Corruption
David Tománek
Although this short play was inspired by reality, all characters and events presented are fictional. Any resemblance to actual persons or institutions is purely coincidental.
Corruption is a silent thief that can sneak into every realm of scientific work and thus tarnish the truth and innocence of science. But that's the way it is with everything else in the world. Those who like can blame it on the devil.
Scene 1: In the laboratory
Dimly lit laboratory. An apparatus hums gently on the table and a paper strip is being produced with a curve on it. Scientists Dr. Rudolf Zástava (Rudla) and Dr. Josef Nehezký (Pepe) stand near the table and study the printed data. The devil waits in the back: A seductive, made-up girl, dressed in a skin-tight red full-body leotard, with horns on her head.
| Rudla: | That sample of material, is it already in the spectrometer chamber, Pepe? |
| Pepe: | Yes. |
| Rudla: | So start measuring. |
| (A strip of paper with a curve slowly climbs out of the device.) | |
| Pepe: | Look, look at the data that the device measured now. That's supposed to be a curve, not a hairy caterpillar! The noise is huge. They won't believe us! Where can we publish this? And who will buy the material from us? |
| Rudla: | Don't panic! Everything can be dealt with. We always got away with it somehow. And now, don't forget, it's about more. It is about funding. It’s about a grant from the E.U. That's real money. It’s about new equipment. We have to forget about the details. |
| Pepe: | But we are scientists after all. People trust us. Politicians can talk around the table. But we must not lie! |
| (The devil comes from behind.) | |
| Devil: | Honorable scientists! Gentlemen! Your results are already known all over the world. And your new data will surely guarantee you a promotion, if not a Nobel Prize. But you have to go public with them, otherwise you will die of poverty. Wait – that curve here, is that what it's supposed to be? Well, of course, that has to be adjusted. |
|
(The devil pulls the paper strip through a large funnel, thus narrowing it down.) |
|
| Devil: | This looks much better. The process is scientifically called data filtering. Well, don't worry. Are you shy to go public with such a talent of yours? Don't be naive. How do you think that others do it? |
| Pepe: | I don't know. After all, we have to educate a new generation of scientists. So should we teach them to lie, from a young age? And ignore the truth? Then who will know what really is and what is not? |
| Devil: | The world doesn’t care for the truth and what is or not. Don’t you care about well-deserved respect for your life's work? After all, you also have a family, a wife and children. What do they get from your manufactured humility? |
| Rudla: | You are probably right. After all, we do not lie. The extra noise is definitely due to our outdated equipment. When it gets published, that will be something. Then we won't have to ask for funding the new device. We will get it for free from the manufacturer, for prestige reasons. So now get me a figure 2 b, with the better curve. That's how it will be. |
| Pepe: | Should I rewrite that paragraph in the discussion accordingly? And sharpen the wording in the cover letter? |
| Rudla: | Sure! We'll submit online tomorrow. |
Scene 2: In the editorial office of the scientific journal Natura Communa
A well-lit office. Editor Gregor is sitting behind a desk carrying a tall stack of manuscripts. Colleague Jutta casually sits in a chair in front of the table.
| Jutta: | What's that in your hand? Is this some kind of prophetic pamphlet? What is it about? Well, don't keep secrets. |
| Gregor: | Have you heard about the new nano-superparamagnet stabilized by graphene? According to this manuscript, this system has clear advantages over oxides, not only in magnetism, but also in its air stability. All this is confirmed by the Mössbauer spectra in figure 2 b. If the noise in the data had been larger, I would not be so sure. Also referee B points out the possibility of misinterpretation. But it's more about that he has never heard of Pavlovsky University. I'm not sure – if the results are right, this is a hit. |
| Jutta: | Wouldn't you be afraid to accept it? |
| (The devil enters from behind.) | |
| Devil: | You are some editors. Don't you feel the pressure trying to suffocate you? Didn't your boss just tell you that the impact factor of the journal is going down? Publishing is not a competition - it's a battle! Do you want Elsevier to take over? As editors, you have to take some risks too. Do you want Elsevier to be the first to publish the record-breaking superparamagnetism? What if it revolutionizes magnetism? If the boss were to find out – do you really think he wouldn't fire you both? |
| Jutta: | … on the other hand, what if these results cause a world sensation? |
| Gregor: | You know, that's what I thought too. When the boss learns that we accepted it despite the risk, he will appreciate us. Because who came up with those results first? Not Elsevier. Our magazine, Natura Communa. This is really about our survival too. |
Scene 3: Back in the lab
The laboratory is well lit. There is a bottle of champagne and several half-empty glasses on the table next to the device. Rudla and Pepe are sitting casually at the table.
