Well, what do you say to that. Two of Germany’s most influential scientists were caught with bad science. Our heroes are Klaus-Michael Debatin and his former mentee Simone Fulda.
Fulda is currently President of the University of Kiel, prior to that she was Vice-President for Research at the Goethe University of Frankfurt. Debatin used to be Dean of the Medical Faculty and Vice-President for Medicine of the University of Ulm, as well as CEO and Medical Director of the university clinic. He and Fulda sit on the boards of the most important academic institutions and charities in Germany and abroad. Both are Fellows of the German Academy of Sciences, Leopoldina (CVs here and here). Both are Senators of the German Research Council (DFG). Both hold senior positions at the German Cancer Aid (Deutsche Krebshilfe) charity. Fulda also advises the Paul Ehrlich Institute, decides about the fellowships at Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, coordinates regional research investments of the Mercator Research Center Ruhr and the German-Israeli research cooperation of the DFG. She also used to be member of the German Science and Humanities Council (Wissenschaftsrat) and currently chairs the Research Information Committee at the Joint Science Conference, which advices the national and federal state governments.
In a way, a biomedical scientist can’t even fart in Germany without permission from Fulda and Debatin.
In 2017-2018, Fulda and Debatin were members of the “Working Group “Quality in Clinical Research” of the DFG Senate Commission on Key Questions in Clinical Research”. The group published this White Paper, titled “Reproducibility of Results in Medical and Biomedical Research”, which then informed the DFG policies on research ethics and integrity. It is mostly boring inane text which finds nothing out of order and binds nobody to nothing. But this excerpt is funny, considering who issues this advice:
“Basic and advanced training for researchers should focus much more on self-reflection, openness and a culture of error acceptance. Learning methods for quality improvement should be regarded as an essential feature of a researcher’s continuing professional development.”
Another member of that DFG committee was Christopher Baum, then-president of the Hannover Medical School (MHH), who at exactly that time arrived at the verdict that the trachea transplant experiments by MHH professor Paolo Macchiarini and his acolyte Philipp Jungebluth were ethically unassailable, and issued a decree (on the right) that Jungebluth’s MD dissertation must never be investigated. Baum later resigned over nepotism accusations (read here).
To help Fulda, Debatin, Baum and others to figure out how research reproducibility REALLY works, DFG invited a guest member to their committee: the DFG Senator and University of Marburg professor Roland Lill. As it happens, Lill was just at that time being whitewashed by the DFG for data irregularities in his own papers. Obviously, DFG was intentionally recruiting a certain kind of people with a purpose.
The biochemistry research lab of professor Roland Lill at the Philipps University Marburg in Germany is a place where space, time and western blot continuum collapses into an anomalous singularity, where paradoxes abound, but only one fact remains certain: there was never any data manipulation in the lab of this senator of the German Research…
Both Debatin and Fulda are paediatricians by training, Debatin used to be the head of the paediatric oncology at the German Cancer Center (DKFZ) in Heidelberg before he fully moved to Ulm, first as vice-dean, then as dean. Fulda followed him there to become professor of paediatric oncology, before moving to Frankfurt, and then to Kiel, rising with each step, up to her current magnificent rectorship. It is logical Debatin and Fulda hold top positions at the German Society of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, where they sit on the commission for university questions.
But their main speciality is cancer research. They write authoritative books about it of course, like the two volume “Apoptosis and Cancer Therapy“. The idea is to kill cancer by inducing apoptosis pathways, in cancer cells only.
The money which German state invested into Debatin and Fulda is enormous. Here is a press release by the Ulm University Hospital from 2020, about a €4.4 million grant from the DFG (translated):
“The scientists in the Clinical Research Group (KFO 167) are investigating the question of how misguided regulation of apoptosis, the programmed cell death, can lead to diseases. […]
“The funding commitment is a great honor for the clinical research group, which helps to strengthen Ulm’s focus on cancer research,” says Prof. Dr. Klaus-Michael Debatin, spokesman for the group, medical director of the Clinic for Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine and dean of the Medical Faculty. [..] Nationwide, the Ulm group is the only clinical research group that works on apoptosis, which is the technical term for the programmed death of damaged cells. It was created on the basis of Professor Debatin’s many years of work and discoveries on cell death signaling pathways.
“Our goal is to use our findings from basic research to develop improved diagnostics and therapy for cancer,” explains Prof. Dr. Simone Fulda, the scientific leader of the research group.”
Now I will show you with what Debatin and Fulda really blessed the German society and cancer patients.
Let’s start with the journal Oncogene. Fulda and Debatin found a way to kill brain tumours:
The material you see here was originally flagged on PubPeer by Clare Francis, with the help of Cheshire, two pseudonymous sleuths. Maybe DFG should invest into these experts of data integrity, instead of investing into those “experts”:
The last author of the next Oncogene paper, Irmela Jeremias, trained as Debatin’s postdoc at the German Cancer Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg, and became unit director at Helmholtz Institute and professor at the LMU Munich. Like Fulda and Debatin, Jeremias never replied to my emails.
And another one, featuring Fulda. The editorial office of this journal is located at the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), where Debatin and his postdoc Jeremias worked at that time. Back then, birch tree bark was proposed as a new anti-cancer medicine, and the Debatin team jumped on that train:
We remain by the birch tree and its betulinic acid, but with a special guest. In 2011, a hospital magazine announced a breakthrough (translated):
“The active ingredient is obtained in a complex process from the bark of the birch tree (Latin: Betula alba). As early as 1995, it was discovered that betulinic acid can kill cells of black skin cancer, melanoma. Further studies by, among others, the working group of Prof. Simone Fulda and Prof. Klaus-Michael Debatin from the Clinic for Child and Adolescent Medicine at the University of Ulm showed that betulinic acid is also effective against other types of cancer, including malignant brain tumors, in preclinical models.
On the long journey of transferring the results of basic research from the laboratory bench to the hospital bed, the Ulm scientists are now cooperating with Prof. Guido Kroemer from the Gustave Roussy Cancer Research Institute in Villejuif near Paris. “The search for a new drug against cancer can only be successful if we join forces,” explains Fulda, who coordinates the two-year joint project.”
Guido Kroemer receives on 8 November 2019 the €1mn Lombardy Award for Healthy Ageing, at La Scala in Milan. And why not, one panel member was Carlo Croce.
Yes! Guido Kroemer, a German superstar in France, the centre of data fudging universe in biomedicine, and Debatin’s & Fulda’s fellow Fellow of the Leopoldina Academy! The duo sits on various boards with Kroemer, and in fact, Fulda even did her postdoc in Kroemer’s Institut Gustave Roussy. This is what the German medical community celebrated:
Gosh, I wonder why birch tree bark never made it as chemotherapeutic, despite such solid peer-reviewed preclinical evidence? To be fair, Fulda’s & Debatin’s PubPeer record is amateurish compared to Kroemer’s. EIGHTY papers. All bad. None retracted.
“Fig. 3A – More similar than expected. Should represent different conditions (Jurkat cells expressing FADD-DN or Bcl-2).” Actually, all 6 images are identical.
“Gels with similar features are also observed in Figure 3B (contrast enhanced).”
Debatin and Fulda posted a lenghty response on PubPeer in August 2020, excerpts:
“Figure 3A shows results comparable to the data published in the EMBO journal (Scaffidi et al, 1998) and Figure 3B shows the results for doxorubicin-induced DISC formation in type I (BJAB) and type II (Jurkat) cells. Thus, the data are robust and stable. […] After 20 years, there are no original data in our lab files. This is in line with national regulations, in particular the regulation of the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG – German Research Council), that asks for a 10-year storage of original data. As a remark, original data are discussed at our lab meetings with all members of the lab since more than 25 years. What is also important concerning the allegation is that the question per se (too similar) is difficult to understand, since on the basis of published data (Scaffidi et al, 1998) similar results are expected, i.e. no induction of CD95L and of CD95 DISC. This applies to 3A as well as to 3B.
However, the critique appears to be related to a similarity in the pattern of a film or membrane. The basis of this critique is difficult to understand. The results are similar since no specific signals are seen, as there is no induction of CD95L and no recruitment of caspase-8 or FADD to CD95 DISC in type II Jurkat cells. It is obvious that films with no signals detected are represented and, therefore, only background signals from the film, the membrane and/or the cassette can be seen. Since we use similar films, the background of the films upon strong enlargement could easily be similar and/or the environment, i.e. the cassette, where film and membranes are stored for exposure, could or should be similar, because the same structure on the cassette and the film is present and the exposure conditions are the same.”
This is utter nonsense, but maybe Debatin and Fulda never ran a gel themselves? Still, they signed with their authoritative titles: “Vice President – Ulm University Vice President – Frankfurt University“. Well, here is a specific signal for them, in Figure 7B, and there they didn’t reply anymore:
Later on, even more was found:
As reminder, this duo in 2017/2018 designed the national guidelines for reproducibility in biomedicine for the DFG. Because the signal in their own gels is so remarkably reproducible, you know.
