent."

With just his explanation of the diagram, Wu Ting had dispelled all doubt.

After all, his knowledge in immunology was equivalent to Professor Shen Siyuan’s entire life’s work. With Professor Jin’s keen eye, how could he fail to see that?

All that remained was speculation about his identity.

Even Professor Jin felt a stir of emotion. Over the years, he had advised countless doctoral students and led numerous brilliant professors, but Wu Ting’s performance and the question he posed caused a ripple in his long-undisturbed heart.

Professor Jin had already retired. Since being rehired, he had been in a state of semi-retirement. He never expected that Wu Ting’s research today would spark such a sudden impulse in him.

If he weren’t so old and lacking in energy, he would have genuinely been willing to join this young scholar’s team as a consultant.

Filled with admiration, Professor Jin was the first to applaud.

Deng Feifei’s eyes also showed a look of admiration, mentally apologizing for having judged him by his appearance earlier.

The entire classroom erupted in applause.

After a while, Professor Jin gestured for quiet. This time, he began to answer Wu Ting’s question in earnest.

He naturally had his own unique insights into Wu Ting’s question.

If he hadn’t been certain that Wu Ting was the one who had truly designed the question, he wouldn’t have voiced his thoughts—it would have been like casting pearls before swine. But now, he saw Wu Ting as an outstanding and equal scholar.

Wu Ting also listened intently. As expected, Professor Jin was truly profound and knowledgeable.

The two of them began a back-and-forth exchange, lost in their own world. The clash of ideas gave Wu Ting many new inspirations.

Professor Jin truly lived up to his reputation as a top-tier scholar of the older generation. He was immensely knowledgeable with his own well-established theoretical framework. After their discussion, both he and Wu Ting made new connections and benefited immensely.

When Wu Ting paused to digest the information, Professor Jin casually asked,

"Forgive my presumption, Mr. Wu, but are you a newly recruited teacher from another school at our university?"

Wu Ting, still processing their conversation, shook his head casually. "No, Professor Jin. I’m just an ordinary student here to audit the class, not a teacher."

Professor Jin’s eyes lit up, and he extended an excited invitation:

"Mr. Wu, with your expertise in the field of immune regulation, you could absolutely be an associate professor in our school."

"Mr. Wu, would you be interested in teaching at our school? I will personally recommend you!"

"We will arrange a suitable position for you based on your academic achievements and past experience. Of course, with your knowledge, even if you have no formal credentials, I could still recommend you for a lecturer position."

"Mr. Wu, you’re still so young, after all. With your talent and research topic, if you can secure it, you’ll have more than enough to be promoted to associate professor or higher, bypassing the usual requirements."

"Mr. Wu, you may not know this, but my daughter runs a pharmaceutical company. If you stay and teach, I am willing to work with the school to jointly provide R&D funding for your project."

"As long as you’re willing, we can create a laboratory just for you!"

Hearing Professor Jin’s invitation, everyone present was completely stunned.

Even Deng Feifei’s beautiful eyes were fixed on Wu Ting, a little envious of the young man’s opportunity. With Professor Jin’s status in the School of Life Sciences, recommending a teacher was truly a simple favor for him.

Perhaps due to some strict requirements, he might only be hired as a lecturer for now, but with Professor Jin’s support, a smooth path to a full professorship was practically guaranteed.

Wu Ting was also flattered and a little overwhelmed. He had just come to ask a question; how had he suddenly been invited by the former dean of Jinggang University’s School of Life Sciences to become a lecturer?