Academic Freedom

Whither the real biologists

Science in academia has taken a few hefty blows recently. Some perhaps have been below the belt but most were well directed and academics have had to take them on the chin. Scientists working in academia are really no different to other groups of people working in other occupations. My forty years in academia taught me one thing, idealists with integrity seeking the truth are as rare in academia as the proverbial hen’s teeth. Science is simply a job for most and the assumption that scientists should know science is misguided. I worked in a chemistry department for most of my tenure and the majority of my colleagues neither knew nor understood or even wanted to understand biology. Indeed one prominent member of the department actively campaigned against my involvement in departmental matters as I was not a chemist.

So, when the oh so deadly corona virus struck most of my colleagues were more than happy to run for the hills and stay at home. When we were eventually ‘allowed’ to return to work some preferred not to while others embraced the Government’s narrative and set about policing the one way corridors and refilling the ubiquitous sanitisers on every corner. These merry few seemed to have found some meaning in their lives at last. Of course, things were different in the biology department, weren’t they? Biologists would instinctively know that something was rotten in the heart of the corona virus story. They would speak their truth, wouldn’t they?

Well actually, no. Truth in the biology department was decided by The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Astra Zeneca and The Wellcome Trust. The biology department were the Government’s ‘happy clappers’ and not a word was spoken or written contrary to the narrative. Were these biologists simply ignorant like the chemists or were they keeping schtum. Perhaps they were waiting for guidance from learned societies like The Royal Society of Biology. I was proud when I was invited to be a Fellow of the Royal Society of Biology, to be able to use FRSB next to my name. Today, I am largely ashamed as my society along with all other learned societies either remained silent on the subject of the corona virus or played along with the Government’s narrative. These societies are no longer independent and supported by member’s fees they are wholly in the pockets of Government and in some cases industry. So, any free thinking scientist with integrity was not going to find any support from their university or learned society. Indeed, the opposite was almost certainly the case as I found out to my eventual cost.

Most scientists who have spoken the truth about the corona virus were already retired and so were not threatened with losing their jobs. They certainly risked their reputations and the possibility of scientific honours in the future. They are to be commended for their actions though isn’t it our duty to speak the truth. I was not retired nor contemplating retirement when I chose to comment on this article published in the THE. I was livid that some nobody administrator (feel free to bombard his Twitter account) considered that academics had not yet proved their worth to the greater public but that the corona virus would give them the opportunity to do so. I am copying my published comment in full below.

I am at Keele University and I do not share this individual’s enthusiasm. I am not sure who Mr Reader is but Keele has decided to lock down the University which means that its scientists are sitting at home writing letters to the THES when they should be at work doing critical research. If I can still receive my bird seed safely then why cannot I continue with my important scientific research safely? There is no logic whatsoever to such decisions. Generally the blind follow the blind where COVID-19 is concerned. Many reading THES will know that there has been a move over the last few years towards Universities delivering more and more of their content online. They call it lecture capture at Keele and if you do not opt out of this manually then you will find your lectures available for sale on eBay or similar in the future. I do wonder if the reason behind small Universities like Keele choosing to completely lock down everything is more about seeing what is possible on line than any concerns about catching the current cold.

I made this comment in May 2020. In August 2020 I received an email from my head of department inviting me to an exploratory investigative meeting to explain my comment. Really?!!

This ‘meeting’ was, of course ‘on-line’, my head not wishing to catch this deadly virus from me, and she made it very clear that the University considered my comment to be defamatory, bringing the University into disrepute. Only the ‘bird seed’ part of the comment was addressed. My reference to lecture capture et c. was not included in the complaint against me. She, along with the Dean, decided that I should be brought before a disciplinary hearing. I decided not to attend their kangaroo court. I had been subjected to their justice twice before and each time the outcome was the same, guilty. In my absence I was again found guilty and a note made in my academic record.

Almost immediately following this episode an article appeared in The Guardian newspaper accusing me of being an anti-vaxxer. An opinion that was quickly upheld by the University. The rest, as they say is history, and you can read all about it in great detail in my Leaving Statement. A leaving statement that remains largely untouched by any form of press, free or otherwise. The censorship continues.

It is desperately disappointing that scientists knowledgeable enough to know the truth did not speak the truth openly. However, my example shows categorically that the result of doing so would be the end of a scientific career. I am content with my decision and I sleep easily knowing that throughout my academic career I sought the truth and spoke the truth. I will continue to do so as a layman through this substack.