| Rudla: | Well, didn't I tell you? The late bird does not get the worm. And also, you don’t ask, you won’t get. So, they accepted the manuscript. Just some minor corrections to do, that's nothing. |
| Pepe: | Well – you were right. But won't the readers complain? Such as that our forty-year-old apparatus has clearly much larger noise than what we show. What if they dig in? |
| Rudla: | Don't panic again. We don't care about the distant future. We now have a good reason in our hands to ask the E.U. for money for new laboratory equipment. People abroad always rake it in, now we have a result that will guarantee support for us. Oh ... and you can burn the original data from the spectrograph in the oven. |
| Pepe: | What about the university and the two research institutes? Who do we actually work for? |
| Rudla: | Thanks for reminding me. With our results and with the funds they will bring in, we will combine the two institutes. How do you like the acronym CACA? As for a center for Cryogenic Absorption Calorimetry Apparatus? |
| Pepe: | Won’t there be problems with the distribution of property between the university and those institutes? What then will CACA get and what will be left for Pavlovsky? Won't they riot? Won't it be a mess? |
| Rudla: | Don't speculate and write the project request. Within the EU, we propose to create a new research center in the field of superparamagnetism of nanostructures. We have a world lead in this field, confirmed by the publication of our results in Natura Communa. In addition to the professional staff, we have two scientific institutes at our disposal, which we intend to unite into one center with the acronym CACA. Are you taking notes? What did I say last? |
| Pepe: | Unite in one CACA. |
| Rudla: | Yes. In this way, we will support the creative potential in our area, which will benefit not only the republic, but the entire European Union. How fast can you type? |
| Pepe: | Don't we have a secretary for that? |
| Rudla: | This has to be fast. And also, it should not get around to the faculty. They could stop it. When the E.U. accepts it, and why shouldn't it, the rector will be excited. And faculty colleagues won’t dare to face us. So ... if you step on it, you should have the first version ready by tomorrow morning. |
| Pepe: | But we never had such a rush here … |
| Rudla: | Think about the future. We will have a center; you will get a new house and a Mercedes. Do you know how much money only our publications have brought in to our faculty? Why should we be more stupid than the Chinese and the Koreans? They value productive authors there. There, one good publication brings in up to 100,000, in cash. Dollars. |
| Pepe: | And how about publishing the results once more in the Journal of Magnetism? Perhaps with small changes? That could also bring in something. |
| Rudla: | One after another. First, finances from the E.U. Then CACA. Then we can invite colleagues from abroad. The famous ones who publish one after another. Those with publications in prestigious journals have a better experience. And they will add prestige to us. Then it will go like clockwork. Then we will really get going. |
Scene 4: In the discussion room of the European Science Foundation (ESF)
The discussion hall is a well-lit hall. The center of the hall is a long table with chairs around it. There is a soda glass in front of each chair. A projector throws rapidly changing color images onto the wall. Around the table sits the chairman of the Commission for Promising but Risky Projects in Fundamental Physics named McAuthrey. On his right hand sits the chairperson of the Center for the Rights of Women and Sexually Non-Binary E.U. Citizens named Buck. Professor Gutenheim has the floor.