More in Oncogene, that damn cassette struck again:
Enough of Oncogene, let’s look at other rotten journals. In this paper, Figure 4c contains two identical panels, but not only, because the evil cassette struck again:
Clare Francis, the sleuth who exposed this entire circus, has a theory why the obvious irregularities in Debatin’s and Fulda’s papers mostly stopped at around 2012:
“I wonder if Silvia Bulfone-Paus had an effect on others. Klaus-Michael Debatin’s clearly problematic papers stop in 2012. Silvia was on the front of Der Spiegel in January 2011.“
There are zombie papers, those are the long-discredited or even misconduct-riddled publications, which somehow avoid retractions and continue contaminating scientific literature. The “Arsenic Life” paper in Science is such a parade example, but also cancer and stem research hide an impressive collection of zombie papers. Zombie scientists are those once renowned researchers, who were caught…
An interesting theory indeed. Either Debatin and Fulda became better scientists after 2012, or they just started to act smarter. Let’s look at more of their old papers. How about some flow cytometry? Of the kind where same FACS measurement of one sample was gated slightly differently to stand for two different experiments?
Debatin’s mentee Claudia Friesen eventually made it to lab head in Ulm. I guess those who, uhm, disappointed Debatin, they didn’t make it to anything. Not all bad papers were published by Debatin and Fulda jointly. Friesen again, with Debatin:
Fulda apparently also never believed in loading controls. Anything goes. Here is a rather new paper, from Frankfurt, a collaboration with KU Leuven in Belgium:
In September 2020, the authors issued a Correction:
“Since online publication of this article, the authors noticed that Fig. 3b does not show the correct graph for Bortezomib. […] This unintentional mistake does not alter the conclusions of the study. The authors apologise for any inconvenience caused.”
Fulda could have corrected this as well, it rots on PubPeer since 2016:
And now it gets a bit weird. Another one of Debatin’s former mentees in Ulm, Ingrid Herr, now professor at the University of Heidelberg, previously published a guest post on my site, about her own (foreign) PhD students forging data behind her back.
“Dear colleagues, scientists, check your lab members’ raw data, publications, and dissertations even more thoroughly than before to protect scientific ethics and data integrity and maintain trust in science!” – Ingrid Herr
“If we still had the raw data, I would post a correction. However, this publication is already 18 years old, so the raw data no longer exist. Nevertheless, this unintended mistake does not affect the core message of this publication in any way”
Only a few days later, the raw data miraculously materialised, Herr shared it on PubPeer with the note:
“After reviewing our old hard disks, I have successfully identified the raw data from 2005.”
“Following publication of the original article [1], errors were identified in Fig. 2; specifically in Fig. 2b.
In the row showing cells 2 weeks after cisplatin, ‘CO’ and ‘DEX’ have been replaced with the correct data.
The authors provided the journal with the original data. The corrected figure is provided here. The correction does not have any effect on the results or conclusions of the paper.”
It is not clear why the authors used different magnifications for different time points. With the new control images, it is also not at all clear why much of the untreated primary tumour cells disappeared in a week, while the survivors changed their morphology. Are those peculiarities connected to the fact that the raw data suddenly became available after being lost for good?
By the way, Herr’s and Debatin’s coauthor in Heidelberg, the thoracic surgery professor Hendrik Dienemann, is a former patron of Paolo Macchiarini‘s acolyte Philipp Jungebluth. Dienemann even replaced Macchiarini as last author of a republished study (Jungebluth et al 2015) which original (Jungebluth et al 2015) was retracted some months ago. Read here.
Is the journal Cell Death and Disease a disease itself, parasitised by Chinese paper mills? Can it be cured? Not with this team of doctors on editorial board.
Here is another Debatin & Herr paper, this time with Gerry Melino, chieftain of the Cell Death & Depravity gang (where Denbatin’s valued collaborator Guido Kroemer is key member). You saw some of Debatin’s and Fulda’s papers in Melino’s Cell Death & Depravity journals above.
Scientists never reuse DNA ladder lanes like this. Unless the fragments on their gels did not have the desired size? In August 2015, an “Addendum” was published:
“The authors note: ‘The marker in Figures 2a and 4 is identical, being from the same identical experiment that was then presented in two separate figures for editorial reasons. The marker in Figures 3a and 6b is identical, being from the same identical experiment that was then presented in two separate figures for editorial reasons. Both experiments were performed in 1997, and submitted at the end of 1998 (received 15.1.1999). At that time it was not required to insert a blank line of separation, as it is mandatory in these days. There is no evidence of wrongdoing, hence the results and conclusion remain valid. We thank the alert reader for bringing this issue to our attention, and we deeply apologize to readers for the erroneous labeling.’”
The paper was only 6 years old back then, and still the original gels were not available to prove the authors’ weird claim.
In any case, maybe Ingrid Herr is not really such a great role model of research integrity after all. You can triumphantly log this under: where Schneider went wrong.
I guess you will agree that the PubPeer records of Debatin and Fulda are serious enough to ask for institutional investigations. So I contacted the Universities of Ulm, Kiel and Frankfurt, as well as DKFZ and of course also the DFG. The DFG research integrity officer wrote to me on 9 January 2024:
“We will examine the suspicions you have reported and will contact you again as soon as we have reliable information.”
I asked if they intend to decide as with another DFG Senator, Roland Lill. DFG remained silent. We all know where this is going.
German Research Foundation (DFG) terminated the investigation against their Senator and Marburg University professor Roland Lill, after having found no research misconduct. No comments are issued on the integrity of the data in his papers on yeast biochemistry, or on some unusual image manipulations which were already admitted by Lill and his former PhD students…
The Ombudsman of the University of Kiel replied on 19 January 2024, acknowledging that my notification “could affect a person who is by now working at the Christian-Albrechts-Universität Kiel (CAU)“. He announced to investigate the allegation “regardless of the position of the accused person(s)“, but alas, the papers were published before that person came to Kiel, so the case was “forwarded to the ombudsman’s office of the relevant university” (presumably University of Ulm), and until then:
“The presumption of innocence applies to all steps in the process up to clear proof of misconduct.”
Naturally, in Ulm the presumption of innocence rules supreme as well, so they didn’t even acknowledge receiving my my notification. There is nothing to investigate for them regarding their leader. And why should they, even Christoph Thiemermann is a guest professor at the Ulm university clinic.
Welcome to the the William Harvey Research Institute in London. Meet two proteges of its founder, the late Nobelist Sir John Vane: Chris Thiemermann and Mauro Perretti. Then meet their own rotten mentees, especially Salvatore Cuzzocrea and Jesmond Dalli.
“I am taking this step with a heavy heart and a sense of responsibility for the university since a sufficient foundation of mutual trust no longer remained with some parts of the university to ensure successful cooperation”, – Simone Fulda
Well, I truly relish these findings. And a very good colleague of mine too. It should be made known very publicly. There are more apt vehicles for that than this rather “inner circle”. Should we?
Those were the days. University of Kiel is in the same small state, Schleswig-Holstein, as FZ Borstel, where Silvia Bulfone-Paus was director. How come the University of Kiel didn’t check Simone Fulda’s publications?
Fake it till you make it! But there is so much bullshit science out there you can only trust your own results, almost. Highly worrisome developments. In a way this is also slowing down science and should be followed MUCH more rigorously.
Fulda and Debatin are just two of the many clowns infesting German academia. Another one is certainly Ingrid Herr, whose little Pubpeer saga rapidly developed into an odyssey after closer look (16 papers tagged for Frau Herr). Herr also had the gut to throw foreign students under the bus, while completely diverting her responsibilities. I’m glad my colleagues now acknowledge the evidence.
Recte: Horrorclowns. It is as if today’s right-wing extremists copied their recipes for success from cancer researchers (“alternative facts”, “flooding the zone with shit” a.s.o).
Damn, 18 years have passed, either the foreign students are long gone or have become such “great scientists” with such “great mentors” that it will not be that easy for the bus. Therefore we have the next line of defense, data no longer exists which could be close to the truth since it may have never existed.
Yes and it’s no different from nowadays. It’s legal, from time to time you get a paper or so retracted which is not a big deal since even retracted, continue to get citations. Not to mention you are not sued for scientific misconduct and very rarely you get fired and quickly after that hired to continue…
German defamation law is centred on the protection of privacy and reputation. Hence, some things a court can forbid you to write even if your facts are correct and proven. You can argue with court that the accused is a public figure, but this rarely applies to scientists. That’s why German media never names the culprits, sometimes they don’t even say where the culprits work.
Only politicians and celebrities can be named, and even they often successfully sue.
I thought that the guest article by Ingrid Herr was a spoof, but that’s just me. She certainly went down the road of blaming underlings.
From her Pubpeer recird, on balance, she is more sinning, than sinned against. She might plead stupidity, but a professor of it pleasing stupidity doesn’t seem plausible.
“I wonder if Silvia Bulfone-Paus had an effect on others. Klaus-Michael Debatin’s clearly problematic papers stop in 2012. Silvia was on the front of Der Spiegel in January 2011.“
Clare Francis
That might also be the explanation in Hannover, Germany, where the problematic data stopped in 2012.
