pair of Indonesian “researchers” participating in a leading international medical symposium in Denmark have come under intense scrutiny after allegedly using fabricated studies to secure travel grants and present at the event, fueling concerns over academic integrity and the credibility of Indonesian researchers on the global stage.
The controversy emerged following the International Society of Pneumonia and Pneumococcal Diseases (ISPPD) symposium, held in Copenhagen from May 17 to 21, after fellow Indonesian attendee Wa Ode Dwi Daningrat, a doctoral student at the University of Oxford, in the United Kingdom, uncovered irregularities in presentations delivered by another Indonesian delegate, identified only as P.
The symposium, considered one of the world’s premier forums on pneumonia and pneumococcal diseases, brought together more than 1,300 researchers, clinicians and public health experts from 86 countries.
In an Instagram post jointly shared with Ida Bagus Mandhara Brasika, a doctoral student at the University of Exeter, also in the UK, Dwi alleged that the presenter had used multiple “false identities” and repeatedly changed outfits and conference name tags while delivering different presentations.
Dwi did not immediately respond to The Jakarta Post’s request for comment, but Mandhara explained that their suspicions were initially raised because Indonesia’s pneumonia research community is relatively small and the names were unfamiliar.
“[Dwi] realized that she had never heard of P before, meanwhile the number of Indonesians working in pneumonia research is very limited,” Mandhara told the Post on Thursday.
Every Monday, Wednesday and Friday morning.
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