| Gutenheim: | We come to request number EU-234-CZ-51: New research center CACA in the Czech Republic. The authors of the application point to the promising results of their own team, which is partially supported by Pavlovsky University and indirectly by two related research centers. They propose a merger of two centers and the relevant part of Pavlovsky University into one CACA center specialized in superparamagnetism of nanostructures. New instrumentation is required in the field of Mössbauer spectroscopy. This represents an injection of creativity in this so far neglected research topic and a region that has received below-average funding for basic research. |
| McAuthrey: | How did the panel discussion between the referees go? |
| Gutenheim: | In the light of recently published results from the groups involved, the opinion of the referees was mostly positive. The panel's final vote was 12 in favor and 3 against. The requested amount of financial support, 1.5 million Euros, was assessed as adequate. |
| Buck: | Please provide information about the requested funding and the proposed implementation of structures defending the rights of women and sexually non-binary members of the center. As you know from the EU-L2GT circular, 10% of the budget must be reserved for this purpose in EU-supported centers. Another 12% must be dedicated to education, information of E.U. citizens with special regard to preschool age. How are these activities specified in the application? |
| Gutenheim: | Mrs. ... Buck, ... I have to admit that this important issue was not mentioned in the panel discussion. Rather, we talked about the contribution of new scientific results to society ... |
| Buck: | Any initiative that ignores the rights of women and sexually non-binary citizens does not deserve E.U. support. Answer me, once again, if CACA intends to invest 22% of the budget to support women and the LGBTQ+ community. |
| Gutenheim: | I am sure that CACA will respect all standards required by the EU and adapt the budget as mandated in the EU-L2GT circular. |
| McAuthrey: | The project is approved in the requested amount. Now perhaps we deserve a break. |
Scene 5: In the field near Pavlovsky University
Hustle and bustle at the construction site. On the new building, a crane carries up the new name of the CACA institute. Crates of new equipment are moved from place to place.
| Rudla: | Pepe, you couldn't have imagined this two years ago. What do you think? |
| Pepe: | No, Rudla, no. And you? |
| Rudla: | You have to think pragmatically and systematically. Then it gets going. |
| Pepe: | And didn't it occur to you that all of this depends on the one result we published back then? Where we sort of filtered out the noise? |
| Rudla: | Don't start whining here … |
Scene 6: In the hall of the ethics commission of the university
The well-lit hall of the discussion hall, with a central table, is a smaller version of the hall in the ESF. Older academics and professors from nearby universities sit around the table. Professor Kaplan has the floor.
| Kaplan: | As a specialist in the field, I have always been a skeptic regarding the data published by colleagues Zástava and Nehezký. I have a lifetime of experience with data acquisition and its interpretation. Be it Mössbauer spectra or temperature fluctuations on the Mont Blanc, we are dealing everywhere with systematic deviations and stochastic fluctuations around he desired value. And as we know from the theory of stochastic deviations … |
| (Professor Nohatý interrupts him.) | |
| Nohatý: | Look, Franta, we are more interested in what you found out about those Mössbauer spectra that Zástava and Nehezký published. Everybody says that such a low noise in Mössbauer can only be achieved by cheating. It is so? |
| Kaplan: | Well, I don't want to talk about cheating. I don't know if Zástava and Nehezký would sink that low. But they filtered the data and achieved an unheard-of low noise. The data published in Natura Communa look very unlikely to me. |
| Fousatá: | What you are actually saying, colleague, is that it is a swindle. After all, Natura Communa is also known as the wastebasket of the established Natura magazine. |
| Kaplan: | I wasn't talking about fraud. I also haven't seen the original data that dominate the entire publication in that one figure. The original data, as far as I know, have mysteriously disappeared. In Mössbauer, however, data filtering is quite common. |
| Fousatá: | And this one publication earned them CACA and a new house for Rudla. |
| Bezbožný: | Do you know, colleagues, that Einstein published exactly four papers in his most productive year? |
| Fousatá: | So what? |
| Bezbožný: | That Rudla produces one a week. Fifty a year. Each one is about something different, but the spectra are as similar to each other as chicken eggs. So he's either a genius better than Einstein or a fraud. |
| Fousatá: | You are right indeed. |
| Nohatý: | If it's a scam, and I have no doubt about it now, then we have to stand up. This is about the integrity of science. This is about the reputation of the Pavlovsky University. It is also a question of ethics. Everyone, who agrees that this is a scam, raise your hand. |
|
(All raise their hands. The devil enters from behind.) |
|
