Science - USA (2021-11-05)

SCIENCE science.org 5 NOVEMBER 2021 • VOL 374 ISSUE 6568 671

PHOTO: SVEN DÖRING/LAIF/REDUX

A

rchaeologist Nicole Boivin has been

removed from her position as a di-

rector at the Max Planck Institute

for the Science of Human History

(MPI-SHH) in Jena, Germany, after

an internal investigation found evi-

dence of workplace misconduct and bully-

ing, sources inside the institute say.

According to a Max Planck Society (MPG)

spokesperson, on 23 October, President

Martin Stratmann notified Boivin she was

no longer director of archaeological research

at MPI-SHH, a premier institute in the study

of the human past. Last week, in an all-staff

meeting in the institute’s airy, glass-walled

library, MPG Vice President of Human Sci-

ences Ulman Lindenberger spoke to about

100 employees, group leaders, and postdocs

to announce the decision and answer ques-

tions about what would happen next, accord-

ing to people who were present.

Lindenberger could not say whether

MPI-SHH would continue its investiga-

tions into the human past or shift focus

entirely. “That is the subject of delibera-

tions in the governing bodies of the Max

Planck Society,” spokesperson Christina

Beck wrote in an email to Science. The as-

sembled staff were told permanent staffers

would keep their contracts and those on

temporary contracts would be allowed to

finish them out.

Several current and former employees con-

tacted by Science voiced support for Boivin,

but multiple former staffers endorsed the in-

vestigation’s findings and her demotion.

Boivin remains a member of MPG and will

now run a small research group at the insti-

tute, separate from the archaeology depart-

ment, according to an email sent to staffers

on 30 October by the institute’s acting head,

chemical ecologist Jonathan Gershenzon.

Launched in 2014, MPI-SHH was sup-

posed to marry archaeogenetics, archaeology,

and linguistics to explore the recent human

past. Boivin came on in 2016 as founding

director of archaeology, managing a budget

in the millions of euros that is one of the

field’s largest. The department focused on

applying multidisciplinary approaches to

sometimes overlooked landscapes, exploring

how human migration, farming, and cultural

practices have altered ecosystems in Africa

and Asia. Recent work includes the earliest

evidence for milk consumption in Africa and

human impacts on ancient tropical forests.

But in 2020, the archaeogenetics and lin-

guistics departments decamped for the Max

Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropo-

log y in nearby L eipzig , in what was rumored

to be an acrimonious split between Boivin

and the two other MPI-SHH directors,

Johannes Krause and Russell Gray. That left

Boivin as sole director at MPI-SHH.

Her removal last week followed a commis-

sion’s lengthy investigation, conducted by

Ulrich Sieber, a lawyer and director emeritus

of the Max Planck Institute for the Study of

Crime, Security and Law, and Silja Vöneky, a

law professor at the University of Freiburg,

into allegations of bullying and other “viola-

tions of good scientific practice,” Beck says.

Former staffers told Science the complaints

included taking credit for others’ ideas.

Investigators interviewed more than

50 current and former staffers and scruti-

nized hundreds of email chains, according

to people involved. Sieber recommended in

January that Boivin be removed from her

position, Beck says.

Several researchers say the probe got it

right. “The commission was thorough and

has documented a really systematic culture

of mistreatment,” says University of Colorado,

Boulder, archaeozoologist William Taylor,

who worked in Boivin’s department between

2017 and 2019. “The findings accurately re-

flect a pretty severely dysfunctional environ-

ment that was exploiting junior scientists.”

In a statement emailed to Science last

week, Boivin pointed to positive evaluations

of the institute by two recent external review

boards. “Over the past 5 years I have built up

an internationally renowned Department of

Archaeology,” she wrote.

In an email to staff on 24 October, Boivin

called her demotion “abrupt and shocking.”

But last weekend she agreed to the change,

sources at the institute say.

At least three other MPG directors have

faced accusations of bullying since 2018. One

resigned her directorship, one was removed,

and one remains a director.

The society has also contended with accu-

sations of institutional misogyny. Fewer than

one-quarter of its directors are women.

Many staffers remained in the dark about

the investigation until a few months ago,

when Boivin mentioned it in a Zoom call.

“For me this came out of the blue,” says

a researcher who has worked in Boivin’s

department since 2017 and asked to stay

anonymous to protect his relationships in

the institute. “I haven’t experienced any

bullying or harassment ... I still don’t know

exactly what the accusations are, and con-

sidering they were so serious they should

have been made more public.”

What comes next for MPI-SHH remains

unclear. It may wind down after some staff

serve out 2-year contracts, or one or more

new directors may be chosen.

Senior researchers have been meeting

with representatives from MPG to make sure

the turmoil “does not adversely affect the stu-

dents and postdocs,” says Robert Spengler, an

ethnobotanist at the institute. “In the short

term we will continue conducting top-notch

research—as we always have.” j

With reporting by Ann Gibbons and Gretchen Vogel.

Archaeologist Nicole Boivin no longer directs

research at a Max Planck institute.

Nicole Boivin remains on research staff, but major

archaeological institute is left with interim director

ARCHAEOLOGY

By Andrew Curry

Max Planck director loses post

after probe of misconduct