Photo: VCG

In response to the students' report of academic misconduct of a teacher from Huazhong Agricultural University in Central China's Hubei Province, the university said on Friday that there is academic misconduct based on preliminary investigation. The school has decided to immediately suspend all positions and work of the teacher surnamed Huang.

On January 16, 11 students from Huazhong Agricultural University published a report and accused a professor surnamed Huang of academic misconduct, including fabricating research papers, falsifying textbook content, and suppressing students. The report, consisting of 125 pages, has attracted widespread attention.

The university immediately formed an investigation team to carry out a thorough investigation. It has been found that the problems raised regarding the experimental images, data, and findings are accurate, leading to a preliminary conclusion of academic misconduct.

The school has set up a tutor group to be fully responsible for the postgraduate training work of the research group. The school insists on zero tolerance for academic misconduct and ethical misconduct of teachers, and will further conduct a comprehensive investigation on the reported issues and handle the case in accordance with regulations and disciplinary measures, said the university via its Sina Weibo account.

"I went to pursue my graduate studies, but now I feel extremely distressed," said a student who was one of the people to report the issue, according to a report by cnr.cn on Thursday. 

The College of Animal Science & Technology and College of Veterinary Medicine at Huazhong Agricultural University on January 16 issued a notice saying that they have established a working group to initiate the investigation and will take zero tolerance on academic misconduct. 

The 11 students are closely following the progress of the school's handling of the matter, and believe the school will present a fair result, according to cnr.cn.

According to a report by cqcb.com on Thursday, the teacher, Huang, had denied the report and claimed that the students' report was false.

Global Times