This startling revelation came out when the university started probing a complaint by a Yemeni postgraduate student that the supervisors had “stolen” his work.
An UM spokesman told FMT that an investigation team found out that the research paper in dispute “was prepared collaboratively with input and recommendations by the student’s supervisors and a foreign collaborator” with the intention to secure a research grant to support the student’s PhD studies.
“By no means was the disputed paper the student’s PhD proposal alone, as alleged.
“Findings of the investigation panel also revealed that the student’s PhD proposal, which was submitted during the early candidature of his programme, was of a different topic.
“Unknown to the student’s supervisors, the foreign collaborator had submitted the disputed paper to an international conference. The paper did not carry the student’s name.
“Upon learning about the published conference paper, the student expressed his dissatisfaction and consequently various efforts were immediately made by his supervisors to rectify the omission.
“Failing to get that done, the supervisors also attempted to retract the paper.”
As such, the probe team concluded that the student’s allegation that his PhD research proposal was “stolen” by his supervisors was lacking in merit.
The spokesman asserted that the university had examined all the evidence, chain of events and correspondence before reaching the conclusion.
“UM views academic integrity as fundamental to learning and scholarship. Any allegation pertaining to academic integrity is given utmost priority and dealt with in accordance with the university’s internal policies and processes,” the spokesman said.
Previously, Abdulaziz M Ghaleb, 40, from Yemen, had told FMT that his paper was published last year under the names of the supervisors, but he attributed the alleged theft to only one of them.
Abdulaziz provided FMT with what looked like a thread of email communications between him and the supervisors pertaining to his PhD dissertation.
He said he contacted the supervisor for an explanation but did not receive a satisfactory response. He then complained to the university’s management, but it had yet to act on it, he added.
Abdulaziz said he was a research assistant with Mimos Berhad when he got “superficially” acquainted with one of the supervisors.
“Later, I left for Qatar to work there,” he said.
“In 2015, by which time he had joined the university as a lecturer, he advised me to register for a PhD and work under his supervision.
“Having worked with me in Mimos, he was aware of my background and research capabilities.”
He said he took the advice and commenced his research. Although he officially had two supervisors, the alleged culprit told him to ignore the co-supervisor and to consult only him, he said.
Abdulaziz, who is now working in Qatar, had last week alleged that UM was trying to “cover it up”, claiming they did not carry out a thorough investigation.