The Observatory for Whistleblowing in Academia, established under the PAOLA project, represents a pioneering effort to promote transparency and ethical practices in academic institutions.
Welcome to the Observatory for Whistleblowing in Academia, where our mission is to foster transparency, integrity, and accountability within academic institutions.
Academia is expected to be a place of learning and growth, but it can also harbor issues like fraud, harassment, and abuse of power. To address these problems and create a safe, inclusive higher education system, promoting whistleblowing awareness is essential. Whistleblowers play a crucial role in exposing corruption and ensuring accountability, but they often face retaliation, especially in academic settings. Raising awareness about whistleblowing involves establishing an independent body to receive and investigate reports of unethical behavior, working with institutions, and providing support to whistleblowers.
At the Observatory, we are committed to addressing misconduct and unethical practices in academia by:
Through these initiatives, PAOLA seeks to create a safe environment where academic whistleblowers do not feel silenced, ignored, or bullied.
Together, we can create a secure and supportive framework for whistleblowers, empowering institutions to uphold the highest standards of ethical conduct.
Through comprehensive research, data analysis, and best practice dissemination, PAOLA seeks to empower whistleblowers and support institutions in fostering a culture of accountability.
PAOLA operates within a robust governance framework designed to ensure both strategic direction and effective execution. The structure includes:
Data Collection and Analysis
As part of its mission, PAOLA gathers data from a variety of sources, including publicly available whistleblowing reports, academic literature, and interviews with whistleblowers and academic staff. Using both quantitative and qualitative methods, PAOLA identifies trends, benchmarks practices, and offers in-depth analysis on whistleblowing within academia, helping to improve institutional transparency and ethical governance.
Dissemination of Best Practices
A key aspect of PAOLA’s work is sharing the findings and tools that institutions need to improve their whistleblowing practices. This includes:
Additionally, PAOLA organizes workshops, seminars, and webinars to educate academic staff on the importance of ethical conduct and whistleblowing, ensuring that institutions are equipped to handle whistleblowing in a transparent and effective manner.
Ethical Considerations
PAOLA is grounded in strict ethical principles, prioritizing confidentiality, transparency, and integrity. All collected data is securely anonymized to protect whistleblowers’ identities, and the project operates with full transparency in all decision-making processes. By adhering to the highest standards of ethical conduct, PAOLA ensures impartiality and avoids any conflicts of interest in its operations.
Through PAOLA, the Observatory for Whistleblowing in Academia strives to enhance the integrity of academic institutions, creating a safer, more accountable environment for students, faculty, and administrators alike.
IFA is a non-profit organization that works in the field of mental health and health literacy since 2017. Aiming to expand access to mental health care in a multiculturally and competent way, IFA has been intervening with either individuals (B2C) and organizations (B2B) with a variety of projects (ex. RUMO). IFA has relevant work with individual academics who seek for mental health services, and organizations within academia who aim to implement different projects related to mental health and behavioral science. Being a NGO, IFA also has been working since its creation with populations in social risk such as a) mobile/migrant individuals, b) psychosocial vulnerabilities and in situations of social crisis or who have experienced a traumatic event (armed conflicts, natural disasters, terrorist attacks, etc.). Since its origin IFA has provided +65 000 hours of services for individuals in +30 countries. Due to its work, the organisation was in the past recognised by its best practices in psychology by the Portuguese Body of Psychologists.
Francisco Valente Gonçalves is a recognized expert in clinical psychology, holding a full member title at the Portuguese Body of Psychologists and an Advanced Specialist title in Clinical Psychology. Francisco earned his Marie Curie PhD from the University of Leicester in the United Kingdom, complemented by a postgraduate degree in Clinical Intervention. In addition to his clinical work, Francisco is an Assistant Professor in Applied Psychology, sharing his knowledge on various psychology-related topics. His work has been widely recognized in the past where he was appointed in the top three social sciences research professionals in Europe by EuroScience in 2020. Currently Francisco is the Principal Investigator of the PAOLA consortium and he acts as a Director at RUMO.
Carolina is a certified clinical psychologist with over a decade of experience. Her expertise encompasses a range of clinical issues including depression, anxiety, trauma, and personal development, acquired through roles in both hospitals and private practice. She has also been involved in a multinational project aimed at preventing self-harm and violence. Since 2019, Carolina has been the Clinical Director at RUMO, leading a team of over 40 professionals. She holds an MSc in Clinical Psychology and is completing a Postgraduate degree in Gestalt Therapy. Carolina is also a tutor at the Portuguese Association of Gestalt.
Contact: carolina@rumo.solutions
More information: www.linkedin.com/in/carolinaborgespsi
MSc Clinical Psychologist
Susana is a Clinical Psychologist with an MSc in Clinical and Health Psychology (University of Lisbon) and holds postgraduate degrees in Criminology and Criminal Investigation, as well as in Psychology in Crisis and Emergency. Susana currently works at RUMO, both as a psychologist and a researcher, and in the victim support department at a university in Portugal. In her practice, Susana provides comprehensive psychological care to individuals who have experienced harassment, discrimination, and other forms of misconduct.
