Max Planck bullying scandal highlights vulnerability of young international researchers

Accusations of bullying and abuse at the Max Planck Society in Germany have brought new attention to the vulnerability of junior researchers across Europe, particularly those with international backgrounds. 

“It's a problem which is well-known and little described or investigated formally,” said Nicola Dengo, vice president of EuroDoc, the European Council of Doctoral Candidates and Junior Researchers. “Being in academia, you start to get used to this, but it's not normal.”

The abuse in the Max Plack institutes was brought to light in an investigation by Der Spiegel and Deutsche Welle. Reporters spoke to more than 30 young scientists, many of whom described abusive behaviour and toxic environments. While the society has said it will investigate any new evidence, questions remain about the effectiveness of safeguards and support measures intended to protect potential victims.

However, this problem is not exclusive to the Max Planck Society or to German academic culture. A survey conducted in the United Kingdom in 2020 found that 43% of young researchers questioned had experienced harassment or bullying, with 61% having witnessed it already in their academic careers. 

A big part of the problem is that young researchers are afraid to report such behaviour. “If you are reporting, you are basically creating enemies to yourself,” Dengo said. 

Work contracts for young academics are often short and tied to project funding. Pressured into working long hours to get the next contract extension, the researchers are dependent on how supervisors evaluate their work.

This dependency is heightened for researchers with an international background, whose work visas or residency may be tied to their contracts. 

Almost two thirds of the Max Planck Society’s doctoral students have international backgrounds, and most of the abuse in the latest scandal was reported by foreign nationals.

This aspect of the problem has implications for the EU’s ambition to attract the best and brightest minds, and so boost innovation and competitiveness. “But if you don't solve this kind of problem, if you don't make the experience of researchers in the European territory safer, you're losing on attractiveness,” Dengo said.

Support failure

The present scandal is not the first time Max Planck Society has encountered allegations of bullying. Following a 2018 case, it introduced measures to prevent abuses of power and offer added support, but these have still not been fully implemented in some of the institutes that produced complaints.

“There's a discrepancy between this gigantic [web] page of counselling offices, and then the many people saying: I didn't feel helped. I didn't feel supported,” said Hjördis Czesnick, who heads the Ombuds Committee for Research Integrity in Germany. 

It can be particularly problematic if support services are tested and found wanting. At Ghent University in Belgium, for example, abuses have taken place despite the presence of a reporting and resolution mechanism called Trustpunt.

“There is a mismatch between what people expected from the Trustpunt services and what Trustpunt offered,” said Femke De Backere, who previously represented young researchers on the Ghent University board. “That's why people do not believe in these mechanisms anymore.” 

Transparency is one issue, she added, another is the lack of strong disciplinary actions following investigations. 

Networks representing young researchers see some universities as complacent. “It is very difficult to argue [for] the implementation of control structures because [the universities] think it’s unnecessary,” said Leon Chryssos, board member of the German association of doctoral researchers. “They say it’s not improving their publication index so why should they change something?”

Dengo would like to see more action from the EU and national governments on this issue, since universities and research organisations seem incapable of meeting acceptable standards on their own. “We really just want good baseline treatment for workers employed in academia,” he said.