After dinner, Sheldon called Dr. Sturgis.
Then, he received excellent news: Dr. Sturgis's Booster Recovery project had been approved, and a research team could be assembled next Monday.
At the same time, Dr. Sturgis sincerely expressed his hope that Sheldon, Mike, and Paige could join his research project.
Immediately, an excited Sheldon rushed into Connie's house that evening to share the good news with Mike and Paige.
"Aren't you excited? This is the most cutting-edge research project right now, and it has the potential to win the Nobel Prize," Sheldon asked in surprise, seeing Mike's calm reaction, as he had expected them to be as excited as him upon hearing the news.
"Of course, I'm excited. This will be a good experience," Mike replied perfunctorily.
In fact, he was not optimistic about Dr. Sturgis's research project winning this year's Nobel Prize; the timing was too rushed.
Moreover, while the Booster Recovery project was practical, it lacked a certain pioneering aspect.
Look at what others who won the Nobel Prize in Physics were researching: cosmic rays, quantum entanglement, studies on elemental radioactivity…
These research projects all possessed great innovation and a complete set of independent concepts.
Achieving these two points was difficult, usually requiring one's own professional team to cultivate a field for several years or even decades.
"Alright!" Sheldon stopped dwelling on Mike's attitude and excitedly began discussing the three of them going to the University of Texas on Monday.
Ultimately, Mike and Sheldon decided that starting next Monday, the three of them would ask for the afternoon off from school, and then Mike would drive them to the University of Texas.
As for Paige, who was beside them, she seemed uninterested in these matters.
When Monday arrived, because Mike and the two others were rare super-geniuses, their knowledge had long surpassed the level expected of high school students.
Therefore, their leave application process went very smoothly.
After lunchtime, Mike drove the two little ones to the University of Texas.
At this time, in the University of Texas laboratory, Dr. Sturgis and Dr. Linkletter were grouping the project researchers.
To advance the research process, the Booster Recovery project would be divided into many research groups, with each group responsible for only a portion of the work.
Finally, Dr. Sturgis and Dr. Linkletter would summarize and control the overall direction of the research project.
Seeing Mike and the two others arrive, Dr. Sturgis was very pleased and, with a wave of his hand, assigned the three of them to a separate group.
Since the research project had just started, there was no specific division of labor yet.
So, after the group members were assigned, Dr. Sturgis called out, "Mike, Sheldon, and Paige, come over here…"
Mike and Sheldon had published the "Rocket Launch" paper, so they were qualified to participate in more core work.
At this moment, Dr. Sturgis, who was assigning tasks to various groups, called them over to hear their opinions.
As for Paige, she was an add-on.
Perhaps the little girl never thought that with her super high IQ, she would one day become a mere accompaniment.
"Mike, please take a look and see if there are any issues with the tasks I've assigned to each group?" Dr. Sturgis asked, standing in front of a large whiteboard.
The whiteboard showed many lines and annotations, dividing the researchers into eight groups, with different tasks assigned to each group based on their weight.
"It's fine like this for now; we can always adjust it later based on the progress of each group's research," Mike replied after looking at the whiteboard.
It was still the early stage of the project, and no one knew what would happen later. The smart approach was to leave some leeway and adjust when needed.
"I think so too," Dr. Sturgis smiled.
The old professor seemed ready for a big endeavor; he looked full of fighting spirit.
"Excuse me, I think there's a problem…" Sheldon raised his small hand, "I think our group can handle more work."
Due to different weights, among the eight groups divided on the whiteboard, five groups' members only needed to perform repetitive numerical calculations, serving as assistants.
The remaining three groups had clear research directions and were core members.
Sheldon and the two others had already been assigned to the core group, already holding a significant proportion in the project.
However, Sheldon was still not satisfied with this result; full of enthusiasm, he wanted to be responsible for more work.
"Sheldon, this is a team project; everyone must do what they can…" Dr. Linkletter, who was also responsible for the overall planning, said in a confrontational manner.
Evidently, Dr. Linkletter had some dissatisfaction with Sheldon due to personal reasons.
But then again, Sheldon's age indeed made it difficult for people to trust him.
"What do you two think?" Dr. Sturgis looked at Mike and Paige.
Dr. Linkletter was right; this research was, after all, a team project, and one could not ruin everyone's efforts due to personal preferences.
Therefore, determining the capability of each group was very necessary.
"I still maintain my previous opinion; any issues can be adjusted in future work," Mike said conservatively.
"My opinion is the same as Mike's," Paige immediately echoed.
Two to one, the result was already obvious.
"Very good, then it's settled," Dr. Sturgis smiled, handing a stack of documents to Mike. These were all the materials Mike's group would need later.
In fact, compared to Sheldon, Dr. Sturgis valued Mike, the one who proposed the Multistage Rocket Booster & Recovery Theory, more.
Afterward, Mike, with the documents, led Paige and Sheldon to their research location.
It was a workstation with computers and a Booster Recovery model.
It's worth mentioning that for this research project, Dr. Sturgis and the other person applied to the school for a very large laboratory, which looked like a large open-plan space.
Within the large open-plan space, several areas were divided according to different needs.
The place where Mike and the two others were currently staying was considered the core area, with comfortable seating and a wide view.
"Why?" Upon arriving at the workstation, Sheldon was still sullen.
"No why," Mike shook his head and said, "If you can prove your ability in research, you will sooner or later get more weight in research work."
"I will prove myself," Sheldon was clearly a bit unwilling to admit defeat and immediately began flipping through the research materials.
Beside him, Mike and Paige also immersed themselves in the research shortly after.
Thus, as the research project progressed in an orderly manner, time passed day by day.
Although Mike and the two others only worked half a day these days, their intelligent brains were enough for them to make up for the time difference.
In fact, due to Sheldon's drive, the progress of the three-person group's project even surpassed that of the other two core groups.
When Friday afternoon arrived, Sheldon, who had submitted the current research results to Dr. Sturgis, once again requested to take on more research work.
"Tomorrow is the weekend. If you can stay here all day, then I should assign more work to your group," Dr. Sturgis said with a smile, looking at the output of Mike's group, "Mike, what do you think?"
As the research project progressed, Mike had already become the leader of the three-person group.
"Sorry, Dr. Sturgis, I have some private matters this weekend and may not be able to come to the research group…" Mike didn't want to disrupt his life because of the research project; when it was time to study, he studied diligently, and when it was time to rest, he rested well.
"Oh, I almost forgot, you're not my colleagues from the University…" Dr. Sturgis thought for a moment and said, "How about this, from now on, you three don't have to come to the laboratory on weekends. That's your personal time."
"No, I don't agree. I can be responsible for Mike and Paige's weekend work," Sheldon immediately protested upon hearing that he would have to rest.
As for Paige, who was beside him, she remained silent. In fact, if Mike hadn't been with her, the little girl wouldn't have wanted to come here either.
Dr. Sturgis saw their reactions and said, "Alright then, Sheldon, from now on, all your group's weekend work will be handed over to you."
Now it was perfect: Sheldon got the more work he wanted, and Mike and Paige got the rest they wanted.
All three had bright futures.