| Devil: | Don't you think you are acting rather hastily? For your claim of fraud, what evidence do you actually have in your hand? What if all this is just plain gossip? Accusing someone without proof has consequences. They can take you to court for that. So, watch out! |
| (Everyone falls silent in shock.) | |
| Nohatý: | Well, now that we have a unanimous recommendation, we still lack results of the original measurements, without which we cannot prove anything. Ultimately, however, preserving the original data is the author's responsibility. So, if we don't catch a fraud, then at least a misdemeanor against the obligation to archive results of the original measurements. We will report that the ethics commision unanimously concluded that Zástava and Nehezký seriously violated their obligation to archive results of the original measurements and, with a high probability, also faked these results. We will communicate this conclusion to the rectorate of the university. |
Scene 7: Interview of the CACA directors with the rector of the Pavlovsky University
The rector of the Pavlovsky University sits behind the desk. Rudla and Pepe sit on the opposite side of the table.
| Rector: | We have a problem here, gentlemen. |
| Rudla: | What problem are you talking about, fellow rector? Are you maybe unhappy about the growing reputation of the CACA center, which we recently established with the help of a financial injection from Brussels? The new infrastructure and instrumentation of CACA brought our university out of the realm of oblivion. |
| Pepe: | And it also increased the reputation of the Pavlovsky University. This, as you know, has an impact on the distribution of property and its value. |
| Rector: | So you're asking for even more than before? |
| Rudla: | But sure, fellow rector. Since the opening of CACA, Pavlovsky University entered a new phase of history. The media talk about our university only in connection with our center. It only makes sense that CACA deserves more favorable conditions in the distribution of assets. |
| Rector: | I called you in because of a confirmed suspicion of data manipulation. And also because of your refusal to make original measurement results available to the public, which is a serious offense. By doing so, you are not helping the reputation of our university, but gambling with it. I have printed out the report of the ethics commission for you here. |
| Rudla: | You can use it to wipe your ... You know what. |
| Rector: | Now come on. Be polite. You are still part of the faculty of the Pavlovsky University … |
| (Rudla interrupts him.) | |
| Rudla: | … which would slowly collapse without CACA. |
| Rector: | So you won't back down from your demands? |
| Rudla: | When hell freezes over. |
Scene 8: Dean Kouba's discussion with colleagues in the Faculty of Science
In the discussion room, where the discussion of the ethics commission was previously held, dean Kouba and colleagues of the Faculty of Science sit around the table.
| Kouba: | In academia, including our faculty, we have to deal with various kinds of problems. |
| Součková: | What exactly do you mean by that, fellow dean? |
| Kouba: | I have in front of me the report of the ethics commission. It seems that colleagues Zástava and Nehezký published fake results. They may have faked systematically. This, as you know, is a serious academic offense that we can’t leave unpunished. |
| Bouček: | Do I feel a trace of envy here towards the founders of the CACA center, which is developing so nicely? |
| (From behind comes the devil.) | |
| Devil: | Do not forget that colleagues Zástava and Nehezký are the founders of CACA, thanks to which the reputation of your faculty has reached an international level. Do you want to lose that? An increase in prestige that will ensure you a head start in financing your own research? Do not be naive that distancing yourself from your own colleagues won’t be without consequences for you. |
| Kouba: | If we were an industry, we could enjoy the prestige. But we are a university. We are expected to educate the new generation not only in science, but also in character. |
| Bouček: | Come on! Aren't you going too far here? The church already has a claim on the character. So, we'll leave it to the church. Our main concern must be that our students stand their ground in the world. The world of science is not like weaning a baby – it's a battle. |
| Součková: | Aren't you exaggerating too? Just a little bit? |
| Kouba: | For us, the situation is clear. Falsifying data, no matter how famous it made the authors, cannot be tolerated. |
| Bouček: | Even if all of us benefit from it greatly? Would you like to go five years back, when we discussed the possibility of abolishing the Faculty of Science? We wouldn't be the first; this is normal in the U.K. |
| Kouba: | It's a matter of principle. |
| Bouček: | Nobody cares about principles. If we support CACA, the favor will be returned to us, with interest. |
| Součková: | I also find we should not overdo it with academic integrity. We can pretend that nothing happened. We won't lose anything by doing so. |
Scene 9: Discussion of the academic senate with the rector
In the same discussion hall, the rector of the university and members of the academic senate sit around the table.
