SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
A PUZZLE NAMED BENGÜ SEZEN A historic CASE OF FRAUD in the chemistry community leaves many questions and issues unresolved WILLIAM G. SCHULZ, C&EN WASHINGTON
QUESTIONS ABOUT the massive Bengü
more, the report reveals, she eluded the Columbia investigators by not answering e-mails and phone calls, finding excuses to avoid in-person meetings, refusing to review documents sent to Columbia’s legal counsel in Europe for her convenience, and presenting what turned out to be a smokescreen of supporters and representatives who, in fact, did not exist—their communiqués were traced to either Heidelberg University computers or Sezen’s computer. And then she was gone. Sezen’s whereabouts today are unknown. Bengü Sezen might never again work in science, even with her second Ph.D., which so far has not been questioned. But certainly, the report casts a shadow on the ethics and teaching practices of Sames, the probative effort of Sezen’s Ph.D. dissertation committee, and the pressure cooker environment for promotion and tenure at Columbia and other prestigious research universities, say many observers who have
she picked up another doctoral degree in Sezen scientific fraud case at Columbia molecular biology. But, with mounting quesUniversity linger in the August heat. But tions about her chemistry thesis and pubmany of them will likely never be anlished work—eventually to include retracswered—especially the question, Why? Cotion of research papers she coauthored with lumbia in 2005 awarded her a Ph.D. degree her professor, Dalibor Sames, on C–H bond in chemistry with distinction; however, it functionalization—Columbia assembled an was based in large part on her fraudulent investigative committee to probe deeper. work. Details of the case make clear that In turn, Sezen began an elaborate game Sezen, at the very least, has a sophisticated of hide-and-seek that intensified over the understanding of chemical principles. The effort she put WHITEOUT This 31P NMR spectrum from Sezen’s doctoral thesis and research papers was into faking it and covering her presented as proof that she made the supposedly promising C–H functionalization catalyst tracks, say many people who RhCl(CO)[P(Fur)3]2. The investigation showed that Sezen created it out of whole cloth by merging have reviewed the case, easily 31P spectra of a simple phosphorus compound (triphenylphosphine) and then applying correction match that required for legitifluid to remove peaks from a triphenylphosphine oxide contaminant in that compound. mate doctoral work in science. Last month, Columbia’s investigative report of Sezen’s fraud surfaced via multiple Freedom of Information Act Signals from requests, including one filed Region A rhodium complexes by C&EN. The report—and an analysis of the university’s investigation by the Office Signal from P(Fur)3 of Research Integrity (ORI) at the Department of Health & Human Services—reveals shocking new details of her focused and sustained effort to fabricate and plagiarize P(Fur)3 experimental results on a P(Fur)3 P(Fur)3 I CO I Trace amounts historic scale (C&EN, July 11, Cs2CO3 + + Rh N Rh CO + of unidentified Cl Rh CO + Dioxane page 4). And from those details side products Ph N Cl 80 °C, 1 hour emerges the complex puzzle H P(Fur)3 P(Fur)3 P(Fur)3 of how and why such an extenP(Fur)3 = tri-2-furylphosphine, Ph = phenyl sive fraud could be carried out undetected for multiple years of doctoral education at one of the nation’s months-long investigation. At first she was followed the case. They say the report has leading universities and premier chemiscooperative, if not more than a little spirgenerated still more questions about the try departments. Beyond confirming that ited in defending her research. Her attitude responsibility of principal investigators Sezen’s Ph.D. degree in chemistry has been left many wondering if she really was the to verify the results of students’ work, the revoked, however, the university refuses to highly skilled but misunderstood experipossible consequences or sanctions that say more about the case. menter she claimed to be. As the evidence should be meted out to PIs by their univerSezen left Columbia shortly after receivof her misconduct began to pile up, howevsity and/or funding agencies when fraud ing her chemistry degree and enrolled at er, her attempts to explain away her actions happens on their watch, and how the job Germany’s Heidelberg University, where became increasingly implausible. More and status and vulnerability of graduate stuWWW.CEN-ONLINE.ORG
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dents are subject to the whims of a single professor. Of the many difficult issues raised by the Sezen case, experts say, the dependence of graduate students on one professor stands out. One person’s actions and assessments of their work can determine the trajectory of their scientific careers—or whether they can have a career in science at all. At least three unnamed subordinates left or were dismissed from the Sames lab, for example, for stepping forward and raising concerns about Sezen’s irreproducible research results. “Two graduate students, [redacted], were asked by [redacted] to leave his group at the beginning of the third year of their graduate study and one graduate student, [redacted] decided to leave the [redacted] after passing the second-year qualifying examinations. Each of these students had spent much time unsuccessfully trying to reproduce and extend Dr. Sezen’s work,” the Columbia investigators write in their misconduct investigation report. And while they were not able to determine exactly why these students were asked to leave, “the wasted time and effort, coupled with the onus of not being able to reproduce the work, had severe negative impacts on the graduate careers of these students.”
