Research misconduct and breach of ethics

How Luis Serrano, CRG's (Barcelona) Director, lied to the Catalan/Spanish Court

Below is how His Excellency Luis Serrano, CRG Director (Spanish/Catalan research institute of Excellence™), did his best to protect reputat...

Wednesday, December 21, 2016

CRG, Barcelona — recollection of phrases I wanted to say but did not dare…

…thought it'd be too funny/indiscreet and could make things worse: 

[Please read also how Luis Serrano, CRG's director lied to the Court]


— OK, Luis, she says nobody can work with me (the slander they both insisted in), but there is a certain proof that I can work at least with you! then why did your favorite turn out to be so furious by the results of this work? %)

— Luis, please calm down, I am not recording this conversation %)

— Maria, what exactly is going to happen when we are alone? >%[
Of course there were no problem for me to come up to her and that happened on many occasions. I just could not get why I had to be coerced to talk alone with her even when I asked for help while she'd been getting dumb blind or dumb unable to get a point.

Update after 31/01/18:
On the Court hearing Luis Serrano, CRG director, lied that I constantly refused to talk to her.
I never refused when it could have any sense. I just asked for help!.
I never refused any direct request for meeting, at most I felt annoyed by her dull «if you wish we can talk» — only in that cases I could openly respond: I don't.
— Luis, what exactly is Maria going to do with me being so necessarily alone with her? >%[
(no way that was really necessary and it was felt so freaking creepy!)

— James, what kind of science exactly people do here that this «closest to Luis person» claims to recognize her scientific authority? and you too, why do you have to coerce me to this scientific authority recognition on behalf of Luis Serrano? %-O

— All right I can recognize this scientific authority. But can I use a sound recording device to keep all fascinating quotes of such authority for posterity and then to display them for public appreciation and future generations? %P

Only in that case that'd make sense, I wouldn't mind to suffer for the sake of science!
I'd promise to skip details when this authority kindly enlightens ignorant-me about the differences between coding and non-coding RNAs…
Thank God Maria didn't start with teaching me how to count to 10, only to 15 — «I have fifty publications, I will teach you! — fifty or fifteen?… — well, fifteen»
But once I did take notes after her speech as I just felt uneasy — she claimed I'd tore out the sheets (I did) and handed them to her (I didn't). Creepy! %-|
— Let's send her hand-made Excel file to the group-list, it'd be fun!! :D
(where M Lluch Senar had been unable to calculate correctly mapping coverage between TSS & TTS in MS Excel and was trying to make me use it as a primary data source for the DB)
— It'd be good to have this email published, shall I forward it to…
(where a colleague writes me, after having advised me to simulate a depression*): «ask for an external, independent psychological evaluation of you two (then it will be clear she has a psychopathy»)
I felt so touched by their so considerate intrigue (underlining above is mine), which was not a big deal to unfold though.
Yet disgusting.
Director's chihuahua surely happened to be not the only one little psychopath: he had a look very much the same in so many ways (for instance, shouting on me in his office just for bringing up an email citation from my official boss) :-|
And the person who urged me to simulate depression, stopped talking to me once I refused to follow her so solicitous directions, — isn't that charming, uh?
— Why can't I work with an another colleague for the same project? — I would be happy to recognize her scientific authority!
Unfortunately this question was too rhetorical (a colleague was surely professional, way more smart and educated than M Lluch Senar, but obviously I had been coerced to recognize only one very particular «scientific» authority», with silent support by that demonstratively totally cowed colleague, so no way it could have been carried out)…
«she has destroyed my career, she will destroy yours!» — Hedgehog is scared by a naked ass! :]
Not exactly everyone is giving in to anything.
Moreover, that self-humiliation of the career race victim was rather a game in pathetic submission under highly positioned henpecked's requirement than really a true and irreparable loss.

*) I could do it to save my position at CRG: Spanish law in that case would assess the dismissal as invalidated, yet legitimizing employer's inclination to humiliate an employee and make slanderous statements about her qualities which was a favourite MO of Maria Lluch-Senar and Luis Serrano's so creative and productive tandem.

Luis Serrano, CRG Director, his chihuahua M Lluch Senar and his suite: Bruna Vives Prat, Juan Valcarcel, James Sharpe, Julia Ponomarenko were actually performing this
And of course I didn't say that… —
Maria Lluch CRG — M Lluch-Senar and her scientific impact








Monday, December 19, 2016

Events preceding: Iain Mattaj, EMBL, making sure misconduct is supported

When I was accepting the offer from CRG, Barcelona I had no idea how closely they are connected to EMBL. I just could not imagine how this academic world is small and stinky. If I were a bit more perspicacious and familiar with so peculiar Western European academia ambiance and work ethics, if I were more prudent, I would never accept their offer. In a few months after the start of the Contract with CRG (later dishonestly broken by them) I began to feel as if I was snared. A bit later my worst foreboding just came true.

These people have very specific concepts of honesty and integrity, including research integrity. They fail to follow their own so hypocritically declared document on research misconduct: nobody even knows that such document exists. They love to harangue about ethics as if they are concerned, but this speechifying has no ground in real life whatsoever. Folks who'd decide to stand up to misconduct have no place or a person to turn to: usually they are intimidated and chose submission instead of opposing to the rogue scientists (or… they become the same).
Here is a brief story about how EMBL, in particular Iain Mattaj, deal with sexual harassment clause making sure that other non-gentlemen's misconduct is supported
— at CRG, in one way or another, I was threatened several times: «do you want that story repeated?», at the end it was «this is all right, you've already had a story with EMBL, haven't you?»
One of the finest was: «all right, they are mobbing you, but do you want the EMBL case repeated? give in!» — I almost felt like honoured with a star to the wings of my plane…

History never repeats, it reflects from the heavens to come back like a new dawn or backfire.

EMBL makes sure research misconduct is supported attacking on the ground of sexual misconduct
EMBL makes sure research misconduct is supported attacking on the ground of sexual harassment yet admitting harassment