Allegations against a dinosaur scientist who has suspended his jobs at the Science and Technology Foundation – Portugal

The university has made it clear that Octavio Mateus will not stop, while the internal investigation set this week by Nova Corrector is still ongoing, following the letter of denunciation made by a group of researchers and after Saturday After contacting the university, specifically on the subject of the alleged sexual harassment.

The task is attached to the Foundation for Science and Technology and the Portuguese Paleontological Society
The Foundation for Science and Technology, a public institution of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education, also announced on its website that “Professor Octavio Mateus, of the Faculty of Science and Technology of the Universidad Nova de Lisbon, requested on April 28, 2023, the temporary suspension of the mandate of the Scientific Council of Natural Sciences and the Environment, has been accepted The request on that date by the FCT Board of Directors with immediate effect.” The professor was appointed this month to the position he is now holding.

For its part, the Portuguese Society of Paleontology reported in a statement that its president, Octavio Mateus, “requested the suspension of his position, pending a full clarification of the events, so that the position would be temporarily assumed by the Vice-President, Miguel Moreno-Azanza.” It also adds that it “disavows any acts of moral or sexual harassment committed by any member associated with it” and clarifies that “to date, the association has not received any accusations or convictions, official or unofficial, for cases of this kind.”

denunciation letter
a Saturday It reported on Friday that FCT students and researchers at Universidade Nova de Lisboa accuse Octavio Mateus of repeated acts of sexual harassment over at least the past decade.

Octávio Mateus is Professor in the FCT Department of Geosciences at Universidad Nova de Lisboa and is also Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Lourinhã Museum General Assembly.

The letter of denunciation was sent to the Rector of the Nova de Lisbon University and to the Rector of the Nova College of Science and Technology. It’s April 21st and it starts like this:

“We are a group of postdoctoral students from the Department of Geosciences (DCT) at FCT NOVA. This letter has been written with the intent of exposing and condemning a situation that has been, and continues to be, massively damaging, both to the personal lives and to the lives of many students and colleagues due to abusive and brutal behaviour. to a professor at the Universidade NOVA de Lisboa.

And he continues: “This speech is not intended as a personal attack, but rather aims to stop the terrible harm that this person is causing and will continue to cause, on a scientific and personal level, in the future, if the necessary measures are not taken.”

The participants identify themselves, but ask to remain anonymous and explain the reason: “Fear of retaliation from the person we are exposing. This person is Dr. Octavio Mateus, Professor of DCT at Universidad Nova de Lisbon.”

They point out that the exposed teacher “occupies a position of power and can get in the way” of their career.

They ensure the exclusion of Octavio Mateus from the international paleontological community, after cases of sexual harassment were revealed on social networks, and they ensure that the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH) in New York breaks ties with him. a Saturday I contacted AMNH, who did not respond, given that Octávio Mateus’ name still appears on AMNH’s page as a co-researcher.

Your behavior goes unpunished.
In the condemnation letter, the subscribers state that “Despite all this, no action has been taken by the DCT and its behavior remains unpunished, while it continues to reach young students every year with its master’s degree in paleontology. These girls, they are not.” .safe,” she guarantees. “We are writing now to finally report on a story of abuse that spanned many years.”

“Sexual Harassment” and “Offensive Scientific Behavior”
Here is a list of situations that participants fit into in different forms of harassment: “1. Verbal harassment: making sexual comments”, “2. Physical harassment: unwanted touching”, “3. sexual harassment: any unwanted sexual advances”, “4. Discriminatory harassment: (..) for example, derogatory comments about someone’s disability” and finally, “5. Predatory scientific behavior: Stealing copyrights from your students, forcing your name first on their work.”

The eight accusations attached to the letter describe situations such as: “grabbing female students’ necks from behind,” “touching the bottom,” “female students sitting on your lap,” “inviting a female colleague to a hotel room,” “touching a female student’s public area” offering academic services and trips in exchange for silence about her behaviour.”

They guarantee that even “they took the matter directly with him (Octavio Mateus) on several occasions, but his behavior did not improve, although he had already received internal warnings.”

They claim that “appropriate measures should be taken to investigate this matter and ensure that Professor Octavio Mateus responds to his actions” and describe the effects on the victims: “In our case, it created an emotionally and mentally unbearable hostile work environment. This affects the lives of the victims. The ability of each victim to do his or her job effectively and leads (…) even to mental health problems, such as anxiety and depression, as well as suicidal thoughts.

They end with the petition: “We implore you to take swift and decisive action against this unacceptable situation to ensure a safe and respectful environment for all members of the Nova community.”

He entered my room in his underwear.
This is followed by eight first-person testimonials.

“I have never seen Dr. Matthews speak normally to a woman. He only addresses her in such a way that he is trying to seduce her.” In this statement, the complainant explains: “There have been countless unwanted touches over the years, such as running her hands through my hair when I turn my back, or rubbing my back (…).with me”. He continues, “He entered my room in his underwear, while I was asleep, one morning when we were about to set off on a field trip. Enraged, I ordered him out of my room” (…) Later, he tried to approach him directly about this matter in private, and scolded him severely For his actions, but his most dangerous thing is that Dr. Mateus always considers himself innocent. Make no mistake.”

“The team follows the agenda of Professor Mateus”

“I was once a student of Professor Matthaus, and I have been mainly working under him since then (7 years). What I didn’t know at the time was that he already had several master’s and doctoral students under his supervision, a number that has been growing and fluctuating ever since. , reaching almost 15 students in some periods.This is just nonsense in academic circles,as the supervisor should allocate quality time for his student to help him grow in this competitive environment.especially when he is in other European countries that have regulations in this field It’s extremely rare to have an associate professor with more than four or five students at the same time.”

“However, this has been the strategy of Professor Mateus for a long time that I know him: to bring students together, without checking their skills and needs, to carry out works and studies that he considers important for his own interest (…) the needs of the team. In short, the team follows the agenda of Professor Mateus” .

“Every time a new student arrived… it was hunting season.”

In the same statement, the complainant said, “From the beginning, I’ve always had the feeling that every time a freshman arrived on the team, whether as a volunteer or as a freshman, it was ‘hunting season.'”

The same complainant recalls another recent episode: “This year, we are organizing an annual meeting. (…) For some of our speakers, and also for some of our sponsors (to respect their code of conduct), we had to confirm it, although we could not prevent Prof. Mateus from being in Lorraine for the meeting (…) he will not be invited. When Professor Mateus found out about this, he reacted unprofessionally and childishly and threatened not to let us travel, thus compromising the meeting and our careers.

The European Association for Vertebrate Paleontology was alerted a year ago
The European Association for Vertebrate Paleontology (EAVP) tells us Saturday That “Dr. Mateus is not a member of the EAVP, otherwise he would be subject to expulsion (..), measures.

“Dr. Matthaus did not attempt to come or attend but his name appeared in many of the students’ works which put us in a dilemma. We thought of rejecting these works but in the end we felt it would be very unfair to the students, i.e. who would suffer the effect of their actions.”

a Saturday He tried to hear from Octavio Mateus about the new accusations, but the scientist did not respond. This week, he sent a written response pleading his innocence.

“I strongly deny any accusation of sexual harassment! The matter is very serious, it calls into question the good name of the target and after advertising, no matter how untruthful the name will always be sullied, so I will act accordingly, when I have knowledge of any post that threatens my good name, personal and professional considerations “.

He concluded, “As a teacher, I was guided by ethics, transparency, diligence, cooperation, and above all respect for students.”