TRAIL OF DECEIT Aug. 2000 Sezen enters graduate program in chemistry at Columbia. Dec. 2000 Sezen joins the lab of chemistry professor Dalibor Sames. Oct. 2002 Sezen publishes in JACS (DOI: 10.1021/ja027891q) what was later determined to be her first fraudulent NMR spectrum. 2002 The first concerns about the reproducibility of Sezen’s work are raised both at Columbia and by outside investigators. July 1, 2005 Sezen defends her chemistry Ph.D. dissertation. July 2005 Sames lab member designs experimental sting operation that provides the first direct evidence of possible misconduct/fraud by Sezen. Oct. 19, 2005 Sezen is awarded a Ph.D. degree in chemistry with distinction. Nov. 7, 2005 Columbia memorandum cites fabricated data by Sezen in a 2004 JACS paper. A three-person “Inquiry Committee” is formed.
WHAT BECAME OF those former Sames lab members is unknown. Columbia has erected a wall of silence around Sezen, her brazen fakery, and the consequences for those who had the misfortune of working with her. Aside from the few spare and prepared statements about her doctoral degree and the status of its misconduct investigation, the university has blotted out any mention of what happened inside the Sames laboratory between 2000 and 2005, when Sezen was a Ph.D. candidate. During this period, however, Sames was granted tenure. Columbia has expressly forbidden Sames or any of its other employees from speaking publicly about the Sezen case. After receiving the redacted Columbia investigation report and accompanying ORI analysis, C&EN submitted to the university a detailed list of questions about the case, which Columbia, again, declined to answer. ORI also declined further comment. But other scientists and people who follow science are talking. “What horrifies me most is how the PI in this case did not verify results, did not pay attention to doubts raised about Sezen’s work,” says Janet D. Stemwedel, associate
Feb. 16, 2006 Inquiry Committee reports clear evidence of Sezen’s misconduct and fraud to the dean of Columbia’s Graduate School of Arts & Sciences. March 2006 Sames retracts two papers and parts of a third coauthored with Sezen in JACS (DOI: 10.1021/ ja069957d; DOI: 10.1021/ja069956l; DOI: 10.1021/ja0699586). June 2006 Sames retracts four more papers coauthored with Sezen that appeared in JACS and Organic Letters. Aug. 2006 to Feb. 2007 A full investigation of Sezen is undertaken by a committee of investigators appointed by Columbia. Nov. 2010 The federal Office of Research Integrity levels 21 findings of scientific misconduct against Sezen based on its oversight and analysis of the Columbia investigation. March 2011 Columbia retracts Sezen’s Ph.D. degree in chemistry. July 2011 ORI releases redacted copies of Columbia’s Sezen investigation and its oversight analysis.
