Student groups at National Taiwan University (NTU) launched a petition calling on the university and the Ministry of Education to set up an independent committee to conduct a follow-up probe into allegations of forged research by NTU president Yang Pan-chyr (楊泮池).
The online petition was launched by members of the NTU Graduate Student Association and the NTU Labor Union, calling for measures to remedy abuses of academic ethics while limiting interference with students’ research.
The students said they do not want to do the “dirty work” of unethical professors who are not held accountable for their actions, expressing dissatisfaction over a lack of action taken against professors implicated in the incident.
Photo: Chien Jung-fong, Taipei Times
The petition has so far collected more than 200 signatures.
The incident came to light when a report published in the scientific journal Nature Cell Biology on Oct. 19 drew the attention of users of an online academic forum who said that a research team led by former NTU professor Kuo Min-liang (郭明良) forged research findings by using duplicated images.
Post-doctoratal researcher Cha Shih-ting (查詩婷) — first author of the paper — said in the thread that she had “inappropriately duplicated” some figures in the article, after which Kuo had the article pulled and later resigned from his teaching position.
The research was published in 2006 by the journal Cancer Research and lists Yang as a coauthor along with Kuo.
Yang yesterday appeared before the legislature’s Education and Culture Committee, also calling for an independent committee to investigate the matter, adding that this would bring “clarity and public trust.”
The university said in a statement that Yang did not forge the research, adding that the school would boost preventative measures to avoid similar incidents.
Minister of Education Pan Wen-chung (潘文忠) said the ministry would wait for the university to clarify Yang’s responsibility in the matter before conducting its own investigation, adding that it would seek repayment of bursaries and scholarships for any illegitimate research that it funded.
An investigation is already under way at the university, Pan said, adding that as the case involves violations of academic ethics, an independent group has been formed to carry out the investigation.
He said that the university’s investigation committee will look into conflicts of interest and prevent interference from concerned parties.
Asked whether Yang should be removed from his post pending the outcome of investigations, Pan said that there is no need for concern, as the allegations involve the academic nature of Yang’s position and not its administrative aspects.
The Ministry of Education (MOE) is to launch a new program to encourage international students to stay in Taiwan and explore job opportunities here after graduation, Deputy Minister of Education Yeh Ping-cheng (葉丙成) said on Friday. The government would provide full scholarships for international students to further their studies for two years in Taiwan, so those who want to pursue a master’s degree can consider applying for the program, he said. The fields included are science, technology, engineering, mathematics, semiconductors and finance, Yeh added. The program, called “Intense 2+2,” would also assist international students who completed the two years of further studies in
The brilliant blue waters, thick foliage and bucolic atmosphere on this seemingly idyllic archipelago deep in the Pacific Ocean belie the key role it now plays in a titanic geopolitical struggle. Palau is again on the front line as China, and the US and its allies prepare their forces in an intensifying contest for control over the Asia-Pacific region. The democratic nation of just 17,000 people hosts US-controlled airstrips and soon-to-be-completed radar installations that the US military describes as “critical” to monitoring vast swathes of water and airspace. It is also a key piece of the second island chain, a string of
Taiwan will now have four additional national holidays after the Legislative Yuan passed an amendment today, which also made Labor Day a national holiday for all sectors. The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) used their majority in the Legislative Yuan to pass the amendment to the Act on Implementing Memorial Days and State Holidays (紀念日及節日實施辦法), which the parties jointly proposed, in its third and final reading today. The legislature passed the bill to amend the act, which is currently enforced administratively, raising it to the legal level. The new legislation recognizes Confucius’ birthday on Sept. 28, the
A magnitude 5.9 earthquake that struck about 33km off the coast of Hualien City was the "main shock" in a series of quakes in the area, with aftershocks expected over the next three days, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Prior to the magnitude 5.9 quake shaking most of Taiwan at 6:53pm yesterday, six other earthquakes stronger than a magnitude of 4, starting with a magnitude 5.5 quake at 6:09pm, occurred in the area. CWA Seismological Center Director Wu Chien-fu (吳健富) confirmed that the quakes were all part of the same series and that the magnitude 5.5 temblor was
RSS