Lorenza Colzato

Lorenza S. Colzato (born 20 September 1974) is an Italian cognitive psychologist who is best known for the attention she received in the mainstream media in the Netherlands for multiple incidents of scientific misconduct.^[1][2] Her research "aims to understand the neural and neuromodular underpinnings of cognitive control in humans."^[3]

Life

Colzato was born in Bolzano, Italy.^[4] She studied at the University of Padova (Italy), where she received a Master's degree in Clinical Psychology and Cognitive Psychology in 1999. She then moved to Leiden University (Netherlands) where she obtained her PhD degree in Social and Behavioural Sciences in 2005.^[5] In 2006, she was appointed as assistant professor at the Cognitive Psychology Unit of Leiden University. Subsequently, in 2017, she left Leiden due to allegations of scientific and criminal misconduct.^[6] In 2017, she became a Professor by Special Appointment (Außerplanmäßiger Professor) at the Ruhr University Bochum (North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany),^[7] a position that was officially revoked from her by the university in May 2021 due to the scientific misconduct.^[8] Since 2019, she furthermore works as researcher at the Carl Gustav Carus University Hospital, affiliated with the Technical University Dresden (Saxony, Germany).^[9] She is also a psychotherapist.^[4]

In 2008, she was awarded a VENI scholarship from the Dutch Research Council (NWO). From March 2010 until present, she is the editor-in-chief of the Journal of Cognitive Enhancement.^[10]

Research

Colzato's research is focused on how thinking and creativity are shaped. Her research often touches on popular topics and the resulting papers are discussed in popular media: examples include studies on exercise and creativity,^[11] the effect of odors on trust,^[12] and the effect of meditation on creative thinking.^[13]

Scientific misconduct

Since 2019, Colzato's work at Leiden University was being investigated for various alleged breaches of academic integrity, including data manipulation, misattribution of authorship, and collection of blood samples without permission from the Medical Ethical board.^[14][15] The latter would turn out to be a criminal offense.^[16][17] Colzato resigned from her position at Leiden University, and requested a second opinion from the university's academic integrity committee.^[18] She pointed out that one of the accusers, a PhD candidate at that time, was the person who actually performed the study (which the medical ethics review board declined to approve), took the blood samples and was the lead and corresponding (hence, responsible) author of one of the two articles in question. She further argued that Leiden University violated various rules and regulations throughout the investigation.^[19][20] However, both the University Scientific Integrity Committee (CWI) and the Netherlands Board on Research Integrity (LOWI) concluded that, whatever the wrong-doings of her accuser may have been, such would not be sufficient to exculpate Colzato (being the supervisor or principal investigator) for the confirmed integrity violations, including performing an unapproved medical study. On 21 September 2020, the Dutch newspaper NRC Handelsblad reported that Leiden University had, in August, made Colzato's provisional dismissal a definitive one.^[21]

In 2019, Leiden University recommended the retraction of two of her papers,^[22] of which the first was indeed retracted in 2021 and the second received an expression of concern in 2020 from the respective journals.^[23][24] As a result of further investigations, Leiden University concluded in 2021 that Colzato also committed fraud in at least fifteen other scientific publications.^[25][2][26] In a supplementary decision on 17 May 2022, the executive board of Leiden University has concluded that it will publish the titles of seven articles in which there is evidence of malpractice.^[27]

See also

• Leiden Institute for Brain and Cognition

References

1. 'Italiaanse docent van Universiteit Leiden overschreed vele normen' – website of the Dutch national broadcasting organisation NOS
2. Italiaanse docent Universiteit Leiden fraudeerde met vijftien onderzoeken – website of the Dutch national broadcasting organisation NOS
3. Colzato official site: Research interests Page accessed 7 May 2015
4. Colzato CV Page accessed 7 May 2015
5. Doctoral Thesis Colzato, L.S. (2005): Commonalities of feature integration processing in and across perception and action planning – website of the Leiden University Library
6. Voormalig docent Universiteit Leiden riskeert celstraf na bloedafname zonder toestemming – website of the current affairs programme EenVandaag of the first national Dutch television station NPO 1
7. Lorenza Colzato Professor by Special Appointment in Germany – website of Leiden University
8. News: APL-Professur Colzato – website of the Faculty of Psychology of the Ruhr University Bochum
9. Unsere mitarbeiter: Lorenza Colzato, Dr. rer. nat. – website of the University Hospital Carl Gustav Carus Dresden of TU Dresden
10. Editors – website of Journal of Cognitive Enhancement
11. Sarah Knapton for The Daily Telegraph. 3 December 2013 Lacking inspiration? Exercise found to boost creativity
12. Mandy Oaklander for Time. 14 January 2015 You Can Make People Trust You With This Scent, Study Says
13. Jayalakshmi K for the International Business Times. 29 October 2014 Meditation Shown to Improve Creative Thinking Even Without Prior Practice
14. "Breach of academic integrity by former employee of Leiden University". Leiden University News. Retrieved 18 December 2019.
15. Braun, Bart. "How a Leiden psychologist committed fraud". Mare. Retrieved 18 December 2019.
16. Psycholoog schond vele normen (Psychologist violated many norms) published 6 December 2019, Dutch language in NRC Handelsblad by Sander Voormolen, retrieved 7 December 2019
17. Leidse klokkenluiders: Je leert heel snel om je mond te houden (Whistle blowers from Leiden: You quickly learn to shut your mouth) published 16 December 2019, Dutch language
18. "Beschuldigde psycholoog: 'Ik voerde geen schrikbewind'". Mare. Retrieved 18 December 2019.
19. Marcus, Author Adam (5 December 2019). "Psychology researcher committed misconduct, says university". Retraction Watch. Retrieved 20 February 2020. {{cite web}}: |first= has generic name (help)
20. "Beschuldigde psycholoog: 'Ik voerde geen schrikbewind'". Mare Online (in Dutch). Retrieved 20 February 2020.
21. "Leidse psycholoog schond inderdaad gedragsregels". NRC Handelsblad (in Dutch). Retrieved 22 September 2020.
22. https://retractionwatch.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/advies-cwi-2019-01-geanonimiseerd.pdf^{[bare URL PDF]}
23. Colzato, Lorenza S.; Steenbergen, Laura; Sellaro, Roberta (19 January 2021). "Retraction Note to: The effect of gamma-enhancing binaural beats on the control of feature bindings". Experimental Brain Research. 239 (2): 363. doi:10.1007/s00221-020-06018-z. PMC 8025283. PMID 33469706.
24. Frontiers Editorial Office, Lausanne, Switzerland (2017). "Commentary: Overweight and Cognitive Performance: High Body Mass Index Is Associated with Impairment in Reactive Control during Task Switching". Frontiers in Nutrition. 6: 198. doi:10.3389/fnut.2019.00198. PMC 7025479. PMID 32118023.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
25. Psycholoog fraudeerde in 15 artikelen: hoe proefpersonen telkens weer verdwenen – website of the Leiden University magazine Mare
26. Universitair docent Leiden fraudeerde met vijftien onderzoeken – website of the Dutch regional broadcast organisation Omroep West
27. "Leiden University publishes the titles of seven tainted scientific articles".

https://nos.nl/artikel/2313664-italiaanse-docent-van-universiteit-leiden-overschreed-vele-normen

External links

• Psycholoog schond vele normen/ Psychologist violated many standards 6 December 2019 in NRC Handelsblad in Dutch language
• De angstcultuur in Leiden is niet uniek voor Leiden / The culture of fear in Leiden is not unique for Leiden 22 December 2019 by Sander Voormolen and Patricia Veldhuis in NRC Handelsblad in Dutch language