🧪⚖️Inventing Knowledge: Intellectual Property in Academic Research 🧠🔏

keywords

academic integrity, plagiarism, intellectual property, research ethics, PhD students, collaborations, scientific publications, open access, patents, copyrights

summary

In this podcast episode, Nora Balzer (Dr rer Nat) discusses the complexities of intellectual property in academia, particularly in the context of a case involving a PhD student accused of plagiarism. The conversation explores the balance between sharing research for public good and protecting intellectual achievements, the challenges of collaborations, and practical advice for PhD students navigating these issues.

takeaways

• Sophie’s case highlights the complexities of academic integrity - reference: https://www.spiegel.de/lebenundlernen/uni/professor-contra-doktorandin-wer-klaut-hier-bei-wem-a-776909.html - accessed on 27-02-2025.
• Intellectual property in academia is often misunderstood.
• The need to protect research can conflict with sharing knowledge.
• Patents and copyrights are crucial but challenging to navigate.
• Open access aims to make research freely available but has costs.
• Collaborations can complicate ownership of research outcomes.
• PhD students should choose their supervisors wisely.
• Reading contracts is essential for understanding rights.
• Building a support network is vital for early career scientists.
• Emotional responses to credit disputes should be managed rationally.

Transcript

Nora Balzer (00:01.304)
Professor versus a PhD student who steals from whom. Sophie made her PhD at the University of Aachen, where she got pregnant when she got pregnant, so she took a break. After her return, she submits her work in order to receive her title. You may already feel it was not the case. As usual,

Two supervisors need to check the dissertation. In her case, the second supervisor was from the University of Bonn. So the professor from the Uni Aachen sent the work to the professor at the Uni Bonn with a great evaluation. Magna cum laude, great work. However, the prof in Bonn found the work very familiar. And then he found 40 pages of the dissertation.

already published by the Aachener Supervisor. Here we are now. Who stole from whom?

Nora Balzer (01:10.304)
Sophie has given her manuscript draft to the professor and boss way before the publication and her parental leave.

As the prof in Bonn gave his evaluation and note about Plagiat, the Aachener prof also changed his mind regarding Magna Cum Laude. During the process, the PhD student did not receive any feedback regarding those accusations. If she would have got any hint, she could have easily withdrawn her manuscript, changed the 40 pages to a citation and submitted again.

Nora Balzer (01:53.75)
As it was not the case, PhD student vs. Prof. started the process to find out who stole from whom.

If the doctoral thesis would have been published prior to the scientific publication, nothing would have happened. Six years later, a press release came out saying that the doctor father didn't make any mistake which press release got deleted again shortly after.

Nora Balzer (02:30.253)
I assume many of us know Sophie or Toby or anyone else who felt just not right with her work. And indeed, to be right and have right are two different things not only in science.

Welcome to today's podcast of the Young Immunologist Immunochat, sponsored by the German Association of Immunology. We are diving into a topic that often stays in the background, but it's gaining importance in immunology as well, intellectual property.

Nora Balzer (03:14.516)
Intellectual property, what does that really mean in the context of academic science? While we may typically associate intellectual property with patents and copyrights in the commercial sector, in science it's often more complex.

It's not just about inventions but also ideas, research findings, data and publications that emerge from academic work. But who owns these intellectual achievements and how can they be protected?

Nora Balzer (03:57.633)
The academic ideal emphasizes that science is to share for the public good. Many of us scientists enter the field to make a difference, generate knowledge and make it accessible. Yet in academic research, career advancements go hand in hand with research achievements. Yet in academic research, career advancements go hand in hand

with research achievements.

Publications, citations and patents make reputation, stipends and funding, money, in order to be able to make cutting-edge science. And that makes the Catch-22 dilemma. On the one hand, we are committed to share knowledge with the community. On the other side, there is a need to protect intellectual property as a way of honor and secure our work.

Nora Balzer (05:05.556)
Let's look at patents for example. Patents only play a crucial role in protecting inventions. By patenting work, researchers or their institutions can secure funding and maximize the economic impact.

Nora Balzer (05:26.89)
However, the process is challenging. Patents must be filled early, sometimes prior to the scientific publications, which conflicts with scientific openness.