| Rector: | Well, this situation is such a mess that I have never seen anything like it before. On the one hand, we have a statement from the ethics commission, which, in agreement with dean Kouba, unanimously recommends starting disciplinary proceedings against colleagues Zástava and Nehezký for falsification of data. |
| Boubatý: | And on the other hand? |
| Rector: | On the other hand, we have the newly established CACA center. And its excessive request regarding the division of assets between the center and the university. If Zástava and Nehezký did not use their publication record as a bulletproof shield, they would not have such strong support among their colleagues. |
| Boubatý: | But they use it as a hallmark of their scientific reputation. |
| Rector: | Yes, even among our faculty. That is the problem. So where to next? The dean insists that the university and the scientists must clearly distance themselves from any suspicion of corruption. If we bring the founders of CACA to the academic court for falsifying data, for which we have no solid evidence, then the whole university loses and CACA grabs the majority of assets. |
|
(Members of the academic senate slowly leave, one by one. Only the devastated rector remains seated at the table.) |
|
| Rector: | What have I gotten myself into here? This is a devilish mess. |
| (The devil enters from behind.) | |
| Devil: | Exactly what I would say. But nothing is eaten as hot as it is cooked. What situation do we have here? We have a dean who elevates ethical principles above everything else. How many are behind him? |
| Rector: | Well, maybe a few in physics. Not many more. |
| Devil: | So he can't harm you. And then there are the founders of CACA who attracted funding from the E.U. They are established in science. Even if their paper were a fraud. |
| Rector: | But that's what all is turning around! |
| Devil: | Nobody cares about that. Zástava and Nehezký represent the center and enjoy a lot of support, mainly because of their power. They are supported by a lot of colleagues. They simply go about their business and destroy their opponents. They also have quite long fingers. Do you want to face them? |
| Rector: | That I would like to avoid. |
| Devil: | So, take my advice. Fire the dean and then you will score with Zástava and Nehezký. The faculty will stand up for you and the local quarrels will die down. You will see! |
Scene 10: Interview of the rector with the dean of the Faculty of Science and his subsequent dismissal from the Pavlovsky University
The rector is sitting behind the table. Dean Kouba sits on the opposite side of the table.
| Rector: | I wish to thank you, colleague, for the service you have rendered to our university as dean of the Faculty of Science. |
| Kouba: | What are you talking about, please? |
| Rector: | Talks between the faculty of our university and the CACA center have led nowhere. We have tried to reach agreement in various ways, but with no success. I know that you are concerned about punishing offenses against academic integrity. |
| Kouba: | Yes, but isn’t this the primary call of a university? If we do not defend the truth – who will take over? |
| Rector: | Sure, you're right. But for us, at the university, it is about survival. Whether the cause of the dispute between the CACA center and the faculty is an ethical violation or a dispute over property distribution – we must deal with that dispute, or our university will fall apart. And you, in your function as dean, still hold your position, as a guardian angel of a truth that no one cares about. |
| Kouba: | Do you really believe, fellow rector, that no one does? |
| Rector: | Be that as it may, I have to be pragmatic for the sake of the whole university. And that is why, colleague Kouba, I am releasing you from your position as dean of the Faculty of Science at Pavlovsky University. |
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Last update: 2022.12.01 (Thursday) 12:17:27 EST.