BP Buying Scientists to Corner Market

BP is hiring Gulf State scientists with the condition that they stop being scientists.

Steven Bell passes along news that “BP has been offering signing bonuses and lucrative pay to prominent scientists from public universities around the Gulf Coast to aid its defense against spill litigation. A copy of a contract offered to scientists by BP prohibits the scientists from publishing their research, sharing it with other scientists or speaking about the data that they collect for at least the next three years.”

Ian McCullough shares the post, commenting, “or in others words, their contract prevents them from being scientists.”

That about sums it up.

FILED UNDER: Science & Technology,
James Joyner
About James Joyner
James Joyner is Professor and Department Head of Security Studies at Marine Corps University's Command and Staff College. He's a former Army officer and Desert Storm veteran. Views expressed here are his own. Follow James on Twitter @DrJJoyner.

Comments

  1. If the universities want to remain credible, they should make it clear that any faculty who sign such an agreement will not remain as faculty.

  2. Dave Schuler says:

    Is this a change from the contracts they were having consulting scientists sign prior to the spill?