The dispute between members of the scientific advisory board of the prestigious Dahlem Konferenzen and administrators at the Free University Berlin has led to the cancellation of one Dahlem workshop and is likely to lead to the resignations of more than half of the conference's board, scientists involved with the conference said this week.
Board members and other scientists say that Free University Berlin administrative actions have slowed down publication of manuscripts for recent Dahlem workshops and have undermined the independent scientific integrity of the conferences. There was also outrage over the firing in November of Julia Lupp, Dahlem's program director, without prior consultation of the board. Dahlem, which has organized some 90 international multidisciplinary conferences since 1974, was integrated into the university in 1990.
Ten board members have drafted a resignation letter to Free University President Dieter Lenzen, neurobiologist Randolf Menzel told The Scientist yesterday (February 10) from Norway. ...
