Investigation initiated Allegedly falsified research results at the University of Zurich
Research results were allegedly falsified at the University Hospital of Zurich. A former employee is alleged to have faked experiments that never took place. The University of Zurich has launched an investigation.
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- The University of Zurich has launched an investigation after a former employee of the renowned scientist Adriano Aguzzi at the Institute of Neuropathology is alleged to have falsified research results.
- The researcher, who worked for Aguzzi until two years ago, is alleged to have incorporated laboratory experiments on mice that were never carried out into scientific papers.
- Specifically, the researcher is alleged to have reused microscope images of mice brains from earlier studies in order to fake the desired research results.
A former employee of renowned scientist Adriano Aguzzi at the Institute of Neuropathology at the University Hospital Zurich is alleged to have falsified research results. According to information released on Sunday, the University of Zurich launched an investigation in March.
The researcher, who worked for Aguzzi until two years ago, is alleged to have incorporated laboratory experiments on mice that were never carried out into scientific papers. This was reported by "Sonntagsblick".
Specifically, the researcher is said to have reused microscope images of mice brains from earlier studies in order to fake the desired research results. The alleged findings were published in international journals, the newspaper wrote.
The former employee is said to have admitted his manipulations in the meantime, as the newspaper reported. Aguzzi, head of the Institute of Neuropathology at Zurich University Hospital and full professor of neuropathology at the University of Zurich's Faculty of Medicine, has therefore had to correct or retract several publications in recent months.
In addition, inconsistencies had also emerged in Aguzzi's earlier work published around 2010, which had nothing to do with the falsified animal experiments. Aguzzi has not yet commented publicly.
Investigation underway
At the request of the Keystone-SDA news agency on Sunday, the University of Zurich announced that an investigation is underway. Which publications are affected is also the subject of this investigation.
The journals will decide on the correction of publications in consultation with the authors, it added. The university could not provide any further information due to the ongoing investigation. The university is committed to good scientific practice, takes allegations seriously as a matter of principle and investigates them.
Aguzzi has received numerous awards for his work. In 2017, Queen Mathilde of Belgium presented him with the Baillet Latour Health Prize, endowed with 250,000 euros, for his "pioneering studies on the causes of neurological diseases caused by prions".
SDA