Sharmine Akter Simu AI media incident — Aug 2024

The Jahangirnagar University (JU) syndicate has launched an investigation into an assistant professor from the Department of Environmental Sciences following allegations regarding the integrity of her academic credentials and research output. The university formed a five-member probe committee to examine claims that the professor utilized AI-generated content in a research paper and misrepresented a short-term work experience as postdoctoral research.

What happened

The scrutiny began during a promotion board meeting on August 3, where Dr. Sharmine Akter Simu’s application for promotion to associate professor was reviewed. The board raised concerns that led to the matter being escalated to the university syndicate. During a subsequent syndicate meeting held on August 20, 2024, the university officially declined to approve the promotion and moved to establish an investigative body.

According to syndicate sources, the specific allegations involve a research paper published in the 2024 edition of the Jahangirnagar University Environmental Bulletin. The paper is alleged to have contained approximately 62 percent AI-generated or AI-assisted content. Furthermore, the committee is tasked with investigating claims that the professor falsely presented short-term work experience conducted in Japan as formal postdoctoral experience. The investigative committee is led by Professor Dr. Nazmul Alam of the Department of Botany, with Deputy Registrar Syed Mohammad Ali Reza serving as the member-secretary.