{"id":1082,"date":"2018-07-10T01:53:55","date_gmt":"2018-07-10T01:53:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/163.180.4.222\/lab\/?p=1082"},"modified":"2019-10-15T19:38:39","modified_gmt":"2019-10-15T10:38:39","slug":"max-planck-astrophysicist-at-centre-of-bullying-allegations-speaks-up","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/biochemistry.khu.ac.kr\/lab\/?p=1082","title":{"rendered":"Max Planck astrophysicist at centre of bullying allegations speaks up"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Top German institute plans to release results of a survey that will shed light on bullying issues.<\/h6>\n

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The Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics in Garching, Germany.\u00a0<\/span>Credit: Ghost writ0r via Wikimedia Commons\/CC BY 4.0<\/a><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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A long-standing saga centring on allegations of bullying at the Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics (MPA) in Garching, Germany, is coming to a head. The scientist at the centre of the allegations has for the first time spoken out to defend herself. And the institute \u2014 which is funded by the Max Planck Society, one of the world\u2019s wealthiest and most prestigious research organizations \u2014 is stepping up its response. Next week, it plans to present the results of a survey that should reveal whether bullying is still going on following measures taken to address it.<\/p>\n

The allegations first surfaced publicly in an article in the German news magazine\u00a0Der Spiegel<\/i>\u00a0in February<\/a>, which detailed accusations of bullying of graduate students and postdocs by a director at an unnamed Max Planck institute in Bavaria. A news\u00a0report by BuzzFeed Germany<\/a>, published on 27 June, then named the accused director as astrophysicist Guinevere Kauffmann, and added further details \u2014 including allegations of racist comments.<\/p>\n

Now Kauffmann has corresponded with\u00a0Nature<\/i>\u00a0to explain the alleged behaviour. \u201cI am not a racist. I am half Chinese and half German-Jewish,\u201d she writes. She adds: \u201cBecause of my mixed-race background, I am very interested in cultural differences between people and I regret very much that my comments have been taken out of context and distorted.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cRegarding \u2018bullying\u2019 \u2014 I am of the generation that was subjected to very high pressure supervision. I realize that this has now become unacceptable,\u201d she writes. \u201cI believe I have modified my behaviour very substantially in the last 18 months since the complaints were made.\u201d<\/p>\n

One MPA graduate student who spoke to\u00a0Nature<\/i>\u00a0on the condition of anonymity said that bullying had been a major disruptive force at the institute, causing, in their opinion, at least two young researchers to leave their positions prematurely.<\/p>\n

Kauffmann says: \u201cOur procedures for evaluating graduate students and providing honest feedback are still not uniform enough, in my opinion. Approaches vary greatly, from \u2018keep quiet if the student is not doing well and let him\/her sink in the exam or job market\u2019, to \u2018attempt to steer towards a successful career with all your strength\u2019. I believe I fall into the latter category. Nobody I had trouble with ended up quitting astronomy.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Measures for improvement<\/b><\/p>\n

The MPA leadership first learnt of the bullying allegations in 2016, when the institute\u2019s external scientific advisory board described a complaint it had received from young scientists, says Eiichiro Komatsu, a director at the MPA. Komatsu, who was the MPA\u2019s managing director at the time, says that he and his colleagues responded to the complaint immediately, and provided coaching for Kauffmann, who also agreed to daily monitoring.<\/p>\n