Scientific Integrity and Conciliation Committee - (CISC)

The scientific integrity and conciliation Committee (CISC in french) is responsible for ensuring compliance with the Institut Pasteur's scientific integrity charter.

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Scientific integrity is defined as the set of rules and values that must govern research activity in order to guarantee its honest and scientifically rigorous character.

The scientific integrity and conciliation Committee operates as an independent entity which only reports to the Director General, and strict confidentiality is maintained throughout the procedure following a referral. This confidentiality aims, among other things, to protect the protagonists, both accused persons, who must benefit from the presumption of innocence, as well as whistleblowers, especially when they are in a state of dependence (hierarchical or otherwise).

Scope of actions

The CISC's intervention concerns personnel involved in scientific activities, regardless of their status (employees, OREX, trainees, doctoral students, etc.). Personnel from outside Institut Pasteur can refer to the CISC.

Its field of competence is as follows:

  • Provide advice and recommendations to the Director General on allegations of scientific misconduct.
  • Propose solutions to interpersonal conflicts and try to reconcile the parties involved, in particular with regard to the determination of intellectual contributions in publications and Invention Disclosure. These conflicts may involve personnel from outside Institut Pasteur.
  • Propose adjustments to the Institut Pasteur’s Scientific Integrity Charter.
  • Provide recommendations and broader insights on these topics.

Referent contact

One of the members of the CISC holds the official position of Scientific Integrity Referent (RIS), a position whose definition and missions are specified in the 2020 Research Programming Law (LPR).

Operating procedure

Institut Pasteur (or external) personnel can contact the CISC when they feel they are victims or witnesses of scientific misconduct, by writing to: cisc@pasteur.fr

If the claims appears to fall within the scope of the CISC, applicants will be received by the CISC (by one or more of its members, including the RIS), to which they will verbally explain their grievances. If these appear to warrant administrative intervention, complainants will be invited to submit a detailed written description of the subject matter of their complaint to the CISC. This report, which is necessary to clearly and irreversibly define the reason for the complaint, constitutes the official referral to the CISC. It is the starting point for the investigation procedure by this Committee.

During this process, the documents provided will be analyzed and the CISC will interact with all those involved in the report. Complete confidentiality will be observed throughout these steps. The final step will be the drafting of a report, which will be sent to the Director General, who alone has the authority to decide on the action to be taken on an alert.

In the event that some of the individuals involved in the report belong to an organization other than Institut Pasteur, the scientific integrity committees of their respective employers will be invited to participate in the CISC discussions.

The CISC can also be contacted for general questions related to scientific integrity.

Composition

The CISC is composed as follows

  • An external member, who is the President of the Committee
  • A retired scientist from Institut Pasteur, who is the Scientific Integrity Referent (RIS) 

  • Two scientific managers who have been employees of Institut Pasteur for at least 5 years (or retired)
  • One employee of the Institut Pasteur for at least 5 years, not necessarily belonging to the scientific staff. 



Current composition of the Committee (as of 2022)

  • Alain Fischer, President
  • Alain Israël, Vice President and RIS
  • Benoit Robert
  • Corinne Sarrazin
  • Catherine Werts

Contact*: cisc@pasteur.fr

* this address reaches the 5 members of the CISC.

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