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professor of philosophy at California’s San Jose State University, and a blogger and expert on science ethics. “That’s the real ethical problem here.” “It’s pretty incredible,” agrees Carrie Wolinetz, an associate vice president for federal relations at the Association of American Universities. Of the PI’s responsibility in such a massive case of fraud, she adds, “I would hope that ORI would be taking a serious look at that.” But even more, Stemwedel says, with the Sezen case, Columbia has a difficult but unique opportunity to be of service to the academic community. She says it would be valuable if the university could find a way to open up dialogue about the Sezen case, how it went undetected, and how possible future cases of scientific fraud might be prevented. “It would be more reassuring if Columbia were open about it,” she says, especially at a time when it seems that “the educational mission of research universities has fallen to the background.” By maintaining silence, she says, “that is the impression they convey.” But the detailed investigation report now in wide circulation does provide some insight. After Columbia’s six- to sevenmonth investigation, ORI conducted its analysis of the results. Last fall, it leveled 21 findings of research misconduct against Sezen (C&EN Online Latest News, Nov. 30, 2010). An ORI notice in the Nov. 29, 2010, Federal Register states that she falsified, fabricated, and plagiarized research data in three papers and her doctoral thesis. More than six papers that Sezen had coauthored with Sames were withdrawn by him in 2006 because her results could not be replicated. For her doctoral work at Columbia, Sezen claimed to have developed a method for selectively activating C–H bonds, a technique commonly used to functionalize hydrocarbons. Many of the papers she and Sames coauthored on the work were subsequently published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society (JACS). Questions about Sezen’s work, however, had been raised both inside and outside the Sames lab as early as 2002—just two years after she joined the group. The Columbia investigative committee determined that at least one NMR spectrum she produced that year was fake and, in general, noted a lack of data and descriptive detail for any of her experimental work throughout her five-plus years in the Sames lab. “Members of the [redacted] reported
SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
that they were able to reproduce reactions described by Respondent”—that is, Sezen—“successfully only when Respondent was in the laboratory and was aware that the experiments were being performed,” reads the committee’s report. The Columbia investigative committee found that Sezen “intentionally fabricated and falsified NMR spectra reported in at least Chapters 1, 5, and 6 of the thesis,” as well as in several JACS papers. Similarly, the investigators reported that Sezen “intentionally fabricated and falsified combustion analysis data” for her thesis and several published research papers. Companies that supposedly provided her with the combustion analysis data never billed Columbia for the work. Sezen later claimed that she found firms who performed the analyses for her for free, but the firms she cited contradicted those claims and had no record of any contact with her. ORI noted that one of the most brazen pieces of fabricated data the Columbia investigators found was a “composite figMORE ONLINE
ure composed of four (4) phosphorus-31 (31P) NMR spectra in which certain peaks had been removed from the spectrum using white-out or a similar product.” Other NMR graphs she plagiarized from colleagues or from default spectra that were included with instrument software, according to the investigation. OVERALL, the Columbia investigators
found “that a preponderance of the evidence shows that the Research Record maintained by Dr. Sezen does not meet the standards of the scientific research community and does not adequately document the procedures and results reported in her thesis and publications. The Committee could find so little evidence in the Research Record to support Dr. Sezen’s published descriptions of results and procedures that it concludes that substantial numbers of the experiments reported in the thesis and in Dr. Sezen’s six firstauthor publications were never performed successfully as described.”
See investigative reports at C&EN Online, cenm.ag/sezen2.
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From the start, the investigation shows, Sezen exhibited patterns of deception, most dramatically, her use of Columbia’s NMR facility. Although every Columbia graduate student who uses the facility must undergo training and receive a password, the investigators learned that no NMR account had ever been assigned to Sezen. At one point, she told investigators that she did have an NMR account and password, which she provided, but this information was determined to be false. In fact, Sezen played a shell game with the NMR account names and passwords of other Sames group members, some of whom were no longer in the lab by the time she worked there. The committee found spectra that were in her faked research papers sprinkled throughout the accounts and data files of other group members. They also note that what spectra they did find in her notebooks were not labeled in such a way that they could be matched up with published data in her thesis or research papers. In one incident of apparent plagiarism, Sezen was confronted with an NMR spectrum that she claimed was obtained from a
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