Chapter 13: NeurIPS

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Deng Yonghua opened Zhou Yun’s thesis while saying, “I’ve already arranged for someone to fix your computer. I’ll send you the logistics teacher’s WeChat later; they will contact you once it’s ready.”

“Ah? Oh, okay, thank you, professor.” Zhou Yun hadn’t expected the teacher to work so efficiently.

“It's no big deal. Let’s talk about your thesis.” Deng Yonghua pointed at the screen.

“Professor, is there any problem with the thesis?”

“Well, I wouldn’t say there’s a problem. You must have read quite a few theses before, right?”

Zhou Yun nodded obediently.

“Then you’re on the right track. You probably used some thesis formats as a reference and filled in your own content, right? This method isn’t wrong, but for you, for example, at the beginning you keep emphasizing the innovation points. From my perspective, your paper doesn’t need to stress that so much.

“When I have Qiu Yan and the others write theses, I ask them to highlight their innovations in the abstract because their papers often lack real innovation.

“But your paper, as long as it’s understood, no one would question its value, so there’s no need to write it that way…”

Deng Yonghua pointed at the screen and analyzed each point for Zhou Yun, explaining how to revise it. As long as one wasn’t foolish, it was easy to understand.

Zhou Yun listened humbly, not thinking that he had suddenly become smart enough to completely disregard his professor’s advice.

After all, no matter how clever he was, his previous life’s perspective was only that of a graduate from an ordinary university, still far behind a professor like Deng Yonghua, who had been deeply involved in research for over a decade.

Seeing Zhou Yun’s modest demeanor, Deng Yonghua grew even more satisfied.

“In short, your thesis doesn’t have major problems. Fix these minor issues, and it should be ready for submission. Have you thought about where you want to publish it?”

Zhou Yun hadn’t really considered that yet. He just wanted to finish the paper first; where to submit it was still undecided.

“I was thinking of submitting it to CCFA first. If that doesn’t work, I’ll try other places. Do you have any suggestions, professor?”

Having only submitted to B-level conferences in his previous life, his thinking was somewhat conservative.

“How about this: NeurIPS. What do you think? The deadline for this year hasn’t passed yet.”

“Me?” Although Zhou Yun felt his paper was decent, he hadn’t seriously considered NeurIPS.

Simply put, NeurIPS is like the Olympics of computer science—the world’s top conference in machine learning and artificial intelligence.

Its prestige is self-evident.

“Don’t underestimate yourself. In STEM fields, research results speak for themselves. Your work deserves to be at a top conference like NeurIPS.”

Deng Yonghua’s expression grew a bit serious.

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He had noticed that Zhou Yun was good in many ways but sometimes suffered from low self-esteem, which was a very unusual phenomenon.

Most geniuses are at least confident, some even bordering on arrogance.

But Zhou Yun’s personality, in his view, was problematic!

If a researcher isn’t confident in their own work, how can others trust them?

So, he had to help Zhou Yun set his mindset straight.

What Deng Yonghua had no way of knowing was that in Zhou Yun’s previous life, he was just an ordinary person—so some insecurity was perfectly normal.

Seeing Deng Yonghua’s serious expression, Zhou Yun nodded earnestly. “I understand, professor.”

“Good. When you finish revising the thesis, send it to me. Once I approve it, you can submit it yourself. Just include me as the corresponding author.”

Back in the lab, Zhou Yun jotted down the points needing revision and checked the NeurIPS deadline—end of May. Plenty of time; no rush.

While thinking about this, he shut down his computer and prepared to leave.

“Zhou Yun, leaving so early?” Qiu Yan rubbed his aching neck and asked.

“Yeah, I plan to go for a run. No matter how important research is, my health comes first.”

Qiu Yan nodded in agreement, glanced at the time, and said, “Why run? Come on, I’ll take you to the gym.”

Suddenly, those words seemed to trigger something.

“Gym?” Several senior students almost simultaneously looked up.

“Let’s go, I’ll take the little junior brother for a workout.”

“Sure!”

“Let’s go!”

And just like that, Zhou Yun was led by his seniors to the gym next to the dormitory.

“Junior brother, you should get a small electric scooter or a bicycle. The info building is quite a distance from the dorm.”

“Yeah, I plan to look into it in the next couple of days.” Zhou Yun had lived three years at this school in his past life and knew well the importance of having personal transportation.

It was just that recent days had been busy, and he hadn’t gotten around to it.

As for the choice between an electric scooter or a bicycle, Zhou Yun still preferred a bicycle—a road bike, to be precise.

In his previous life, he wasn’t so wise.

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The pressure from research was much greater back then, so cycling had become a crucial outlet for relieving stress.

Riding along the riverside greenway, feeling the wind brush his face, with only the sounds of the wind and tires on pavement—it was incredibly soothing.

Even if he had to do it all again, he wouldn’t give up cycling as a hobby.

Entering the gym, the senior students had already taken off their jackets, revealing strong muscles—clearly well-trained.

Qiu Yan waved to the middle-aged man behind the counter. “Boss, this is my junior brother. Let him train using my card for a while.”

“Uh, okay. But you know, we’re a business. How about one month free? That should be generous enough.”

“Alright, set it up. I’ll take my junior brother inside.”

“You kid,” the middle-aged man shook his head with a smile and went to prepare Zhou Yun’s membership card.

“Zhou Yun, consider this month free. Try it out first. If you get used to it, you can sign up for a membership. If not, no worries if you don’t come back.”

Zhou Yun nodded, surveying the gym’s environment. Men generally had little resistance to gyms; most wanted a good physique, and Zhou Yun was no exception.

It was just that no one had brought him before, and his slight social anxiety kept him away from places like this.

“How much is the membership?”

“A thousand yuan a year. Students at our school get a discount, so about eight hundred or so. But…”

Qiu Yan rubbed his chin thoughtfully.

Given how much Professor Deng valued Zhou Yun now—

“But what?”

“Oh, I was thinking, maybe Professor Deng would even reimburse your membership fees.”

“Ah? That can’t be, right?”

“Who knows? After all, Professor Deng is quite supportive of us keeping fit.”

Actually, Qiu Yan was being conservative with his words. For others, maybe not, but for Zhou Yun, Deng would definitely cover it.

He guaranteed it!