Orion Crest, Series_1

Chapter 101: It takes all sorts to make a world

　　The so-called Fellowship is a full award in the usual sense of the word. Different from the scholarship, the fellowship not only exempts the awarded students from tuition and accommodations, but also gives a certain amount of living expenses.

　　It is for this reason that fellowships are particularly competitive in the application process. In addition to higher paper grades, foreign applicants are generally required to provide a good transcript from their home school, as well as a letter of recommendation and a plan of study.

　　For different schools, and even different individuals, the amount of the full award varies, and even the payment method is divided into a year as a unit of a one-time payment or monthly, quarterly payments and so on.

　　The difficulty of applying for a full award at Princeton is undoubtedly the most stringent of many colleges and universities in North America, especially at the doctoral level. But for a PhD student at the level of the Cole Prize in Number Theory, there doesn't seem to be any problem.

　　After all, Orion himself is qualified to write letters of recommendation for other people, not to mention that his supervisor is Mr. Deligne.

　　Orion's grant included a waiver of tuition and accommodation fees, a free health insurance policy, and a one-time $40,000 award. After applying for a card at the bank next to Princeton University and withdrawing the cheque for the Cole Prize and the Princeton grant, Orion looked at the string of digits in the balance, and then felt a moment of emotion in his heart.

　　This kind of feeling is really indescribable.

　　......

　　After finishing the grants and miscellaneous tuition matters, Orion has settled down in Princeton University for the time being.

　　For undergraduates, the academic work here is indeed very heavy, but for doctoral students, if their supervisors do not push them too hard, they will be more relaxed.

　　Professor Deligne had arranged a teaching assistantship for him, but his first class was in April, a month away, and Orion had even taken a few days off to go to a nearby town to get his driver's licence.

　　Apart from his long-term research project on Goldbach's Conjecture, his task at this stage was mainly to learn about algebraic geometry under the guidance of Professor Deligne.

　　To Orion's delight, the old man from Belgium had what he had always dreamed of - the original manuscript of the 'Esquisse d'un Programme' of the late Grothendieck, Sr.

　　Unlike the bible of modern algebraic geometry, 'Éléments de géométrie algébrique (EGA)', since Grothendieck reclaimed all the copyrights of his work at the turn of the millennium, the 'Esquisse d'un Programme' has been circulated only amongst some mathematicians, and many of the ideas contained therein have never been fully grasped by anyone, even to this day.

　　Although he accepted the late Grothendieck's invitation, Orion never went to seek out the legacy of the Pope of modern algebraic geometry because he had not yet studied Grothendieck's work in depth.

　　The original manuscript of the Draft, with its English translation, was a great help to Orion. Together with the personal guidance of Prof Deligne, Grothendieck's senior disciple, a lot of obscure things became much easier to understand.

　　As expected, choosing a good mentor could save a lot of time.

　　Apart from completing his study of algebraic geometry under the guidance of Professor Deligne, Orion spent almost all his other free time on Goldbach's Conjecture.