Nora Balzer (05:46.983)
Another major topic is copyright, which protects the expression of research in articles, books or datasets, for example. However, there are challenges here too. Many immunologists are required and also wish to publish with major journals and

charge high fees and often retain copyright for the content.

So, when you write a mail to the contact author of a nature paper to please send a manuscript, then you actually ask them to do something not really legal.

Nora Balzer (06:46.154)
Those conflicts have led to a motivation for open access, which aims to make scientific publications freely available. Scientists who want to share their findings openly, they support open access. But the system is often complex and comes with additional costs.

Nora Balzer (07:13.738)
Collaborations are fun, aren't they? We share knowledge, get new insights, techniques, people, and upgrade our scientific potential immensely. Unfortunately, there's the issue of intellectual property in collaborations.

Science, especially immunology and other biomedical sciences, are increasingly collaborative, inter- and multidisciplinary, and international. So who owns the outcome when multiple institutions and researchers are involved?

Nora Balzer (07:57.776)
This is the point where contracts come into play defining who has what rights to the results. Such agreements can be time consuming and disagreements over intellectual property can just really slow down projects.

Nora Balzer (08:20.092)
In science, we need to balance between making our findings accessible and to protect the value of our work and support career growth, especially for early career scientists. Those young students who just want to make some cool science, choose their lab with gut feeling, just want to get inspired by other your researchers and never ever

think about intellectual property when they sign their contract and don't read any doctoral regulations at all until they need to defend their thesis, just like me.

Nora Balzer (09:06.61)
And here I could just try to give you the ultimate knowledge how to protect your research work, but I cannot. As a PhD student, it is especially challenging, as at least on paper, it must be your very own intellectual work.

barely exist shared PhD theses or so. So here comes my top 5 learnings after 10 years as an expat in German academic research.

Nora Balzer (09:45.577)
1. Choose your supervisor wisely. They will be your academic mentor and if they take care more on their own career than yours, then you are mainly lost.

Nora Balzer (10:14.025)
1. Choose your supervisor wisely. They will be your academic mentor and if they take care more on their own career than yours, then you are mainly lost. Academic science is a closed community. You will need their recommendation and ultimate support to achieve your scientific goals. One can be the greatest mind with a toxic supervisor. It will be a painful journey.

Nora Balzer (10:52.073)
2. Be the change you wish to see in the world and give credit to the people who support you. Take the time and the extra slide for the people who help you to achieve your goals and make your work and your science better.

Nora Balzer (11:13.275)
Number 3. Read your contracts and agreements carefully. Doctoral regulations are not only different from university to university, but even different faculties have different regulations. Some universities do offer legal support. Ask them and cross your fingers hoping that they will give you good advices.

Nora Balzer (11:46.339)
Number four, make sure you are not alone. Join to graduate programs, try to find early scientific advisors and mentors. Try to connect other PhDs and postdocs where you can share your worries or experiences freely and get first-hand advice.

Nora Balzer (12:12.752)
And finally number five, freeze, fight or flight. Being right and having right are sometimes far from each other. If someone is taking the credit for your work, it can be very emotional. Take some time to calm down and try to think rational about your possibilities. Get some external advice.

If you feel it worth to fight for your right, then fight for it. Try not to escalate too early. Sometimes a causal chat over coffee with your principal investigator can solve many problems. If fighting doesn't seem to be smart, and let's be fair, fighting with your supervisor as a graduate student is barely smart.

Then flight. I know it's hard to believe, but there is a whole life out of your PhD project. There are amazing research labs with amazing lab hats who will support you, give the credit for your work, and you will be happy to go to work every morning. No title verse your mental has.

Nora Balzer (13:38.585)
You are great and you made a big step towards understanding intellectual property in academic science. Have you ever felt that someone else got the credit for your work or a collaboration ended with bad blood? I'm curious about your experiences. I'm curious about your experiences so please share it with us if you feel so.

Nora Balzer (14:08.837)
You can find all of our contact details in the show notes. Feel free to send me a direct message as well, or just leave a comment for us. Become a member of the Young Immunologist in order to get access to Great Stippin's mentoring program and community. Thanks for listening and supporting. See you next time. Nora.