(Washington, DC) – House Committee on Science and Technology Subcommittee on Investigations and Oversight Chairman Brad Miller (D-NC) issued the following statement on Purdue University’s issuance of a report which determined that research misconduct had occurred in bubble fusion research conducted at the University in 2004.
"I am pleased that the university has finally reached a conclusion and that they took scientific integrity concerns seriously," said Miller.
Purdue concluded that Dr. Taleyarkhan had committed research misconduct. Dr. Taleyarkhan, a nuclear engineering professor, was attempting to demonstrate that the use of sound waves to compress bubbles resulted in fusion.
Dr. Taleyarkhan was found to have claimed independent replication of his work when he was extensively involved in the alleged replication. He was also found to have added a graduate student as a co-author to a paper, knowing that the student had not substantively contributed to the paper. The existence of bubble fusion has been very controversial because to date no one has been able to replicate Dr. Taleyarkhan’s claims.
For more information, please visit the Committee’s website.
###
110.295