Many Germans in the professional classes will make an effort to read der Spiegel. It sets the tone.
Many would sit up and take notice, or their peers might mention something to them.
Well, the “Spiegel” isn’t worth reading anymore, at least since the mid/ late 2000’s; there’s nothing but gossip and left-wing mainstream propaganda left. “Journalism” is dead in Germany, if it ever was alive.
“Fulda followed him there to become professor of paediatric oncology, before moving to Frankfurt, and then to Kiel, rising with each step, up to her current magnificent rectorship.”
“No, it’s Fulda.
I see University of Kiel.decided to be Anglo Saxon and use the word “President” instead of stuffy continental European “Rector”
Thanks for the clarification.
Here’s the management board of the University of Kiel. All its members should resign. What do they do all day? It is hardly credible that given the 2011/2012 thirteen Silvia Bulfone-Paus retractions in the same small state that they were not primed for looking for fraud. They should stop sharpening pencils and do some work.
“Uni Kiel fordert mehr Gestaltungs-Freiheit
Zu viel Steuerung vom Land, zu wenig Befugnisse für die Hochschulen: Die Präsidentin der Uni Kiel kritisiert das neue Hochschulgesetz.’
29.03.2022
What a laugh a fraudster demanding more freedom!
Quite the opposite, the State of Schleswig-Holstein needs to take control immediately and fully, and dismiss Simone Fulda from her post as President of the University of Kiel without delay.
Sometimes there does need to be control by the elected officials (the State government was elected by the voters of Schleswig-Holstein) over unelected fraudsters.
Great article! One correction here: “This is how another type of brain tumour was cured back then, a German success story” – neuroblastoma is actually not a type of brain cancer.
Very well-researched allegations. I hope this interesting story somehow has any personal consequences. Scientific misconduct seems a major problem among pediatric oncologists in Germany (compare also the Tuebingen issue regarding Julia Skokowa, which was brought be LEONID SCHNEIDER recently).
Hello Leonid, who in Kiel decides on the installment of a commission to investigate the cases of scientific misconduct by Prof. Fulda? The president of the university, i.e. Simone Fulda herself? I am curious to see how this case continues.
I can tell you how the case of Bernd Scholz-Reiter, rector of University of Bremen, resolved.
It was about predatory publishing, predatory conferences and even plagiarism.
For some reason plagiarism (a form of flattery) is viewed more seriously than problematic data in Germany. I don’t understand why that should be. Copycats are not making it up.
You must stop seeing the world as scientist and look at it like a lawyer. Because lawyers decide at the end what is misconduct and what is not.
What are those figures you keep flagging for duplications? Pictures! Illustrations! The core of the paper is in its text, what are you, a child, that you need pictures? How do mistakes in those redundant pictures affect the conclusions of the text?
Lawyers work with texts, not with figures. For them, research misconduct is when academic texts are stolen, i.e. plagiarised. That’s why plagiarism is misconduct and fake data is not.
That’s good news that Kiler Nachrichten is reporting about Simone Fulda (Kiel) and Klaus-Michael Debatin (Ulm). The local population in Kiel and Schleswig-Holstein (the state Kiel is in), including the politicians, will read that report and have the opportunity to have a look at the frequent problematic data.
Eventually the news gets out to the wider population.
Similar thing happened to Silvia Bulfone-Paus, who was a director of the FZ Borstel (Research Center Borstel), which is also in Schleswig-Holstein. First the problematic data were reported in Laborjournal, then Retraction Watch, later NDR (North German Television) reported from the FZ Borstel site (Research Center Borstel), and der Spiegel reported on its front page in 2011. News items ran through 2012.
Pity that the people on the committee that appointed Simone Fulda in 2020 as President of Kiel University had such short memories and didn’t check Simone Fulda’s data. They should all seriously consider resigning their positions before they are pushed by the state government.
Parents would be upset if their children cheated at school. Other children would be upset if children cheated at school. How can the schools expect children not to cheat if the President of Kiel University cheated to get where she is?
Cluster of Excellence PMI promotes outstanding female researchers with a total of €200,000
“It is a great and personal pleasure for me to congratulate this year’s prize winners on their awards. They show that top scientific achievements, especially by female researchers, require excellent framework conditions, such as those created by our Cluster of Excellence PMI in an exemplary manner and with radiance for the entire CAU,” emphasized Prof. Simone Fulda, President of Kiel University, at the award ceremony.”
Didn’t Simone Fulda appreciate the irony of a fraudster congratulating the prize winners?
What kind of example does Prof. Simone Fulda, President of Kiel University think she is?
Der Wissenschaftsblog forbetterscience wirft Professorin Simone Fulda, Präsidentin der Christian-Albrechts-Universität Kiel, vor, Daten bei früheren Forschungsarbeiten zur Krebsforschung manipuliert zu haben. Biomedizinische Abbildungen unterschiedlicher Forschungsreihen seien nahezu identisch – das sei eigentlich nicht möglich, so Blogautor und Biologe Leonid Schneider in dem Artikel. Außerdem seien einige Darstellungen einfach nur gespiegelt worden, heißt es im Blog. Die Präsidentin der Uni sagte NDR Schleswig-Holstein, dass sie den Vorwurf mit allem Nachdruck zurückweise. Es gebe keine Tatsachengrundlage, die diesen Vorwurf rechtfertige. Die Uni teilte mit, die Hinweise prüfen zu wollen und sich dann zu äußern. | NDR Schleswig-Holstein 07.02.2024 06:00 Uhr
The science blog forbetterscience accuses Professor Simone Fulda, President of Kiel University, of having manipulated data from previous research on cancer research. Biomedical images from different research series are almost identical – this is actually not possible, according to blog author and biologist Leonid Schneider in the article. In addition, some representations were simply mirrored, according to the blog. The president of the university told NDR Schleswig-Holstein that she emphatically rejects the accusation. There is no factual basis to justify this allegation. The university announced that it would examine the indications and then comment. | NDR Schleswig-Holstein 07.02.2024 06:00 a.m.
I was thinking the same. How can Fulda actually go on and act like these figures display real gels/results? It is so blatantly obvious once you see it, it is literally impossible to get identical bands like this, everyone who did a couple of SDS gels or blots in their life will agree, it CAN NOT HAPPEN. How is her narrative: “All of the accusations are baseless and wrong?” I would understand if she tried to throw former PhD/postdocs under the bus and pretend she didn’t notice, but now she is literally denying reality. She might have convinced herself over the years which reality is the real one…
“Zusätzlich muss sie w[Simone Fulda] sich gegen den schweren Vorwurf wehren, bei ihrer eigenen wissenschaftlichen Arbeit in der Vergangenheit Daten manipuliert zu haben. Der deutsch-ukrainische Autor Leonid Schneider behauptet zudem, dass die Kinderonkologin Fulda gemeinsam mit ihrem wissenschaftlichen Ziehvater, dem Leiter der Ulmer Uni-Klinik, Prof. Klaus-Michael Debatin, ein Netzwerk der Macht aufgebaut habe. Wissenschaftsministerium und Asta haben vergleichsweise kühle Stellungnahmen abgegeben. Sie erwarten eine „gründliche Aufklärung“.”
Manipulationsvorwürfe gegen CAU-Präsidentin Fulda: Der Druck wächst
Kiel. Mittwoch, 14.30 Uhr. Der Senat der Kieler Christian-Albrechts-Universität kommt zusammen, zur dritten regulären Sitzung des Wintersemesters. Doch dieses Mal erregt die Sitzung auch außerhalb der Universität Aufmerksamkeit. Der Grund: CAU-Präsidentin Prof. Simone Fulda sieht sich aktuell mit einem heftigen Vorwurf konfrontiert.
I think that this article, unlike the earlier one, is free because Kieler Nachrichten (Kiel News) wants people to read it and help Kieler Nachrichten gain the national headlines. Perhaps it thinks there is an award on the horizon.
“hat die Präsidentin der Kieler Universität in früheren Jahren als Krebsforscherin grobe Fehler gemacht? Oder, dieser Vorwurf steht jedenfalls im Raum, hat Prof. Simone Fulda sogar Daten bewusst manipuliert? Aufgedeckt haben will das ein Wissenschaftsblogger. Die Reaktionen auf den öffentlichen Vorwurf kamen prompt: Während das schleswig-holsteinische Wissenschaftsministerium schnelle Aufklärung fordert, weist Fulda selbst alle Vorwürfe vehement zurück.Am Mittwochnachmittag war der brisante Fall auch Thema im nicht-öffentlichen Teil einer Sitzung des Uni-Senats. Hier wollte sich Fulda ebenfalls äußern. Wie mein Kollege Jonas Bickel aus Unikreisen erfuhr, sei die Kritik in der Substanz nicht zu unterschätzen. Es ginge allgemein um eine „Kultur von Publikationen“. Man müsse ein mögliches Fehlverhalten nun sehr genau prüfen. Und es könne sein, so ein Mensch mit viel hochschulpolitische Erfahrung, dass Fulda nun von Altlasten eingeholt werde.Eine Vorverurteilung verbietet sich selbstverständlich. Wir werden den Fall aber mit der gebotenen Seriosität verfolgen. Denn es stellt sich auch die Frage: Was – falls es stimmt – sind die Gründe für eine Manipulation von Daten?”
