A U student allegedly falsified the images on his final research project to receive a Ph.D in chemical engineering.
Rajasekhar Anumolu was working on his dissertation when he published photos of his research. Online readers of the publication noticed something a bit off in his work and decided to report the findings. With further investigation into the incident, they found he manipulated the images of nanorods, small oval structures, for his project.
Jeffrey Botkin, associate vice president for research integrity at the U, said the student “had denied all of these accusations throughout the investigation.”
Because of the faked research, he has been denied graduation from the U and will not be welcomed as a student in the future.
“We cannot control if [Anumolu] applies to other universities for his Ph.D,” Botkin said.
According to an article by the Associated Press, Anumolu’s past research papers for the university, published in June 2011 and June 2013, were retracted.
Botkin said the university hopes this prevents other students from plagiarizing, although cases such as this are rare.
“We are doubling our own efforts to inform people and how to respond to it if it’s happening in your own field,” he said.
Botkin said the most common form of plagiarism is to manipulate images to falsify work that was never actually completed; people can use programs such as Photoshop to make it look realistic.
Bryan Barton, a sophomore in chemical engineering, said Anumolu might have been “trying to get ahead,” but feels he went about it the wrong way.
“I think it’s unfortunate and dishonest,” Barton said.
The U has a zero tolerance policy for plagiarism.
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