3 ms·

This reminds me of a case in Europe, where a PhD chemist was found to have faked/fabricated large parts of his graduate work, including his thesis. (It was on D

by uvdiv 15y ago

This reminds me of a case in Europe, where a PhD chemist was found to have faked/fabricated large parts of his graduate work, including his thesis. (It was on Derek Lowe's blog, pipeline.corante.com, and other places). He used Switzerland's ridiculous privacy laws to C&D journals, papers not to disclose his name in connection with the university investigation. (Or something like that, I'm not a lawyer). So he got off scot-free, and now he works in investment banking. edit: Here's the story http://pipeline.corante.com/archives/2009/09/25/faked_data_at_the_eth.php http://pipeline.corante.com/archives/2009/09/25/faked_data_a... primaries, http://pubs.acs.org/cen/news/87/i39/8739news4.html http://pubs.acs.org/cen/news/87/i39/8739news4.html http://news.sciencemag.org/scienceinsider/2009/09/fake-data-alleg.html http://news.sciencemag.org/scienceinsider/2009/09/fake-data-...

sedev 15y ago
"and now he works in investment banking." That's one hell of a punchline. Is that serious, or is that just a grim joke? Because sadly it's right smack in the middle of Poe's Law territory.
- uvdiv 15y ago
  No, it's extremely funny but it's true. The Ph.D. student at the time left research after receiving his degree and now works as an analyst for an international bank. http://news.sciencemag.org/scienceinsider/2009/09/fake-data-alleg.html http://news.sciencemag.org/scienceinsider/2009/09/fake-data-... The Swiss newspaper Tages Anzeiger reports that the doctoral student has left chemical research to become a financial analyst with the bank UBS. C&EN was unable to reach the former student at press time. http://pubs.acs.org/cen/news/87/i39/8739news4.html http://pubs.acs.org/cen/news/87/i39/8739news4.html
w1ntermute 15y ago
So no one knows his name? What about newspapers outside Switzerland? > this person's lab notebooks have turned up missing, and are the only primary sources for the whole affair that can't be found Not to condone what he did, but this is one of the reasons I don't keep any physical lab notebooks (scan, encrypt, and shred). Don't want people accessing/confiscating them without my consent.
yaix 15y ago
> So he got off scot-free, and now he works in investment banking. That makes absolutely sense.
rickmb 15y ago
"Switzerland's ridiculous privacy laws" You mean those "ridiculous" kind of laws where peoples privacy is protected against media-exploitation during that equally ridiculous "presumption of innocence" bit that is part of due process? Those silly Swiss, not to allow mere allegations to destroy peoples lives. Way better to humiliate people by parading them in front of the world press, and make sure their careers are destroyed without having to bother with silly stuff like facts and evidence, the way they do things in the US.
- JoelMcCracken 15y ago
  +1 to parent. Grandparent needs to read more.
- nate_meurer 15y ago
  This has nothing to due with due process if the the fraudster is forever permitted to C&D anyone who mentions his name.

by uvdiv 15y ago

sedev 15y ago

"and now he works in investment banking." That's one hell of a punchline. Is that serious, or is that just a grim joke? Because sadly it's right smack in the middle of Poe's Law territory.

uvdiv 15y ago
No, it's extremely funny but it's true. The Ph.D. student at the time left research after receiving his degree and now works as an analyst for an international bank. http://news.sciencemag.org/scienceinsider/2009/09/fake-data-alleg.html http://news.sciencemag.org/scienceinsider/2009/09/fake-data-... The Swiss newspaper Tages Anzeiger reports that the doctoral student has left chemical research to become a financial analyst with the bank UBS. C&EN was unable to reach the former student at press time. http://pubs.acs.org/cen/news/87/i39/8739news4.html http://pubs.acs.org/cen/news/87/i39/8739news4.html

w1ntermute 15y ago

So no one knows his name? What about newspapers outside Switzerland? > this person's lab notebooks have turned up missing, and are the only primary sources for the whole affair that can't be found Not to condone what he did, but this is one of the reasons I don't keep any physical lab notebooks (scan, encrypt, and shred). Don't want people accessing/confiscating them without my consent.

yaix 15y ago

> So he got off scot-free, and now he works in investment banking. That makes absolutely sense.

rickmb 15y ago

"Switzerland's ridiculous privacy laws" You mean those "ridiculous" kind of laws where peoples privacy is protected against media-exploitation during that equally ridiculous "presumption of innocence" bit that is part of due process? Those silly Swiss, not to allow mere allegations to destroy peoples lives. Way better to humiliate people by parading them in front of the world press, and make sure their careers are destroyed without having to bother with silly stuff like facts and evidence, the way they do things in the US.

JoelMcCracken 15y ago
+1 to parent. Grandparent needs to read more.
nate_meurer 15y ago
This has nothing to due with due process if the the fraudster is forever permitted to C&D anyone who mentions his name.