Auf dem Wissenschaftsblog forbetterscience veröffentlichen verschiedene Autoren und Wissenschaftler englischsprachige Beiträge zu unterschiedlichen Themen. Erst Ende Januar hat ein Autor dieses Blogs in den USA einen Wissenschaftsskandal mit ausgelöst: Wie der US-Sender CNN berichtet, zog ein Institut der renommierten Harvard Universität aufgrund der Vorwürfe auf dem Blog sechs Studien zurück und korrigierte etliche weitere. Auch in diesen Fällen geht es um angebliche Datenmanipulation.
Unruhe an CAU Kiel: Mediziner drängen Uni-Präsidentin Simone Fulda zum Rücktritt (kn-online.de)
Kostenfrei bis 19:30 Uhr lesenUnruhe an Uni Kiel: Mediziner drängen CAU-Präsidentin Simone Fulda zum Rücktritt
Die Präsidentin der Christian-Albrechts-Universität wird aus den eigenen Reihen zum Rücktritt gedrängt. In einem Schreiben an Simone Fulda, das den Kieler Nachrichten vorliegt, finden Spitzenmediziner mit Blick auf den Kampf um Fördergelder und die Zweifel an ihrer wissenschaftlichen Integrität deutliche Worte.
Kristian Blasel und Gunda Meyer
08.02.2024, 18:30 Uhr
Kiel. Um die Präsidentin der Christian-Albrechts-Universität Kiel wird es einsam: Führende Wissenschaftler der Medizinischen Fakultät haben Simone Fulda am Donnerstag aufgefordert zurückzutreten – und begründen dies mit dem Scheitern aller Neuanträge in der Exzellenzinitiative und den Zweifeln an ihrer wissenschaftlichen Integrität.
In einem Schreiben an die CAU-Präsidentin, das den Kieler Nachrichten vorliegt, heißt es wörtlich: „Wir, berufene Professorinnen und Professoren der Medizinischen Fakultät der Christian-Albrechts-Universität, haben mit großer Sorge das Scheitern aller Neuanträge unserer Universität in der Exzellenzinitiative gesehen.“Mediziner aus Kiel: „Wir fordern Sie auf, Ihrer Verantwortung nachzukommen“
Man habe auch die öffentlichen Vorwürfe zur Integrität von „zahlreichen Ihrer wissenschaftlichen Originalarbeiten über die letzten 20 Jahre gelesen und im Detail zur Kenntnis genommen“. Die Unterzeichner, zu denen zahlreiche renommierte Mediziner aus Kiel gehören, schließen ihren Brief mit einer deutlichen Botschaft: „Wir fordern Sie daher mit Nachdruck auf, Ihrer Verantwortung gegenüber der Universität als unsere Präsidentin nachzukommen und jetzt alles zu tun, um weiteren Schaden von unserer Alma Mater abzuwenden.“
Weder das Wissenschaftsministerium, Simone Fulda selbst noch die Unterzeichner wollten sich am Donnerstag offiziell zu dem Schreiben äußern. Nach Informationen der Kieler Nachrichten wird jedoch davon ausgegangen, dass sich Fulda nicht mehr lange im Amt halten kann. Die Präsidentin sei „schwer angezählt“.Kritiker von CAU-Präsidentin Fulda legt nach
Fulda hatte sich am Mittwochabend im Senat der CAU erstmals innerhalb der Universität zu den Vorwürfen geäußert und erneut die Vorwürfe zurückgewiesen. Der Wissenschaftsjournalist Leonid Schneider, der Fulda bei einer früheren Forschungsarbeit Datenmanipulation vorgeworfen hat, bekräftigte am Donnerstag seine Kritik. „Ich habe mit weiteren Krebsspezialisten gesprochen, die diese Ungereimtheiten bestätigt haben.“
Unabhängig von der Frage, ob Fulda in der Vergangenheit wissenschaftlich unsauber gearbeitet hat, wachsen in der Politik die Zweifel, ob sie im Kampf der Kieler Universität um weitere Fördergelder die richtige Präsidentin ist. Drei neue Forschungsprojekte aus Schleswig-Holstein sollten eigentlich sogenannte Exzellenzcluster werden. Am Wochenende wurde bekannt, dass keines davon im Wettbewerb weitergekommen ist.
Klaus-Michael Debatin (Ulm) and Irmela Jeremias (Munich) also have problematic data which are very difficult to explain away as random mistakes. Perhaps they should resign as well. The problematic data helped them to get where they are today. Not free and fair competition, but rigged.
Birte Grimm, Onbudsperson of University of Ulm, just ordered me never to write to her and other Ombudspersons at her University again. “Please understand that I will not answer your emails in the future due to an utter lack of responsibility.”
She sent me the guideline to prove that it is not her job of the Ombudsperson to process my notification.
Again, she never read §23.
§ 23 Vorverfahren
(1) Im Fall eines Verdachts für wissenschaftliches Fehlverhalten soll unverzüglich eine Ombudsper-
son informiert werden. Die Information soll schriftlich erfolgen; bei mündlicher Information ist ein
schriftlicher Vermerk über den Verdacht und die diesen begründenden Tatsachen aufzunehmen.
Alternativ können sich die Mitglieder und Angehörigen der Universität Ulm an das Gremium „Om-
budsman für die Wissenschaft“ der Deutschen Forschungsgemeinschaft wenden.
(2) Erlangt eine Ombudsperson Kenntnis von einem wissenschaftlichen Fehlverhalten, prüft sie die
Vorwürfe unter Plausibilitätsgesichtspunkten auf Konkretheit und Bedeutung, auf mögliche Motive
und in Hinblick auf Möglichkeiten der Ausräumung der Vorwürfe
hiermit möchte ich Ihnen den Eingang Ihrer Anzeige bestätigen und mitteilen, dass ich aufgrund der Schwere der Vorwürfe den Fall an die Kommission für Fragen der Guten Wissenschaftlichen Praxis am Helmholtz Munich weitergeleitet habe.
Die Kommission wird sich mit dem Fall weiter befassen.
Birte Grimm, Ombudsperson of University of Ulm, is typical. There are rules, but she ignores the rules. Birte Grimm can write so she can read as well. Sounds like she is deliberately ignoring the rules. Well, it is the University of Ulm, so what can you expect!?
Your contact at Ulm is Birte Glimm (not Grimm) and she is one of the deputy ombudspersons, not a main one. I did my PhD in the group of the other deputy a few years ago.
Is there a way for you to forward me Prof. Glimms answer? I can ask my former boss directly about this process, and it will be harder to just shrug this off. If their view is that only a current member of the university is allowed to complain, I also know faculty members and students who I can ask to bring a complaint.
I shared with you the email.
Glimm talks nonsense, everyone can report misconduct to the ombudsperson.
Her real message to me was actually that I am a nobody and must know my place.
Thanks for the e-mail, I’ve contacted my former boss.
Depending on how you interpret the rest of the “Satzung”, one could actually argue that the Ombudsperson is only responsible for complaints of university members. But since they also have to follow all serious allegations that reach them in any way (not just by direct complaint) and there are explicit rules for anonymous complaints, this view is quite absurd.
The academy management has appointed two neutral and personally integrity-based ombudspersons from among the members to provide advice, preliminary examination and arbitration of conflict cases regarding issues of good scientific practice . In particular, the ombudspersons have the task of providing advice to those involved in the event of suspicion of violations of the principles of good scientific practice, while strictly maintaining confidentiality. In addition, the ombudspersons will investigate the matter and, depending on the outcome, take further steps.
Kommentar zu Simone Fulda: Es gibt kein Vertrauen mehr (kn-online.de)
Kommentar
Zum Fall Simone Fulda: Präsidentin ohne Vertrauen
An der Kieler Universität überschlagen sich die Ereignisse. Nach dem Schreiben von Kieler Spitzenmedizinern an Simone Fulda gibt es keinen Spielraum mehr. Die CAU-Präsidentin muss ihren Stuhl frei machen, meint Kristian Blasel, stellvertretender Chefredakteur.
Kristian Blasel
08.02.2024, 18:30 Uhr
Kiel. Natürlich gilt auch für Simone Fulda die Unschuldsvermutung. Aber es geht in Kiel längst nicht mehr um die Frage, ob die Präsidentin der Christian-Albrechts-Universität vor vielen Jahren während ihrer Forschungsarbeit Daten manipuliert hat. Als oberste Repräsentantin der Universität ist sie gleichermaßen auf das Vertrauen von Politik und Wissenschaftsapparat angewiesen. Beides hat sie verloren.
