Chapter 18 Review
At every NeurIPS conference, the accepted papers are generally divided into three tiers: Oral, Spotlight, and Poster presentations, corresponding to oral reports, spotlight talks, and poster sessions respectively.
Oral-level papers typically make up only 2% to 3% of all accepted submissions, usually scoring above 7.5 points.
Zhou Yun’s paper had already surpassed that threshold, meaning it was highly likely he would deliver an oral presentation at NeurIPS.
He Kaiming reviewed the evaluations from the reviewers: “Not sure who the author of this paper is...”
After finishing the summary and double-checking it, he clicked send.
...
At Qiantang University, inside the laboratory.
The first thing Zhou Yun did upon arriving at the lab and booting up his computer was to check his emails, as usual.
“Hm?”
Seeing a new red notification on his inbox, his heart involuntarily quickened.
“Could it be?”
Swallowing nervously, Zhou Yun opened the email. His proficiency in English was now nearly indistinguishable from a native speaker’s; he no longer needed translation software to understand the contents.
When he saw the score of 7.8, two words flashed through his mind—secured!
Still, he carefully read through the entire email. The further he read, the harder it was to suppress the smile curling at the corner of his mouth, though he managed to restrain himself from laughing out loud.
Several reviewers had offered suggestions and raised some questions, but all were minor and did not require significant revisions to the paper.
“Zhou Yun, what's got you grinning like that?” Qiu Yan had just set down his bag and saw Zhou Yun smiling foolishly at the screen.
“The review comments are in.”
“The NeurIPS paper?” Qiu Yan immediately perked up.
“Yeah.”
“Let me see. How’s it look? What’s the score? Is there a chance?”
“I think there’s a chance.” Zhou Yun smiled as he turned the screen toward Qiu Yan.
Qiu Yan adjusted his glasses and, upon seeing the score, couldn’t help but burst out, “Damn! You call that having a chance? This is nailed down for sure! It’s definitely accepted!”
What kind of divine score is 7.8?
He had already thought it was impressive that Zhou Yun could get into NeurIPS; now to see such a high score was beyond expectations.
“Hey, so that means you’ll be presenting onsite?”
“Probably.”
“Damn, that’s awesome! I’ve only ever sat in the audience at conferences before. Never thought this time I’d know someone actually presenting, and at a conference on the level of NeurIPS too.”
---
Qiu Yan was now even more excited than Zhou Yun, as if it were his own paper being accepted.
“Well, focus on revising your paper then. I won’t bother you anymore.” Saying that, he zipped his lips, signaling he wouldn’t make another sound.
But the next moment, he announced the news to their group chat.
“@everyone!”
“All eyes on me!”
Perhaps too excited, Qiu Yan mistakenly sent the message to a group where Deng Yonghua was also present.
So although everyone saw it, no one replied first.
Deng Yonghua saw the message on his phone and wondered if his top student was acting a bit reckless today; maybe the workload was too light, making him floaty after submitting a paper.
He glanced at Zhou Yun’s message and sent a question mark. If he didn’t get a clear explanation soon, he planned to treat Qiu Yan to a good lunch at noon.
“?”
Seeing Professor Deng’s message pop up, Qiu Yan nearly dropped his phone in fright.
Wrong group?!
But since it was already sent, he had no choice but to keep going, only now his wording became noticeably more formal.
“Professor, Zhou Yun’s review has arrived, with an average score of 7.8!”
Deng Yonghua raised an eyebrow as he looked at his phone.
This was something unexpected. A score of 7.8 was already enough to warrant a presentation, a level many university professors could not reach.
Even he had only done two presentations at top-tier security conferences like USENIX and NDSS, and at his age—43, nearing middle age—that was quite an achievement. Yet Zhou Yun, barely in his early twenties, had his first paper accepted at a conference of NeurIPS’s caliber.
A brilliant future indeed!
“Congrats.jpg”
In a great mood, Deng Yonghua even sent an emoji. With the professor leading, other members of the group quickly sent congratulatory messages.
---
In a room in another city, Chang Chengxuan, who had just woken up, pulled out his phone vibrating under his pillow and glanced at it.
The flood of congratulations left him somewhat bewildered.
What happened?
Scrolling through the screen, he saw Qiu Yan’s message.
“Ah? Zhou Yun’s paper review is already in?” Although he hadn’t returned to school, he hadn’t been idle at home either. Two or three months of study and group meeting presentations had transformed him from a complete novice to an amateur researcher.
When Zhou Yun first mentioned submitting to NeurIPS, Chang had looked up just what kind of conference NeurIPS was.
---
What he discovered shocked him.
At that moment, only three words filled his mind—A genius poet?
After the interview, he had thought Zhou Yun probably had some early undergraduate research experience and a competitive spirit.
But after being repeatedly humbled in group meetings, he gradually gave up on that idea.
Even the advisor’s attitude made it clear that Zhou Yun was on a different level from the rest of them.
Another incoming student, Shao Shi, shared the same feeling.
Every time they presented in group meetings, the professor always found some tricky questions that left them completely stumped.
When trying to reproduce projects, the professor’s concluding remarks were always surprisingly consistent:
“So you basically haven’t done much this week? You need to hurry up! This won’t do.”
But Zhou Yun was different. No matter how difficult the professor’s questions were, he always answered fluently, sometimes even challenging the professor’s views.
Having someone like that in the group was a huge source of pressure for them!
They had planned to relax over the summer break, but now it seemed they had no choice but to buckle down and study.
---
In his office, Deng Yonghua contemplated the upcoming arrangements.
He had just checked and found that this year’s NeurIPS conference would be held in Vancouver, Canada, from December 10 to December 15.
He also reviewed the lab’s budget; after deducting expenses for server purchases, there was still a considerable amount left.
This money was project funding, which had to be spent; otherwise, the project might not pass inspection.
With Zhou Yun attending NeurIPS, as his advisor, Deng definitely planned to accompany him. After all, he wasn’t comfortable letting Zhou Yun travel abroad alone.
“Well, since we’re going anyway, might as well take a few more students along.”
After some thought, he sent a message to the group chat.
“@everyone”
“If all goes as planned, Zhou Yun will attend the conference in Vancouver this December. I intend to take a few students along; those interested can sign up. Qiu Yan, please arrange this.”
“@Qiu Yan”
“Got it, Professor!” Qiu Yan responded instantly.
Since they were going abroad, visas would need to be prepared in advance; otherwise, once the NeurIPS accepted papers were announced, it might be too late.