The Junior Professor Solution

"The Junior Professor Solution" is the second episode of the eighth season of the  The Big Bang Theory. The episode aired on September 22, 2014 immediately after the first episode of the new season.

Summary
Sheldon is given a junior professor job, but now has to teach graduate students. No one signs up for his course except Howard. Bernadette is worried that Penny won't perform well in the job that she got her based upon her performance as a waitress.

Extended Plot
First Sheldon is discussing what animals could be crossed with humans to make super soldiers per some research done during World War II. Bernadette is pushing Penny to study the background material she has for her new job at Bernadette's company. During a meeting with Janine Davis, Sheldon gets appointed to a junior professor post, which will entitle him to pursue his preferred research interests, but which requires him to teach a course for graduate students. Amy is back to working with starfish when Penny comes over to have lunch with her and complaining about Bernadette's pushing her to study. The next day Bernadette invites Amy without Penny still complaining about Bernadette.

Sheldon finds out that no one has signed up for his class since he is so obnoxious. Howard wants to work on a doctorate and agrees to take it. Amy wants to talk about being in the middle of Bernadette and Penny's troubles with her boyfriend, while Sheldon has to figure out how to teach Howard. Leonard suggests that Sheldon is scared of finding someone smarter than himself. Sheldon just wants to figure out how to keep Howard in his place. Howard and Sheldon are at each other's throats as his class starts and Howard ends up shooting a spitball into Sheldon's mouth causing Sheldon to flee. Amy is enjoying being in the middle of Bernadette and Penny and seeming to be very popular. Howard goes back to confront Sheldon after he dropped the course. He also proves that Sheldon doesn't know everything about engineering. Bernadette goes to help Penny and finds that she understands the background material she was given. Amy is listening behind the doors and runs far away when Bernadette calls her to tell her that everything is fine between her and Penny. Finally the guys keep asking each other scientific questions feeling proud that they are so smart, but lamenting that they still didn't get girls in high school.

Critics
Dhruv Rao of The DR Club gave the episode a B-, calling the A-plot "while funny at times, was weak and the viewer could easily spot the flaws in writing." 

Trivia

 * As was the case in "The Tenure Turbulence", this episode is based on an entirely nonsensical academic conceit made up for the benefit of the show. There is no such thing as a "Junior Professor" in universities in the United States.  The closest thing would be an "Assistant Professor", but this is either a tenure-track research position which Sheldon cannot be offered (he must apply for it over the course of a year) or a teaching position which involves no research at all.
 * In "The Relationship Diremption", Sheldon decides to give up on string theory, mentioning "exciting areas" such as s and . Leonard suggests the of particle physics and  for new fields of inquiry, while Amy posits nuclear matrix elements, all of which Sheldon quickly shoots down. In "The Anything Can Happen Recurrence", Sheldon considers research in, dark matter,  in s, , or s. In "The Status Quo Combustion", he reveals he has chosen to change his field of study to , but in this episode he chooses dark matter.
 * Sheldon teaches a graduate-level physics class on in this episode. His lecture particularly covers: (1), (2) Mechanics , (3) , (4) Oscillations, (5) Canonical Formalism, (6) Hamilton-Jacobi Method, (7) Perturbation Theory, and (8) . Notably, he inquires about Howard's familiarity with the Brachistochrone problem and Euler-Lagrange theorems, especially as they relate to the.
 * Another reason no students signed up for Sheldon's class could be due to his lecture in "The Thespian Catalyst," which was tweeted badly by all the students who attended.
 * The answer to Sheldon's question about which scientist contributed to the development of calculus and had a named after him is Leibniz, not Newton (it's meant as a trick question, and the correct answer is not revealed in the episode). Sheldon explains that the  was actually named after a town in Massachusetts, and not for the scientist; he had previously explained this to Penny in "The Gorilla Experiment".
 * In Sheldon's lecture room, there is a schedule of classes offered: 9A- III; 10A-; 11A- II; 1P-; 2P-; 3P-.
 * In Amy's office, Sheldon's iPad can be seen in a stand, indicating that the cast is reusing props.The same iPad (with a bullet hole sticker) can be seen in the Season 5 episode "The Speckerman Recurrence", in the hands of Sheldon.
 * Howard is thinking about getting his doctorate.
 * Emily's surname Sweeney is verbally confirmed in this episode.

Quotes
To be entered.