ISP chief Dr A Mujeeb's data cooked up, Cusat lands in soup

KOCHI: A meeting of the Cochin University of Science and Technology (Cusat) syndicate on Saturday decided to keep out the director of International School of Photonics (ISP) Dr A. Mujeeb from the position after a peer-reviewed international journal reported malpractices in the paper he published with two others. The syndicate also decided to annul the extension granted to emeritus professor of ISP Dr V.P.N. Nampoori who is a co-author of the research paper. The third co-author of the paper is Dr P. Radhakrishnan, another emeritus professor with the ISP.

The syndicate did not take any action against him. It constituted a three-member sub-committee comprising Dr Prathapachandra Kurup, Dr Bhasi and Prof M.K. Jayaraj to probe and recommend final action in the case. The article was published in the journal Applied Physics (A) Material Science and Processing published by the prestigious international publishing house Springer. The journal reviewers identified later that the authors had used cooked- up data to support their paper. They viewed it seriously and reported for action to the ISP. However, it is learnt that Dr Mujeeb being the director concealed the communication and did not take action which later came to the notice of the university.

As the ISP failed to respond to its communiqué in this regard, the journal also published a note of concern warning international scientific community in this regard. The development has greater ramification for the university as it has lowered the reputation of Cusat among the international scientific community. The researchers from the university will find it difficult to publish their papers in peer-reviewed international science journals. The syndicate unanimously expressed concern over the development as it will hamper Cusat’s goal to become an internationally-reputed university.