Am schmerzhaftesten dürfte für sie dabei die klare Botschaft aus der medizinischen Fakultät sein, die sie am Donnerstag erreichte. Wenn die Spitzenkräfte aus Kiel von ihr verlangen, „Verantwortung gegenüber der Universität“ zu übernehmen und darauf verweisen, die wissenschaftlichen Vorwürfe gegen sie „im Detail zur Kenntnis genommen zu haben“, dann hat sie keinen Spielraum mehr. Simone Fulda muss zurücktreten. Daran gibt es nach diesem Donnerstag keinen Zweifel mehr.Im Kieler Ministerium gibt es kein Vertrauen mehr in die Arbeit der Uni-Spitze
Zumal sich auch im Wissenschaftsministerium niemand mehr für sie starkmacht. Im Gegenteil: Die Stellungnahmen nach dem vorläufigen Scheitern in der Exzellenzcluster-Frage und Bekanntwerden der Vorwürfe hat das Prien-Team mit maximaler Kälte formuliert. Wer einer Präsidentin vertraut, handelt anders. Zu groß ist im Ministerium vor allem die Enttäuschung darüber, dass die Meeresforschung bislang nicht die internationale Anerkennung bekommt, die erhofft worden ist.
Simone Fulda ist vor allem verpflichtet worden, um Spitzenforschung in Kiel zu etablieren und mit ihrem wissenschaftlichen Netzwerk Fördergelder an die Förde zu holen. Schon an der ersten Hürde ist sie gestrauchelt. Einen zweiten Anlauf soll sie offensichtlich nicht mehr bekommen. Das mag menschlich mehr als bitter sein. Aber beim Thema Geld ist es im Universitätsleben wie in der Fußball-Bundesliga: Wenn der Abstieg droht, wird gehandelt.
The 13 retractions by Silvia Bulfone-Paus, who was the direct of FZ Borstel research center, in Schleswig-Holstein, the same German state as Kiel, became national news in 2011 and 2012.
It is a waste of talent that the German system, which has a lot of money, did not use the 13 Silvia Bulfone-Paus retractions as a wake-up call and systematically screen all German publications for inappropriate image duplications.
Such as screen of images could have detected Simone Fulda and Klaus-Michael Debatin in 2012. A screen of images did detect Silvia Bulfone-Paus after all. It was possible and did happen.
Removing people like Silvia Bulfone-Paus, Simone Fulda and Klaus-Michael Debatin from the German system would have allowed others to have flourished in their place.
Silvia Bulfone-Paus was removed from the German system, but found a professorship at the University Manchester, England. Several Germans though thought that this was a sign that the British had lost their cleverness.
“HochschulenKieler Uni-Präsidentin Simone Fulda wehrt sich gegen Vorwurf der Datenmanipulation
Fulda gilt als angesehene Wissenschaftlerin. Nun muss sie sich gegen Vorwürfe wehren, die in einem Wissenschaftsblog gegen sie erhoben werden.
Veröffentlicht: 08.02.2024, 17:55 Uhr
Kiel. Die Präsidentin der Kieler Christian-Albrechts-Universität (CAU), Medizinerin Professorin Simone Fulda, wehrt sich gegen Manipulationsvorwürfe. Die Vorwürfe beziehen sich auf eine frühere Tätigkeit Fuldas in der molekularen Krebsforschung.
Angeblich soll Fulda zusammen mit anderen Wissenschaftlern Daten manipuliert haben. Die Vorwürfe werden von einem Biologen in einem englischsprachigen Beitrag auf dem Wissenschaftsblog „forbetterscience” erhoben.
Auf Anfrage der Ärzte Zeitung erklärte die Kieler Universität hierzu: „Prof. Dr. Simone Fulda weist die Vorwürfe der angeblichen Datenmanipulation mit allem Nachdruck zurück. Es gibt keine Tatsachengrundlage, die diesen unzutreffenden Vorwurf rechtfertigt. Um Klarheit in der Sache zu schaffen, werden derzeit die Vorwürfe entsprechend den Richtlinien zur Sicherung guter wissenschaftlicher Praxis geprüft.” Diese Prüfungen laufen derzeit noch. Die Hochschule will sich zu den Ergebnissen äußern, sobald die Ergebnisse vorliegen.
Hoch dekorierte Wissenschaftlerin
Kinderonkologin Fulda ist seit Oktober 2020 Präsidentin der CAU und Mitglied der Nationalen Akademie der Wissenschaften Leopoldina, hat über 380 wissenschaftliche Publikationen und Buchartikel veröffentlicht sowie zahlreiche nationale und internationale Verbundforschungsprojekte geleitet. (di)“
Nice to see the Ärzte Zeitung (Doctors’ Newspaper) take the “she’s a highly decorated scientist line” over the reality of problematic data.
For Better Science 
Well, I truly relish these findings. And a very good colleague of mine too. It should be made known very publicly. There are more apt vehicles for that than this rather “inner circle”. Should we?
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Feel free to show this around, also to journalists.
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I will. Thanks!!
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Those were the days. University of Kiel is in the same small state, Schleswig-Holstein, as FZ Borstel, where Silvia Bulfone-Paus was director. How come the University of Kiel didn’t check Simone Fulda’s publications?
https://www.abendblatt.de/ratgeber/wissen/article107932614/Betrugsfall-Gefaelscht-und-aufgeflogen.html
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Fake it till you make it! But there is so much bullshit science out there you can only trust your own results, almost. Highly worrisome developments. In a way this is also slowing down science and should be followed MUCH more rigorously.
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This is great information but, with all respect, you desperately need an editor.
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Fulda and Debatin are just two of the many clowns infesting German academia. Another one is certainly Ingrid Herr, whose little Pubpeer saga rapidly developed into an odyssey after closer look (16 papers tagged for Frau Herr). Herr also had the gut to throw foreign students under the bus, while completely diverting her responsibilities. I’m glad my colleagues now acknowledge the evidence.
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Recte: Horrorclowns. It is as if today’s right-wing extremists copied their recipes for success from cancer researchers (“alternative facts”, “flooding the zone with shit” a.s.o).
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Damn, 18 years have passed, either the foreign students are long gone or have become such “great scientists” with such “great mentors” that it will not be that easy for the bus. Therefore we have the next line of defense, data no longer exists which could be close to the truth since it may have never existed.
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Nah, the papers are too old. Raw data wasn’t supposed to be stored and back then it was legal to fake, pardon, splice gels.
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Yes and it’s no different from nowadays. It’s legal, from time to time you get a paper or so retracted which is not a big deal since even retracted, continue to get citations. Not to mention you are not sued for scientific misconduct and very rarely you get fired and quickly after that hired to continue…
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And the best thing: it is AGAINST THE LAW in Germany to write about science fraudsters.
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How could I have missed that?!
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Which law prohibits Germans from writing about science fraudsters, exactly?
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German defamation law is centred on the protection of privacy and reputation. Hence, some things a court can forbid you to write even if your facts are correct and proven. You can argue with court that the accused is a public figure, but this rarely applies to scientists. That’s why German media never names the culprits, sometimes they don’t even say where the culprits work.
Only politicians and celebrities can be named, and even they often successfully sue.
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I thought that the guest article by Ingrid Herr was a spoof, but that’s just me. She certainly went down the road of blaming underlings.
From her Pubpeer recird, on balance, she is more sinning, than sinned against. She might plead stupidity, but a professor of it pleasing stupidity doesn’t seem plausible.
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Professors can be incredibly stupid. Especially those who inherited their professorships from their biological or academic fathers
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“I wonder if Silvia Bulfone-Paus had an effect on others. Klaus-Michael Debatin’s clearly problematic papers stop in 2012. Silvia was on the front of Der Spiegel in January 2011.“
Clare Francis
That might also be the explanation in Hannover, Germany, where the problematic data stopped in 2012.
Many Germans in the professional classes will make an effort to read der Spiegel. It sets the tone.
Many would sit up and take notice, or their peers might mention something to them.
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Well, the “Spiegel” isn’t worth reading anymore, at least since the mid/ late 2000’s; there’s nothing but gossip and left-wing mainstream propaganda left. “Journalism” is dead in Germany, if it ever was alive.
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“Fulda followed him there to become professor of paediatric oncology, before moving to Frankfurt, and then to Kiel, rising with each step, up to her current magnificent rectorship.”
Don’t you mean President?
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It’s the same thing.
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But somebody else is the Rector.
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No, it’s Fulda.
I see University of Kiel.decided to be Anglo Saxon and use the word “President” instead of stuffy continental European “Rector”
https://www.uni-kiel.de/de/universitaet/einrichtungen-fakultaeten/praesidium-geschaeftsfuehrung
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“No, it’s Fulda.
I see University of Kiel.decided to be Anglo Saxon and use the word “President” instead of stuffy continental European “Rector”
Thanks for the clarification.
Here’s the management board of the University of Kiel. All its members should resign. What do they do all day? It is hardly credible that given the 2011/2012 thirteen Silvia Bulfone-Paus retractions in the same small state that they were not primed for looking for fraud. They should stop sharpening pencils and do some work.
https://www.uni-kiel.de/en/university/facilities-faculties/university-board-management
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https://www.forschung-und-lehre.de/politik/uni-kiel-fordert-mehr-gestaltungsfreiheit-4558
“Uni Kiel fordert mehr Gestaltungs-Freiheit
Zu viel Steuerung vom Land, zu wenig Befugnisse für die Hochschulen: Die Präsidentin der Uni Kiel kritisiert das neue Hochschulgesetz.’
