Tim Hunt

At a lunch for science journalists in Seoul, Nobel laureate Tim Hunt said, in substance, that the trouble with “girls” in laboratories was that you fall in love with them, they fall in love with you and they cry when criticised, before mentioning separate laboratories. The remarks were quickly denounced as sexist.

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Attribution

Personally implicated

UCL announced that Hunt had resigned from his position as honorary professor following the controversy. The university emphasised its commitment to gender equality and considered his remarks incompatible with its values.

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Following the same controversy, Hunt left the European Research Council's Scientific Council, on which he had served since 2011.

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Following the initial condemnations, several scientists and public figures defended Hunt or called for his reinstatement, arguing that social media had amplified the incident and that the humorous context or pro-equality continuation of his speech had received insufficient attention. Jonathan Dimbleby notably resigned his honorary fellowship at UCL in protest.

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Attribution

Institutional responsibility

After several weeks of controversy and calls to reverse the decision, UCL's council reviewed the case and unanimously supported the executive's decision to accept Hunt's resignation. UCL indicated that reversing the decision would be inappropriate.

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