Ombudsperson

Responsibilities

The MHH ombudsperson mediates scientific conflicts and investigates cases of suspected scientific misconduct. Suspected misconduct may be reported either to the local MHH ombudsperson or, e. g. in case of a potential bias, to the deputy ombudsperson or the German research ombudsman. Accordingly, a decision of the MHH ombudsperson can be neither revised nor overruled by the German ombudsperson or vice versa. For appointments with the ombudsperson, please, contact the ombuds office.

The scientific manager at the Ombuds Office offers conflict consulting for PhD students and PostDocs upon request.

The suspicion of scientific misconduct can be conveyed orally or in writing. The ombudsperson will treat all notifications confidentially and, if indicated, initiate a pre-investigation. At the end of the pre-investigation, the ombudsperson reports his results to the MHH president, who, in turn, may instruct the Commission for good scientific practice to commence an official investigation. The ombudsperson will inform the accused and the claimant of the pre-investigation's outcome in a timely manner.

The ombudsperson and the deputy ombudsperson are nominated by the MHH senate for a term of 5 years.

In August 2020, Prof. Werfel was re-nominated by the MHH senate as ombudsperson and Prof. Gebel as his deputy for another office term.

Both, Prof. Werfel and Prof. Gebel are members the Lower Saxony network of ombudspersons, who meet on a regular basis to discuss GSP issues and to exchange their experiences on how to deal with scientific conflicts and scientific misconduct.