Ombuds matters
Advising on good research practice and the prevention of research misconduct
Content
Ombuds Office advising services
Confidential advising
The Ombuds Office is the first point of contact for all questions about good research practice. Your concerns will be handled in strict confidence. At your request, we will advise you without informing or involving an ombudsperson.
Universität Hamburg employees can arrange an advising appointment by email to ombudsstelle"AT"uni-hamburg.de or by telephone. Cooperation with the HRA means employees of HRA member universities also have the opportunity to make an appointment with the Ombuds Office. Use the HRA request form to register.
Individual coaching for prevention and de-escalation
If you find yourself in a specific conflict situation but do not want an ombudsperson to mediate, you can undertake coaching.
Experience repeatedly shows that mistakes are made due to uncertainty, ignorance, or a strong perception of pressure, which—in the worst case—can be interpreted as research misconduct. This can be prevented through professional support, which can also take place over a longer period of time if necessary.
Contact
Ombuds Office
Von-Melle-Park 5
Entrance A, Room 3049
20146 Hamburg
Tel: +49 40 42838-3564
ombudsstelle"AT"uni-hamburg.de
Ombuds Committee
Use our contact form for queries to the Ombuds Committee.
Ombuds Committee for the prevention of research misconduct
In order to address research dishonesty early on or, in the best case, to prevent it from occurring in the first place, the Universität Hamburg ombudspersons appoint contact persons who answer questions on good research practice and provide information on possible misconduct. Your queries and information are handled with the strictest confidentiality.
Use our contact form to send your queries to the Ombuds Committee.
Standing Committee of Experts
If a review by the Ombuds Committee following a report reveals sufficient reason to suspect research misconduct, the matter will be forwarded to the Standing Committee of Experts. This committee is responsible for determining whether there has been research misconduct. If so, the committee also reviews the possibilities for sanctions.
Potential forms of research misconduct that must be reported to the Standing Committee of Experts are listed at the end of the Bylaws for Safeguarding Good Scientific Practice (PDF, in German only); the bylaws also make reference to Universität Hamburg’s Code of Academic Freedom.
Proceedings in cases of suspected research misconduct
Confidentiality as the top priority
The top priority of ombuds work is to maintain confidentiality. Everything that you, as a person seeking advice or as a whistleblower, report to a member of the Ombuds Committee will be treated in strictest confidence. In addition, the ombudspersons work independently and are not subject to instructions— they are impartial. If a potential conflict arises in the course of a report, this will be disclosed immediately. It is then guaranteed that another ombudsperson will deal with the matter in question instead.
The neutrality of the ombudspersons also means that they equally and impartially hear and consider the arguments and facts presented by all parties involved.
Description of the usual procedure
The Universität Hamburg Ombuds Committee follows the procedure of the German Research Ombusdman. Initial contact is made via the Ombuds Office. Use our contact form for queries to the Ombuds Committee.
You can use the form to arrange a consultation at the Ombuds Office or with an ombudsperson. If there is specific evidence of possible research misconduct, summarize this as clearly as possible in writing and ideally provide evidence. A preliminary examination of the evidence will then be carried out to determine which further steps are appropriate or necessary. These will be discussed with you. Without your explicit consent, the ombudsperson cannot examine the facts any further.
As the whistleblower, if you have given your consent for the ombudsperson to contact the person(s) to whom your suspicion relates, the individual(s) will be asked for their comments so that the ombudsperson can obtain as clear a picture of the facts as possible. Subsequently, joint discussions with the parties involved can help to clarify and resolve the conflict.