{"guid":"98a1c14d-e599-5613-aa89-6c99ee1a91fd","title":"The Silent Scandal - Power Abuse and Corruption by Design in German Research","subtitle":null,"slug":"eh22-84-the-silent-scandal-power-abuse-and-corruption-by-design-in-german-research","link":"https://cfp.eh22.easterhegg.eu/eh22/talk/G3M9AG/","description":"Female PhD students \"disciplined\" with a cane by their professor - absurd? Female professors losing their positions under dubious circumstances following questionable investigations - illegal, surely? Victim support services silencing the very people they’re meant to protect - unthinkable? Cases like these - just as recently published in SPIEGEL and Deutsche Welle - occasionally make headlines, often to be dismissed as isolated incidents. What if they point to a deeper, systemic issue within German scientific institutions?\n\nThis talk examines structural weaknesses, governance failures, and the patterns behind power abuse in academia. We will dive into the inner workings of a system engineered to protect abusers rather than the abused or the public interest. Through three in-depth and well documented case studies, we illustrate how unchecked authority, entrenched discrimination, and wasted taxpayer money permeate every level of a major German research organization. The so-called “governance” not only fails to address these abuses but actively sustains them.\n\nAll mechanisms meant to protect and ensure integrity have fallen short: self-regulation is toothless, political oversight - particularly from the BMBF - is absent, and media coverage mostly fails to spark change. What are we, as a society, willing to accept in the guise of academic freedom?\n\nLicensed to the public under https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/","original_language":"eng","persons":["k8ik"],"tags":["84","2025","eh22","Talk","K2 Talk","eh22-eng","eh22-deu","Day 2"],"view_count":3602,"promoted":false,"date":"2025-04-19T17:00:00.000+02:00","release_date":"2025-04-20T00:00:00.000+02:00","updated_at":"2026-04-14T20:00:05.447+02:00","length":3358,"duration":3358,"thumb_url":"https://static.media.ccc.de/media/conferences/eh2025/84-98a1c14d-e599-5613-aa89-6c99ee1a91fd.jpg","poster_url":"https://static.media.ccc.de/media/conferences/eh2025/84-98a1c14d-e599-5613-aa89-6c99ee1a91fd_preview.jpg","timeline_url":"https://static.media.ccc.de/media/conferences/eh2025/84-98a1c14d-e599-5613-aa89-6c99ee1a91fd.timeline.jpg","thumbnails_url":"https://static.media.ccc.de/media/conferences/eh2025/84-98a1c14d-e599-5613-aa89-6c99ee1a91fd.thumbnails.vtt","frontend_link":"https://media.ccc.de/v/eh22-84-the-silent-scandal-power-abuse-and-corruption-by-design-in-german-research","url":"https://api.media.ccc.de/public/events/98a1c14d-e599-5613-aa89-6c99ee1a91fd","conference_title":"Easterhegg 2025: Unhandled Eggception","conference_url":"https://api.media.ccc.de/public/conferences/eh22","related":[],"recordings":[{"size":51,"length":3358,"mime_type":"audio/mpeg","language":"eng","filename":"eh22-84-eng-The_Silent_Scandal_-_Power_Abuse_and_Corruption_by_Design_in_German_Research_mp3.mp3","state":"new","folder":"mp3","high_quality":false,"width":0,"height":0,"updated_at":"2025-04-20T12:43:00.233+02:00","recording_url":"https://cdn.media.ccc.de/events/eh2025/mp3/eh22-84-eng-The_Silent_Scandal_-_Power_Abuse_and_Corruption_by_Design_in_German_Research_mp3.mp3","url":"https://api.media.ccc.de/public/recordings/86966","event_url":"https://api.media.ccc.de/public/events/98a1c14d-e599-5613-aa89-6c99ee1a91fd","conference_url":"https://api.media.ccc.de/public/conferences/eh22"},{"size":33,"length":3358,"mime_type":"audio/opus","language":"eng","filename":"eh22-84-eng-The_Silent_Scandal_-_Power_Abuse_and_Corruption_by_Design_in_German_Research_opus.opus","state":"new","folder":"opus","high_quality":false,"width":0,"height":0,"updated_at":"2025-04-20T12:42:55.865+02:00","recording_url":"https://cdn.media.ccc.de/events/eh2025/opus/eh22-84-eng-The_Silent_Scandal_-_Power_Abuse_and_Corruption_by_Design_in_German_Research_opus.opus","url":"https://api.media.ccc.de/public/recordings/86965","event_url":"https://api.media.ccc.de/public/events/98a1c14d-e599-5613-aa89-6c99ee1a