Independent inquiry exonerates Professor Machteld Marcelis

Professor Machteld Marcelis can continue her work at Maastricht University, the university's Executive Board has determined. An independent inquiry commissioned by the board and conducted by the agency BING found no evidence of an unsafe social environment within the Psychiatry section of the UM Department of Psychiatry & Neuropsychology, where Professor Marcelis works. Complaints about working relationships with the professor chiefly related to diverging expectations that cannot be attributed to the behaviour of only one of the parties involved, the inquiry found. BING investigated the complaints and interviewed the professor's PhD students and other members of the department, as well as Professor Marcelis herself. The UM Executive Board commissioned the inquiry last summer after receiving complaints about Professor Marcelis. The investigation found no evidence of a lack of social safety attributable to Professor Marcelis, either at present or in the past, and found no indication that there was a lack of social safety within the Psychiatry section in the department to which the professor belongs. The researchers confirm the general notion that PhD students find themselves in an 'inherent position of dependency', but note that Maastricht University has adequate 'infrastructure' in place to prevent any abuse of this position.