Research scholars at the Indian Institute of Chemical Biology (IICB) have written to the director general of the Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR) accusing the director of the Jadavpur campus of “harassment and abuse”, “research and academic mismanagement” and “impeding research progress”.
The PhD students have written that the tenure of director Vibha Tandon is marked with persistent verbal abuse, which resulted in a “hostile and demoralising environment” on the campus.
They have alleged that Mass Spectrometry and other machines are not being made available to them, impeding research.
The students have accused the director of “curtailment” of their research publications.
“These ongoing issues have fostered a climate of distrust, frustration and dissatisfaction, preventing students from focussing on their academic pursuits and damaging the institute’s reputation as a premiere research organisation,” the students have written to the CSIR director general, N. Kalaiselvi.
When contacted for her reaction to the students’ allegation, IICB director Tandon said in a text message: “Henceforth you please send an official email/letter to CSIR-IICB and administration will provide you a reply”.
The Telegraph sent an email to Kalaiselvi seeking her response to the students’ letter. There was no reply till late on Sunday.
IICB, a biomedical research centre, was established in 1935 and inducted “under the aegis” of the CSIR in 1956.
A PhD scholar at the institute said they had no option but to write to the CSIR director general as their attempts at approaching the IICB director to convey their grievances to her had met with a rude response.
“She usually does not want to grant any appointment. Even if we manage to meet her, the director behaves rudely and does not pay any attention to what we have to say. Left with no choice, we decided to approach the director general of the CSIR,” the scholar said.
The students have alleged that the curtailment of their research publications has led to the “worsening research integrity” of the institute.
They have also complained that the arbitrary transfer of skilled technical staff to irrelevant departments has impacted “research efficiency”.
Earlier this month, when protests erupted on the campus following the institute’s decision to terminate the jobs of the contractual workers, the students expressed their solidarity with the protesting employees.
They had then issued a statement: “The director of the Indian Institute of Chemical Biology should always be approachable so that the students and staff can place their demands.”
A scientist at the Jadavpur institute said it was unfortunate that a climate of distrust between the IICB director and the students has surfaced.
“Such an environment is not desirable at an academic institute. This is bound to impact research,” the scientist said.