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The internal investigation of the Eötvös Loránd Research Network (ELKH), conducted under the leadership of President Miklós Maróth, regarding the election of the director of one of the institutes of the Center for Research in Natural Sciences, was absurd. The acting director general of the Center for Natural Sciences Research forgot to turn on his microphone, so online conference attendees called to listen to applicants could hear him call one of the candidate candidates and teach him what to look for. Although there were many witnesses to the collusion, the investigation concluded that the research center did not have an ethical code, so no ethical process could be initiated against those involved.
The Natural Sciences Research Center, established with an investment of 9.5 billion HUF, was the flagship of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences until the reorganization of the academic research network. With five separate institutes and hundreds of researchers, it remains one of the largest institutions in the newly created Eötvös Loránd Research Network (ELKH).
At one of the five institutes, the TTK Institute of Organic Chemistry, the term of the director has recently expired and a vacancy for the position has been announced. Two applied: Tibor Soós, the current director, and Miklós György Keserű, who also previously held the position of director, and even served as general director after the opening of the Center for Research in Natural Sciences in 2013, during a quite unsuccessful period from a financial point of view.
Due to the coronavirus epidemic, it was not possible to convene an internal personal interview, so the two applicants had to explain more specifically, in an online Teams conference, what plans they had to start the application. The online audience László Buday, was organized by the current Acting Director General of the Center for Natural Sciences (in our featured image), and the audience was composed of the leaders of the research groups that operate at the Institute of Organic Chemistry.
Tibor Soós was the first to attend the November 9 hearing. After outlining his program and answering questions, László Buday ordered a break.
He learned of the subsequent events through a letter sent to the president of ELKH at 24.hu. In this conference call, participants ask Miklós Maróthto launch an ethical investigation because they see clear that the interim CEO has colluded behind the scenes with Miklós György Keserű.
Following the Tibor Soós hearing, there was a pause, during which the Director General telephoned Miklós György Keserű and instructed him to prepare for an important question posed in a closed hearing, as well as describing Tibor Soós’ response to the same question. László Buday then noticed that he did not turn off his camera and microphone during the break.
– can be read in the letter we have in our possession.
According to our information, Maróth sent a response to the Center for Research in Natural Sciences on December 4. The investigation concluded that the conduct of the Acting Director General may have been unethical, but no ethical proceedings could be initiated in the case.
24.hu contacted the central secretariat of ELKH, where it was acknowledged to our question that an investigation confirmed the statement of the group’s leaders:
There was a private telephone conversation between the Acting CEO and one of the applicants, which could have created an uneven playing field between applicants.
At the same time, the investigation found, the ELKH Secretariat wrote, that the Center for Research in Natural Sciences did not have its own code of ethics on the basis of which an ethical procedure could have been initiated. (Although the ELKH Secretariat has a code of ethics, it does not cover the institutions of the research network). Therefore, the ELKH was able to instruct the TTK management to draft its own code of ethics without delay and recommend the re-election of the director. In connection with the case, ELKH initiates an extraordinary review and renewal of institutional ethics regulations at all research sites.
László Buday, Acting Director General, is a full member of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, György Miklós Keserű, a pharmaceutical research chemist and a corresponding member of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. In early March, his bitter pharmaceutical chemistry research group joined the activities of the Hungarian Coronavirus Research Action Group.
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