29.03.2022
What a laugh a fraudster demanding more freedom!
Quite the opposite, the State of Schleswig-Holstein needs to take control immediately and fully, and dismiss Simone Fulda from her post as President of the University of Kiel without delay.
Sometimes there does need to be control by the elected officials (the State government was elected by the voters of Schleswig-Holstein) over unelected fraudsters.
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Great article! One correction here: “This is how another type of brain tumour was cured back then, a German success story” – neuroblastoma is actually not a type of brain cancer.
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Thanks. I wonder if Fulda and Debatin know that as well 😀
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Very well-researched allegations. I hope this interesting story somehow has any personal consequences. Scientific misconduct seems a major problem among pediatric oncologists in Germany (compare also the Tuebingen issue regarding Julia Skokowa, which was brought be LEONID SCHNEIDER recently).
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Hello Leonid, who in Kiel decides on the installment of a commission to investigate the cases of scientific misconduct by Prof. Fulda? The president of the university, i.e. Simone Fulda herself? I am curious to see how this case continues.
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I can tell you how the case of Bernd Scholz-Reiter, rector of University of Bremen, resolved.
It was about predatory publishing, predatory conferences and even plagiarism.
He was declared a hero. Totally innocent, a good man fighting for Open Access.
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Simone Fulda and Klaus-Michael Debatin are very lucky.
They are being let of the hook by this excellent article:
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Simone Fulda’s problematic data go back a long way.
Maybe she will go the way of Silvana Koch-Mehrin, who only copied text.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silvana_Koch-Mehrin
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For some reason plagiarism (a form of flattery) is viewed more seriously than problematic data in Germany. I don’t understand why that should be. Copycats are not making it up.
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You must stop seeing the world as scientist and look at it like a lawyer. Because lawyers decide at the end what is misconduct and what is not.
What are those figures you keep flagging for duplications? Pictures! Illustrations! The core of the paper is in its text, what are you, a child, that you need pictures? How do mistakes in those redundant pictures affect the conclusions of the text?
Lawyers work with texts, not with figures. For them, research misconduct is when academic texts are stolen, i.e. plagiarised. That’s why plagiarism is misconduct and fake data is not.
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Kieler Nachrichten (Kiel News) reporting.
Blogger wirft Kieler Uni-Präsidentin Simone Fulda Datenmanipulation vor (kn-online.de)
Vorwurf der Datenmanipulation gegen Kieler Uni-Präsidentin Fulda
Accusation of data manipulation against Kiel University President Fulda
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That’s good news that Kiler Nachrichten is reporting about Simone Fulda (Kiel) and Klaus-Michael Debatin (Ulm). The local population in Kiel and Schleswig-Holstein (the state Kiel is in), including the politicians, will read that report and have the opportunity to have a look at the frequent problematic data.
Eventually the news gets out to the wider population.
Similar thing happened to Silvia Bulfone-Paus, who was a director of the FZ Borstel (Research Center Borstel), which is also in Schleswig-Holstein. First the problematic data were reported in Laborjournal, then Retraction Watch, later NDR (North German Television) reported from the FZ Borstel site (Research Center Borstel), and der Spiegel reported on its front page in 2011. News items ran through 2012.
Pity that the people on the committee that appointed Simone Fulda in 2020 as President of Kiel University had such short memories and didn’t check Simone Fulda’s data. They should all seriously consider resigning their positions before they are pushed by the state government.
Parents would be upset if their children cheated at school. Other children would be upset if children cheated at school. How can the schools expect children not to cheat if the President of Kiel University cheated to get where she is?
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https://idw-online.de/en/news823752
Cluster of Excellence PMI promotes outstanding female researchers with a total of €200,000
“It is a great and personal pleasure for me to congratulate this year’s prize winners on their awards. They show that top scientific achievements, especially by female researchers, require excellent framework conditions, such as those created by our Cluster of Excellence PMI in an exemplary manner and with radiance for the entire CAU,” emphasized Prof. Simone Fulda, President of Kiel University, at the award ceremony.”
Didn’t Simone Fulda appreciate the irony of a fraudster congratulating the prize winners?
What kind of example does Prof. Simone Fulda, President of Kiel University think she is?
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https://www.kn-online.de/lokales/kiel/drei-projekte-abgeblitzt-keine-neuen-exzellenzcluster-fuer-cau-kiel-AYBYAIGJWZEZJJC3QDUAKZWARE.html
No new excellence clusters for Kiel University.
No wonder with Prof. Simone Fulda as it’s President! Perhaps the funding bodies have read and digested the news.
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So heavily paywalled I can’t even see who wrote it.
Meanwhile Fulda is defending democracy:
https://x.com/kieluni/status/1750107444729012420?s=20
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You can read this short report by NDR.
Schleswig-Holstein aktuell: Nachrichten im Überblick | NDR.de – Nachrichten – Schleswig-Holstein – Kurznachrichten
Der Wissenschaftsblog forbetterscience wirft Professorin Simone Fulda, Präsidentin der Christian-Albrechts-Universität Kiel, vor, Daten bei früheren Forschungsarbeiten zur Krebsforschung manipuliert zu haben. Biomedizinische Abbildungen unterschiedlicher Forschungsreihen seien nahezu identisch – das sei eigentlich nicht möglich, so Blogautor und Biologe Leonid Schneider in dem Artikel. Außerdem seien einige Darstellungen einfach nur gespiegelt worden, heißt es im Blog. Die Präsidentin der Uni sagte NDR Schleswig-Holstein, dass sie den Vorwurf mit allem Nachdruck zurückweise. Es gebe keine Tatsachengrundlage, die diesen Vorwurf rechtfertige. Die Uni teilte mit, die Hinweise prüfen zu wollen und sich dann zu äußern. | NDR Schleswig-Holstein 07.02.2024 06:00 Uhr
The science blog forbetterscience accuses Professor Simone Fulda, President of Kiel University, of having manipulated data from previous research on cancer research. Biomedical images from different research series are almost identical – this is actually not possible, according to blog author and biologist Leonid Schneider in the article. In addition, some representations were simply mirrored, according to the blog. The president of the university told NDR Schleswig-Holstein that she emphatically rejects the accusation. There is no factual basis to justify this allegation. The university announced that it would examine the indications and then comment. | NDR Schleswig-Holstein 07.02.2024 06:00 a.m.
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She rejects what?
That the gel bands are duplicated? Seriously?
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“Es gebe keine Tatsachengrundlage”
As I said. They truly invented “alternative facts”. Trump & Co. are just copycats.
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I was thinking the same. How can Fulda actually go on and act like these figures display real gels/results? It is so blatantly obvious once you see it, it is literally impossible to get identical bands like this, everyone who did a couple of SDS gels or blots in their life will agree, it CAN NOT HAPPEN. How is her narrative: “All of the accusations are baseless and wrong?” I would understand if she tried to throw former PhD/postdocs under the bus and pretend she didn’t notice, but now she is literally denying reality. She might have convinced herself over the years which reality is the real one…
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Audio file. Vorwurf der Datenmanipulation gegen Uni-Präsidentin | NDR.de – NDR 1 Welle Nord
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I say beleaguered, you say belagert,
Beleaguered, belagert.
Let’s call the whole thing off!
George and Ira Gershwin. 1937.
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Taggeschau.
https://www.tagesschau.de/inland/regional/schleswigholstein/ndr-manipulationsvorwuerfe-gegen-praesidentin-der-uni-kiel-100.html
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https://www.kn-online.de/schleswig-holstein/unruhe-an-der-kieler-uni-2UHRXKOXHVCZ3GDQAFYD2NFZRY.html
“Zusätzlich muss sie w[Simone Fulda] sich gegen den schweren Vorwurf wehren, bei ihrer eigenen wissenschaftlichen Arbeit in der Vergangenheit Daten manipuliert zu haben. Der deutsch-ukrainische Autor Leonid Schneider behauptet zudem, dass die Kinderonkologin Fulda gemeinsam mit ihrem wissenschaftlichen Ziehvater, dem Leiter der Ulmer Uni-Klinik, Prof. Klaus-Michael Debatin, ein Netzwerk der Macht aufgebaut habe. Wissenschaftsministerium und Asta haben vergleichsweise kühle Stellungnahmen abgegeben. Sie erwarten eine „gründliche Aufklärung“.”
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https://www.kn-online.de/lokales/kiel/cau-kiel-manipulationsvorwurf-gegen-simone-fulda-der-druck-waechst-O6YAXOREARG7TKLITGQ7IE7Q6Q.html
Manipulationsvorwürfe gegen CAU-Präsidentin Fulda: Der Druck wächst
Kiel. Mittwoch, 14.30 Uhr. Der Senat der Kieler Christian-Albrechts-Universität kommt zusammen, zur dritten regulären Sitzung des Wintersemesters. Doch dieses Mal erregt die Sitzung auch außerhalb der Universität Aufmerksamkeit. Der Grund: CAU-Präsidentin Prof. Simone Fulda sieht sich aktuell mit einem heftigen Vorwurf konfrontiert.