91fd","conference_url":"https://api.media.ccc.de/public/conferences/eh22"},{"size":271,"length":3358,"mime_type":"video/webm","language":"eng-deu","filename":"eh22-84-eng-deu-The_Silent_Scandal_-_Power_Abuse_and_Corruption_by_Design_in_German_Research_webm-hd.webm","state":"new","folder":"webm-hd","high_quality":true,"width":1920,"height":1080,"updated_at":"2025-04-20T13:12:00.903+02:00","recording_url":"https://cdn.media.ccc.de/events/eh2025/webm-hd/eh22-84-eng-deu-The_Silent_Scandal_-_Power_Abuse_and_Corruption_by_Design_in_German_Research_webm-hd.webm","url":"https://api.media.ccc.de/public/recordings/86969","event_url":"https://api.media.ccc.de/public/events/98a1c14d-e599-5613-aa89-6c99ee1a91fd","conference_url":"https://api.media.ccc.de/public/conferences/eh22"},{"size":145,"length":3358,"mime_type":"video/webm","language":"eng-deu","filename":"eh22-84-eng-deu-The_Silent_Scandal_-_Power_Abuse_and_Corruption_by_Design_in_German_Research_webm-sd.webm","state":"new","folder":"webm-sd","high_quality":false,"width":720,"height":576,"updated_at":"2025-04-20T13:00:18.192+02:00","recording_url":"https://cdn.media.ccc.de/events/eh2025/webm-sd/eh22-84-eng-deu-The_Silent_Scandal_-_Power_Abuse_and_Corruption_by_Design_in_German_Research_webm-sd.webm","url":"https://api.media.ccc.de/public/recordings/86968","event_url":"https://api.media.ccc.de/public/events/98a1c14d-e599-5613-aa89-6c99ee1a91fd","conference_url":"https://api.media.ccc.de/public/conferences/eh22"},{"size":150,"length":3358,"mime_type":"video/mp4","language":"eng-deu","filename":"eh22-84-eng-deu-The_Silent_Scandal_-_Power_Abuse_and_Corruption_by_Design_in_German_Research_sd.mp4","state":"new","folder":"h264-sd","high_quality":false,"width":720,"height":576,"updated_at":"2025-04-20T12:52:30.229+02:00","recording_url":"https://cdn.media.ccc.de/events/eh2025/h264-sd/eh22-84-eng-deu-The_Silent_Scandal_-_Power_Abuse_and_Corruption_by_Design_in_German_Research_sd.mp4","url":"https://api.media.ccc.de/public/recordings/86967","event_url":"https://api.media.ccc.de/public/events/98a1c14d-e599-5613-aa89-6c99ee1a91fd","conference_url":"https://api.media.ccc.de/public/conferences/eh22"},{"size":278,"length":3358,"mime_type":"video/mp4","language":"eng-deu","filename":"eh22-84-eng-deu-The_Silent_Scandal_-_Power_Abuse_and_Corruption_by_Design_in_German_Research_hd.mp4","state":"new","folder":"h264-hd","high_quality":true,"width":1920,"height":1080,"updated_at":"2025-04-20T12:40:09.379+02:00","recording_url":"https://cdn.media.ccc.de/events/eh2025/h264-hd/eh22-84-eng-deu-The_Silent_Scandal_-_Power_Abuse_and_Corruption_by_Design_in_German_Research_hd.mp4","url":"https://api.media.ccc.de/public/recordings/86964","event_url":"https://api.media.ccc.de/public/events/98a1c14d-e599-5613-aa89-6c99ee1a91fd","conference_url":"https://api.media.ccc.de/public/conferences/eh22"},{"size":167,"length":3358,"mime_type":"video/mp4","language":"deu","filename":"eh22-84-deu-The_Silent_Scandal_-_Power_Abuse_and_Corruption_by_Design_in_German_Research.mp4","state":"new","folder":"h264-hd","high_quality":true,"width":1920,"height":1080,"updated_at":"2025-04-20T12:40:02.981+02:00","recording_url":"https://cdn.media.ccc.de/events/eh2025/h264-hd/eh22-84-deu-The_Silent_Scandal_-_Power_Abuse_and_Corruption_by_Design_in_German_Research.mp4","url":"https://api.media.ccc.de/public/recordings/86963","event_url":"https://api.media.ccc.de/public/events/98a1c14d-e599-5613-aa89-6c99ee1a91fd","conference_url":"https://api.media.ccc.de/public/conferences/eh22"},{"size":170,"length":3358,"mime_type":"video/mp4","language":"eng","filename":"eh22-84-eng-The_Silent_Scandal_-_Power_Abuse_and_Corruption_by_Design_in_German_Research.mp4","state":"new","folder":"h264-hd","high_quality":true,"width":1920,"height":1080,"updated_at":"2025-04-20T12:39:58.105+02:00","recording_url":"https://cdn.media.ccc.de/events/eh2025/h264-hd/eh22-84-eng-The_Silent_Scandal_-_Power_Abuse_and_Corruption_by_Design_in_German_Research.mp4","url":"https://api.media.ccc.de/public/recordings/86962","event_url":"https://api.media.ccc.de/public/events/98a1c14d-e599-5613-aa89-6c99ee1a91fd","conference_url":"https://api.media.ccc.de/public/conferences/eh22"}]}