Major case of scientific fraud at Flemish university

Several dailies report that the scientist is a bio scientist at the Flemish Free University of Brussels, the VUB. There nobody has been willing to comment. The head of Leuven University Rector Mark Waer has confirmed that fraud occurred.

The scientist also stands accused of changing figures in student dissertations. The news has been publicised the day after the scientific magazine Eos reported that one in 12 Flemish scientists admitted that they manipulated the results of research in order to get these to support their hypotheses.

Rector Waer told VRT Radio that the academic authorities were shocked by the scale of the wider fraud. On Wednesday university rectors considered the individual case and looked at ways of preventing a repeat. They are considering filing complaints with labour tribunals and the judicial authorities in the future.

"We must certainly be concerned when fraud occurs in fields that have a large impact like biomedicine" Mr Waer told the VRT.

"Results that have been fiddled with can pose a danger to patients and the wider society. What if doctors base their treatment on such research? This can have tremendous ramifications. This throws up the question: is dismissal sufficient in such cases? Also: how should we deal with such fraud in the future? Should we also look at a criminal prosecution?"

The universities have now called on everybody to report cases of fraud: "All Flemish universities have a commission for scientific integrity" says Leuven's Deputy Rector Peter Marynen. "I would like to ask all scientists who notice fraud to report it to the commission."

In addition to stiffer penalties for scientists who are involved in fraud the Leuven Rector also favours greater efforts to impress on students the ramifications of such acts. He is also backing calls for greater checks on research.

(The lab featured in our photo was not involved in the fraud.)