Researchers talk about life in a struggling old DNA lab

Absolutely, Nature interviewed nine former colleagues of Cooper at ACAD. Four – including one current member of his team – say that he intimidated them; four others, two of whom are still working at the center, say they have seen members of the team intimidated. Most of these people have asked for anonymity for fear of harming their academic career. Three of those who allege that Cooper intimidated them testified to the investigation, as did two of those who claim to have observed him.

Another former colleague, Paul Brotherton, said Nature that although Cooper is impetuous, he is not a tyrant. Cooper might be dismissive of someone and his work if it did not result in a high profile publication, he said. "Maybe he is not very good at covering up his impatience and lack of interest."

Some of the people Nature spoke to say that they had complained already but that things were not changing. Others say that they have not officially complained lest Cooper uncover it and that bullying will only get worse.

Rawlence says "cautiously optimistic" that the university's decision to suspend one of its most prominent scientists is a sign that the institute is serious about the charges against Cooper. But others are skeptical about the university's willingness to take further action or improve the situation, citing the funds provided by Cooper and the fact that the complaints earlier appear to have had little effect. In 2016, Cooper was the Australian scientist of the year. He has also received several highly competitive grants from the Australian Research Council, worth at least A $ 5 million (US $ 3.4 million), since the establishment of ACAD in 2005.

According to several researchers, the university should definitely send Cooper back to head of ACAD, which has about 36 employees and students, according to its website. "He's just going to rip lives as long as he's in that role," said a former student.

At the time of publication, Cooper had not responded to NatureRequest for comment on the charges against him.

Cooper is a pioneer of ancient DNA research and his work to improve mining techniques in the mid-1990s has transformed the field. In 2001, he sequenced the first complete mitochondrial genome in an extinct animal, two species of New Zealand moa (Emeus Crassus and Dinornis giganteus)¹. He also characterized dental plaque on old teeth to understand the changes in the diet of early human beings in Europe.². For the past five years, he has led a project to sequence the genomes of Australian Indigenous groups, which received the prestigious Australian Museum Eureka Award in 2017 and the South Australian Science Excellence Award in 2018.

Cooper's suspension came after the university hired an outside firm, SAE Consulting in Adelaide, to conduct an ACAD "culture test" in July. Cooper was not named as the subject of the investigation, and the university did not specify what prompted it, but on Monday, students and ACAD staff were informed of the suspension of Cooper. "Following the information provided, the University decided to take further action," said a spokesman for the university. Nature. Cooper will remain suspended pending "the result of the subsequent processes," the statement said.

Nightmare laboratory

Rawlence, a Ph.D. student and postdoctoral fellow at ACAD from 2006 to 2013, is one of the witnesses to the survey. He said Cooper would be shouting alone or in front of colleagues at lab meetings and criticizing his work. "It was pretty much every day," says Rawlence, who now runs a laboratory at Otago University in Dunedin, New Zealand.

Rawlence says that he has developed stomach pains, weight loss and tics to the face due to the stress that he has experienced within the ACAD. Two of the people who Nature spoke about having confirmed Rawlence's account.

Male, who was principal investigator at ACAD from 2006 to 2007 and did not bring any evidence to the survey, says her experience working in a world-class lab was marred by Cooper's intimidation. "It was a fantastic science, a breathtaking and cutting-edge piece of technology," he said. But he says he decided to leave because Cooper had intimidated him, including screaming, swearing and intimidating.

Cooper often targeted the most vulnerable people in the laboratory, according to Male, who still works in research but has left the academic world. "He was selective about who he would choose, they would not bite too much," he says.

Male remembers hearing Cooper shouting behind his closed office door and shouting at him several times while sitting in front of his desk. "He walked a little, warmed himself, then the door closed and he was behind you. It was really intimidating, then screaming and screaming started, "he says.

Cooper's criticisms of student work were unhelpful and insulting, according to a former CDAA student who witnessed other students bullying Cooper. "It borders on the cruel because it is so implacable and everyone is not subject to it," they say.

The current student who accuses Cooper of harassing them and who testified to the investigation stated Nature in an email, they were so often ashamed at meetings that they were surprised that they came out unscathed. "I was often paralyzed by anxiety and feelings of inadequacy."

Some students say that Cooper took an unusually long time to read their papers and theses – sometimes months – and took time to sign documents that allowed students to graduate.

Rawlence says that he had to file an official complaint with Richard Russell, then Dean of Graduate Studies, so that Cooper would read his doctoral dissertation in order to be able to complete his studies. Rawlence says Cooper is then consistent.

Rawlence recalls that experienced lab members told him that they had confronted Cooper and that his behavior had improved for a few weeks. The university has also sent Cooper to at least one supervision course, according to Rawlence. But the effects were short-lived, he says. "The results lasted only one to two weeks, then Alan would become Alan again." The university refused to answer. NatureQuestions about it.

Rawlence and one of the former students who reported being bullied said that they had talked about Cooper to their graduate coordinator, and that the university was aware of his behavior. They also stated that they complained to the university management. Cooper stayed at his post and the university did not tell them if any steps had been taken to handle the grievances, they say. Rawlence and other former students also stated that they had reported their grievances through confidential exit inquiries at the end of their studies.

Another former ACAD alumnus, who stated that he was intimidated by Cooper and saw him intimidating others, left without completing his studies because of of Cooper's behavior and inadequate supervision, they said. "I saw other students finishing their doctorate in nerve wrecks because of the way he was treating them and the way the laboratory atmosphere had affected them." I thought, "I do not have to do it myself." So I left. "

But Brotherton, who worked as a postdoctoral fellow at Cooper at Oxford University in the UK, and then at ACAD for three years until December 2011, does not think Cooper is a bully. In his view, many of the alleged incidents involve personality differences. "[Alan] He will not win the empathic leader of the year, but he is not a wild tyrant, "he says. Brotherton, who no longer works in academia, admits that Cooper may be "pretty aggressive and in front of you," but describes Cooper's behavior, such as being less interested in some people and their projects, as being a "sin of commission omission." Brotherton says that he offered to report to the probe of his work at ACAD, but that the university had told him that they were not going to work. did not need it because it was too old.

Airing grievances

Most people who Nature Respondents say they were relieved when the university launched the culture test. But some also wondered if the scope of the investigation was too narrow. Rawlence and several other former students said that initially, only the current students at the center had been invited to participate.

Rawlence ended up only because colleagues at the center alerted former students about the issue, which prompted him and others, he said, to contact the survey consultant. , Sophie Rayner, who represents SAE Consulting. But since the university did not initially contact former students, some worried that the probe would have forgotten accounts of former lab members who were not aware of the investigations.

Others complain of not being able to give anonymous accounts to the investigation. A former student who witnessed Cooper's intimidation and who heard about the investigation from a current CAMA member said he had decided not to give his account after Rayner told them that the university did not want anonymous accounts. Another former student, who also witnessed Cooper's intimidation, withdrew his verbal report to Rayner, fearing that their identity would be revealed to Cooper at some point.

SAE Consulting Director Sallie Emmett said the firm did not comment on client issues.

The university refused to comment on the investigation and its previous handling of complaints against Cooper. "The University will not make any other comments while other processes are going on," said a spokesperson in a statement.

Male said that the University of Adelaide should publicly reprimand Cooper and "recognize the weaknesses on their part by allowing them to continue for so long".

Several former students are convinced that Cooper should resign from his position as Director of ACAD. "Alan has to leave," says a former student. "It's an ethical imperative."