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Before it disappears behind paywall:
https://web.archive.org/web/20240207170949/https://www.kn-online.de/lokales/kiel/cau-kiel-manipulationsvorwurf-gegen-simone-fulda-der-druck-waechst-O6YAXOREARG7TKLITGQ7IE7Q6Q.html
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I think that this article, unlike the earlier one, is free because Kieler Nachrichten (Kiel News) wants people to read it and help Kieler Nachrichten gain the national headlines. Perhaps it thinks there is an award on the horizon.
Every little bit helps!
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Ivan Oransky will be awarded for all this 😂😂😂
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https://www.kn-online.de/lokales/kiel/die-uni-kiel-hat-keinen-lauf-TE7FS5QMSFDDVODCJFGFRJ7CGQ.html
“hat die Präsidentin der Kieler Universität in früheren Jahren als Krebsforscherin grobe Fehler gemacht? Oder, dieser Vorwurf steht jedenfalls im Raum, hat Prof. Simone Fulda sogar Daten bewusst manipuliert? Aufgedeckt haben will das ein Wissenschaftsblogger. Die Reaktionen auf den öffentlichen Vorwurf kamen prompt: Während das schleswig-holsteinische Wissenschaftsministerium schnelle Aufklärung fordert, weist Fulda selbst alle Vorwürfe vehement zurück.Am Mittwochnachmittag war der brisante Fall auch Thema im nicht-öffentlichen Teil einer Sitzung des Uni-Senats. Hier wollte sich Fulda ebenfalls äußern. Wie mein Kollege Jonas Bickel aus Unikreisen erfuhr, sei die Kritik in der Substanz nicht zu unterschätzen. Es ginge allgemein um eine „Kultur von Publikationen“. Man müsse ein mögliches Fehlverhalten nun sehr genau prüfen. Und es könne sein, so ein Mensch mit viel hochschulpolitische Erfahrung, dass Fulda nun von Altlasten eingeholt werde.Eine Vorverurteilung verbietet sich selbstverständlich. Wir werden den Fall aber mit der gebotenen Seriosität verfolgen. Denn es stellt sich auch die Frage: Was – falls es stimmt – sind die Gründe für eine Manipulation von Daten?”
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https://www.ndr.de/nachrichten/schleswig-holstein/Manipulationsvorwuerfe-gegen-Praesidentin-der-Uni-Kiel,unikiel136.html
Wissenschaftsblog deckt in USA mögliche Datenmanipulation auf
Auf dem Wissenschaftsblog forbetterscience veröffentlichen verschiedene Autoren und Wissenschaftler englischsprachige Beiträge zu unterschiedlichen Themen. Erst Ende Januar hat ein Autor dieses Blogs in den USA einen Wissenschaftsskandal mit ausgelöst: Wie der US-Sender CNN berichtet, zog ein Institut der renommierten Harvard Universität aufgrund der Vorwürfe auf dem Blog sechs Studien zurück und korrigierte etliche weitere. Auch in diesen Fällen geht es um angebliche Datenmanipulation.
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Exclusive: German university President resigns after Retraction Watch reporting!
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FBS in german “ÖR”-media – for the very first time, I suppose.
Congrats, Leonid. Hope they will treat you fair. There are lots of professors who have to pay for this – not science bloggers or other whistleblowers.
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https://www.ndr.de/nachrichten/schleswig-holstein/Manipulationsvorwuerfe-gegen-Praesidentin-der-Uni-Kiel,unikiel136.html
Now also Dana Farber is mentioned!
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Unruhe an CAU Kiel: Mediziner drängen Uni-Präsidentin Simone Fulda zum Rücktritt (kn-online.de)
Kostenfrei bis 19:30 Uhr lesenUnruhe an Uni Kiel: Mediziner drängen CAU-Präsidentin Simone Fulda zum Rücktritt
Die Präsidentin der Christian-Albrechts-Universität wird aus den eigenen Reihen zum Rücktritt gedrängt. In einem Schreiben an Simone Fulda, das den Kieler Nachrichten vorliegt, finden Spitzenmediziner mit Blick auf den Kampf um Fördergelder und die Zweifel an ihrer wissenschaftlichen Integrität deutliche Worte.
Kristian Blasel und Gunda Meyer
08.02.2024, 18:30 Uhr
Kiel. Um die Präsidentin der Christian-Albrechts-Universität Kiel wird es einsam: Führende Wissenschaftler der Medizinischen Fakultät haben Simone Fulda am Donnerstag aufgefordert zurückzutreten – und begründen dies mit dem Scheitern aller Neuanträge in der Exzellenzinitiative und den Zweifeln an ihrer wissenschaftlichen Integrität.
In einem Schreiben an die CAU-Präsidentin, das den Kieler Nachrichten vorliegt, heißt es wörtlich: „Wir, berufene Professorinnen und Professoren der Medizinischen Fakultät der Christian-Albrechts-Universität, haben mit großer Sorge das Scheitern aller Neuanträge unserer Universität in der Exzellenzinitiative gesehen.“Mediziner aus Kiel: „Wir fordern Sie auf, Ihrer Verantwortung nachzukommen“
Man habe auch die öffentlichen Vorwürfe zur Integrität von „zahlreichen Ihrer wissenschaftlichen Originalarbeiten über die letzten 20 Jahre gelesen und im Detail zur Kenntnis genommen“. Die Unterzeichner, zu denen zahlreiche renommierte Mediziner aus Kiel gehören, schließen ihren Brief mit einer deutlichen Botschaft: „Wir fordern Sie daher mit Nachdruck auf, Ihrer Verantwortung gegenüber der Universität als unsere Präsidentin nachzukommen und jetzt alles zu tun, um weiteren Schaden von unserer Alma Mater abzuwenden.“
Weder das Wissenschaftsministerium, Simone Fulda selbst noch die Unterzeichner wollten sich am Donnerstag offiziell zu dem Schreiben äußern. Nach Informationen der Kieler Nachrichten wird jedoch davon ausgegangen, dass sich Fulda nicht mehr lange im Amt halten kann. Die Präsidentin sei „schwer angezählt“.Kritiker von CAU-Präsidentin Fulda legt nach
Fulda hatte sich am Mittwochabend im Senat der CAU erstmals innerhalb der Universität zu den Vorwürfen geäußert und erneut die Vorwürfe zurückgewiesen. Der Wissenschaftsjournalist Leonid Schneider, der Fulda bei einer früheren Forschungsarbeit Datenmanipulation vorgeworfen hat, bekräftigte am Donnerstag seine Kritik. „Ich habe mit weiteren Krebsspezialisten gesprochen, die diese Ungereimtheiten bestätigt haben.“
Unabhängig von der Frage, ob Fulda in der Vergangenheit wissenschaftlich unsauber gearbeitet hat, wachsen in der Politik die Zweifel, ob sie im Kampf der Kieler Universität um weitere Fördergelder die richtige Präsidentin ist. Drei neue Forschungsprojekte aus Schleswig-Holstein sollten eigentlich sogenannte Exzellenzcluster werden. Am Wochenende wurde bekannt, dass keines davon im Wettbewerb weitergekommen ist.
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She will resign very soon.
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Klaus-Michael Debatin (Ulm) and Irmela Jeremias (Munich) also have problematic data which are very difficult to explain away as random mistakes. Perhaps they should resign as well. The problematic data helped them to get where they are today. Not free and fair competition, but rigged.
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Reply to my notification regarding Jeremias:
Sehr geehrter Herr Schneider,
bitte teilen Sie mir mit, was dieser Fall mit dem Helmholtz-Zentrum München zu tun hat bzw wen Sie im Helmholtz Zentrum München beschuldigen.
Mit freundlichen Grüßen
Erich Wichmann
Ombudsperson
Helmholtz München
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Birte Grimm, Onbudsperson of University of Ulm, just ordered me never to write to her and other Ombudspersons at her University again.
“Please understand that I will not answer your emails in the future due to an utter lack of responsibility.”
She sent me the guideline to prove that it is not her job of the Ombudsperson to process my notification.
Again, she never read §23.
Click to access satzung_vidw_2022.pdf
§ 23 Vorverfahren
(1) Im Fall eines Verdachts für wissenschaftliches Fehlverhalten soll unverzüglich eine Ombudsper-
son informiert werden. Die Information soll schriftlich erfolgen; bei mündlicher Information ist ein
schriftlicher Vermerk über den Verdacht und die diesen begründenden Tatsachen aufzunehmen.
Alternativ können sich die Mitglieder und Angehörigen der Universität Ulm an das Gremium „Om-
budsman für die Wissenschaft“ der Deutschen Forschungsgemeinschaft wenden.
