The cafe has a periodic table of elements on the wall and ceiling lamps are designed to represent a molecular structure. (Screenshot photo/Pear Video)
Publishing an academic paper not only enriches the authors' CV, it also earns them a free drink at a cafe at an East China university.
The small coffee shop at the School of Chemistry at Nanjing University of Jiangsu Province, which is sponsored by alumni, features the periodic table of elements on the wall and serves latte with a molecular formula on the foam.
The cafe offers people who publish a paper in an academic journal a free drink "to encourage students and scholars to focus on their research and make contributions to the discipline," an employee at the shop told Pear Video.
Nobel Prize winners and academicians of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Chinese Academy of Engineering can always drink for free when they drop in.
Every week there are researchers and scientists who come to pick up a free drink, said the employee.
"This is our corner and I often study or discuss group homework with classmates here," said a chemistry student sitting in front of her laptop.
The chemistry-theme dominates the cafe's decor and even the ceiling lamps are designed to represent a molecular structure.
"When I come for a coffee, I try to identify the molecules I have learned about from the wallpaper," said a student surnamed Yang.
