US Office of Research Integrity officially announces 15-year ban on federal funding for chemist Ariel Fernandez, former Rice University professor

The US Office of Research Integrity has officially announced a 15-year ban on federal funding for the chemist Ariel Fernandez, a former professor at Rice University. The investigation, begun in 2009 on a tip from his own graduate student, lasted 17 years.

Fernandez stands accused of fabricating data in 12 published and four unpublished papers, in one presentation and in three grant applications: he faked the synthesis of six "new" chemical compounds, and copied and pasted images. As far back as 2011, Rice University paid him 240 thousand dollars to depart quietly. But the Office pressed on with the investigation on its own.

He himself maintains that at Rice he did only theoretical work, and that the case against him was revived because of his 2021 paper in support of the laboratory origin of SARS-CoV-2.

Quite the plot.