(2) Erlangt eine Ombudsperson Kenntnis von einem wissenschaftlichen Fehlverhalten, prüft sie die
Vorwürfe unter Plausibilitätsgesichtspunkten auf Konkretheit und Bedeutung, auf mögliche Motive
und in Hinblick auf Möglichkeiten der Ausräumung der Vorwürfe
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Sehr geehrter Herr Schneider,
hiermit möchte ich Ihnen den Eingang Ihrer Anzeige bestätigen und mitteilen, dass ich aufgrund der Schwere der Vorwürfe den Fall an die Kommission für Fragen der Guten Wissenschaftlichen Praxis am Helmholtz Munich weitergeleitet habe.
Die Kommission wird sich mit dem Fall weiter befassen.
Mit freundlichem Gruß
Rolf Holle
Ombudsperson am Helmholtz Munich
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Birte Grimm, Ombudsperson of University of Ulm, is typical. There are rules, but she ignores the rules. Birte Grimm can write so she can read as well. Sounds like she is deliberately ignoring the rules. Well, it is the University of Ulm, so what can you expect!?
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Your contact at Ulm is Birte Glimm (not Grimm) and she is one of the deputy ombudspersons, not a main one. I did my PhD in the group of the other deputy a few years ago.
Is there a way for you to forward me Prof. Glimms answer? I can ask my former boss directly about this process, and it will be harder to just shrug this off. If their view is that only a current member of the university is allowed to complain, I also know faculty members and students who I can ask to bring a complaint.
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I shared with you the email.
Glimm talks nonsense, everyone can report misconduct to the ombudsperson.
Her real message to me was actually that I am a nobody and must know my place.
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Thanks for the e-mail, I’ve contacted my former boss.
Depending on how you interpret the rest of the “Satzung”, one could actually argue that the Ombudsperson is only responsible for complaints of university members. But since they also have to follow all serious allegations that reach them in any way (not just by direct complaint) and there are explicit rules for anonymous complaints, this view is quite absurd.
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Die Leute in Kiel reagieren auf Logik. Das ist ein gutes Zeichen.
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Very interesting is also, that Debatin is the ombudsperson for “good scientific practice” of the “Heidelberg Academy of scientifics”
http://www.hadw-bw.de/personen/ombudspersonen
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This is total PISS TAKING
The academy management has appointed two neutral and personally integrity-based ombudspersons from among the members to provide advice, preliminary examination and arbitration of conflict cases regarding issues of good scientific practice . In particular, the ombudspersons have the task of providing advice to those involved in the event of suspicion of violations of the principles of good scientific practice, while strictly maintaining confidentiality. In addition, the ombudspersons will investigate the matter and, depending on the outcome, take further steps.
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Kommentar zu Simone Fulda: Es gibt kein Vertrauen mehr (kn-online.de)
Kommentar
Zum Fall Simone Fulda: Präsidentin ohne Vertrauen
An der Kieler Universität überschlagen sich die Ereignisse. Nach dem Schreiben von Kieler Spitzenmedizinern an Simone Fulda gibt es keinen Spielraum mehr. Die CAU-Präsidentin muss ihren Stuhl frei machen, meint Kristian Blasel, stellvertretender Chefredakteur.
Kristian Blasel
08.02.2024, 18:30 Uhr
Kiel. Natürlich gilt auch für Simone Fulda die Unschuldsvermutung. Aber es geht in Kiel längst nicht mehr um die Frage, ob die Präsidentin der Christian-Albrechts-Universität vor vielen Jahren während ihrer Forschungsarbeit Daten manipuliert hat. Als oberste Repräsentantin der Universität ist sie gleichermaßen auf das Vertrauen von Politik und Wissenschaftsapparat angewiesen. Beides hat sie verloren.
Am schmerzhaftesten dürfte für sie dabei die klare Botschaft aus der medizinischen Fakultät sein, die sie am Donnerstag erreichte. Wenn die Spitzenkräfte aus Kiel von ihr verlangen, „Verantwortung gegenüber der Universität“ zu übernehmen und darauf verweisen, die wissenschaftlichen Vorwürfe gegen sie „im Detail zur Kenntnis genommen zu haben“, dann hat sie keinen Spielraum mehr. Simone Fulda muss zurücktreten. Daran gibt es nach diesem Donnerstag keinen Zweifel mehr.Im Kieler Ministerium gibt es kein Vertrauen mehr in die Arbeit der Uni-Spitze
Zumal sich auch im Wissenschaftsministerium niemand mehr für sie starkmacht. Im Gegenteil: Die Stellungnahmen nach dem vorläufigen Scheitern in der Exzellenzcluster-Frage und Bekanntwerden der Vorwürfe hat das Prien-Team mit maximaler Kälte formuliert. Wer einer Präsidentin vertraut, handelt anders. Zu groß ist im Ministerium vor allem die Enttäuschung darüber, dass die Meeresforschung bislang nicht die internationale Anerkennung bekommt, die erhofft worden ist.
Simone Fulda ist vor allem verpflichtet worden, um Spitzenforschung in Kiel zu etablieren und mit ihrem wissenschaftlichen Netzwerk Fördergelder an die Förde zu holen. Schon an der ersten Hürde ist sie gestrauchelt. Einen zweiten Anlauf soll sie offensichtlich nicht mehr bekommen. Das mag menschlich mehr als bitter sein. Aber beim Thema Geld ist es im Universitätsleben wie in der Fußball-Bundesliga: Wenn der Abstieg droht, wird gehandelt.
KN
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The 13 retractions by Silvia Bulfone-Paus, who was the direct of FZ Borstel research center, in Schleswig-Holstein, the same German state as Kiel, became national news in 2011 and 2012.
It is a waste of talent that the German system, which has a lot of money, did not use the 13 Silvia Bulfone-Paus retractions as a wake-up call and systematically screen all German publications for inappropriate image duplications.
Such as screen of images could have detected Simone Fulda and Klaus-Michael Debatin in 2012. A screen of images did detect Silvia Bulfone-Paus after all. It was possible and did happen.
Removing people like Silvia Bulfone-Paus, Simone Fulda and Klaus-Michael Debatin from the German system would have allowed others to have flourished in their place.
Silvia Bulfone-Paus was removed from the German system, but found a professorship at the University Manchester, England. Several Germans though thought that this was a sign that the British had lost their cleverness.
https://retractionwatch.com/?s=Bulfone-Paus+
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Kieler Uni-Präsidentin Simone Fulda wehrt sich gegen Vorwurf der Datenmanipulation (aerztezeitung.de)
“HochschulenKieler Uni-Präsidentin Simone Fulda wehrt sich gegen Vorwurf der Datenmanipulation
Fulda gilt als angesehene Wissenschaftlerin. Nun muss sie sich gegen Vorwürfe wehren, die in einem Wissenschaftsblog gegen sie erhoben werden.
Veröffentlicht: 08.02.2024, 17:55 Uhr
Kiel. Die Präsidentin der Kieler Christian-Albrechts-Universität (CAU), Medizinerin Professorin Simone Fulda, wehrt sich gegen Manipulationsvorwürfe. Die Vorwürfe beziehen sich auf eine frühere Tätigkeit Fuldas in der molekularen Krebsforschung.
Angeblich soll Fulda zusammen mit anderen Wissenschaftlern Daten manipuliert haben. Die Vorwürfe werden von einem Biologen in einem englischsprachigen Beitrag auf dem Wissenschaftsblog „forbetterscience” erhoben.
Auf Anfrage der Ärzte Zeitung erklärte die Kieler Universität hierzu: „Prof. Dr. Simone Fulda weist die Vorwürfe der angeblichen Datenmanipulation mit allem Nachdruck zurück. Es gibt keine Tatsachengrundlage, die diesen unzutreffenden Vorwurf rechtfertigt. Um Klarheit in der Sache zu schaffen, werden derzeit die Vorwürfe entsprechend den Richtlinien zur Sicherung guter wissenschaftlicher Praxis geprüft.” Diese Prüfungen laufen derzeit noch. Die Hochschule will sich zu den Ergebnissen äußern, sobald die Ergebnisse vorliegen.
Hoch dekorierte Wissenschaftlerin
Kinderonkologin Fulda ist seit Oktober 2020 Präsidentin der CAU und Mitglied der Nationalen Akademie der Wissenschaften Leopoldina, hat über 380 wissenschaftliche Publikationen und Buchartikel veröffentlicht sowie zahlreiche nationale und internationale Verbundforschungsprojekte geleitet. (di)“
Nice to see the Ärzte Zeitung (Doctors’ Newspaper) take the “she’s a highly decorated scientist line” over the reality of problematic data.
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And she published 380 papers!
Btw, Fulda and myself are today’s front page of Kieler Nachrichten.
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Fun fact about Kiel’s Universitätsklinikum Schleswig-Holstein (UKSH):
Chairman of the Board (CEO) Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. mult. Jens Scholz
https://www.uksh.de/en/Organization.html
Guess who his brother is.
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She resigned.
https://www.aerztezeitung.de/Nachrichten/Paediaterin-Simone-Fulda-tritt-als-Kieler-Uni-Praesidentin-zurueck-447035.html
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