Contact: susana.s.lourenco@rumo.solutions
More information about Susana de Sousa Lourenco.
SciLink is an Amsterdam based non-profit foundation, a follow-up training organization of the FP7 MSCA ITN Eduworks-Network, aiming at training researchers across Europe in transversal skills and researcher professionalization.
SciLink organizes high quality workshops for groups of researchers (both early stage and experienced) active in diverse and interdisciplinary environments and has numerous high quality courses on soft and transferable skills.
As a Europe-wide trainer network specializing in providing logistical support for training activities, we will transfer our experience from the Eduworks Network’s educational design and dissemination to the PAOLA project and consortium. Our primary contributions to the project include supporting dissemination and exploitation activities, leading and contributing to the development of the Observatory website, the communication toolkit of the PAOLA project and event management.
PhD Candidate
Szidónia Rusu is a PhD Candidate in the Sociology Doctoral Program at Babeș-Bolyai University in Cluj-Napoca since 2018. Her research focuses on the phenomenon of digital and social inequalities among youth in Europe. Her field of interest lies at the intersection of social and gender inequalities, digitalization, mental health in academia, well-being, and demographic changes. She is a member of the SciLink team as a junior project manager and also works as a researcher at Hungarian Demographic Research Institute.
Contact: szidonia@scilink.eu
Emese Vita is a sociologist with a PhD from Babeş-Bolyai University. Specializing in family sociology, reproduction, and youth studies, she has six years of research experience in these fields. Since 2021, she has been a dedicated member of the SciLink team, contributing to various research projects and academic collaborations.
The Marie Curie Alumni Association (MCAA) is an international non-profit organisation created in 2014 with the support of the European Commission, with the aim of increasing the impact of the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA). The MCAA brings together current and past MSCA fellows (mostly researchers but also other professionals with different although often science-related career paths), promoting the development of networks, the engagement of members in MCAA activities, and the career development of the MSCA community. With many new members joining the association every day, more than 20.300 current and past MSCA fellows from across the world are members of the MCAA. Its main goal is to increase the impact of the MSCA, by promoting networking opportunities for the alumni, by supporting their career development, and by providing feedback to the European Commission (and other organisations) on the MSCA and other policies.
Clinical research manager
Fernanda Bajanca is the past Chair of the Marie Curie Alumni Association (MCAA) from 2022 to 2024. Together with Gian Maria Greco, the current MCAA Chair, she promoted the implementation of the MCAA Whistleblower Channel, which was launched in 2023. Professionally, she works at a Children’s Hospital, focusing her research on rare diseases with an emphasis on improving patients’ quality of life.
Contact: Fernanda.bajanca@mariecuriealumni.eu
MCAA Vicechair
Joaquin is currently Vicechair of the Marie Curie Alumni Association (MCAA). With a PhD in Fluid Mechanics University of Zaragoza, he has several years of experience in international research projects in different sectors (industry, academia, etc.), mainly dealing with heat management and energy efficiency.
Contact: joaquin.capablo@mariecuriealumni.eu
Project Director
Dr Mariana Rosca is the project director at Transilvania University of Brasov, Romania within the research project “Resilient societies in the wake of persistent crises. A case study of Ukrainian women refugees’ digital work” financed by the Ministry of Research, Innovation and Digitalization, Romania and coordinating scientific researcher within the state subprogram “Strengthening socio-economic and judicial mechanisms for ensuring the well-being and security of citizens” at the Institute of legal, political and sociological research, Moldova State University. Mariana is also a trainer and project manager, lecturer for the master course “IT regulations and human rights” for the Centre for European studies, Yerevan State University, Armenia. With a PhD in “Human Rights: Ethical, Social and Political Challenges”, from the Deusto University, Spain, and a PhD in “Social Philosophy” from History Institute, Moldova, Mariana’s research interest and curiosity focused on integration policies of religious minorities, migrants, diasporas, refugees, as well as ethics, security, digitalization and AI. Mariana was a Board Member of Marie Curie Alumni Association (2022-2024) and is a research fellow of INIS.
Contact: roshcam@yahoo.com
Since 2010, TI Portugal has been committed to promoting transparency, integrity, and fighting corruption. As a watchdog, we work to ensure that Portuguese institutions uphold ethical practices and accountability. Collaborating with Transparency International chapters across Europe and international partners, we’ve launched numerous initiatives aimed at combating corruption and enhancing transparency.
Key projects include Countdown to Impunity (2011), examining EU corruption statutes of limitation; Whistleblowing in Europe (2013), focusing on legal protections; Integrity Pacts (2016-2022), ensuring transparency in public procurement; and CleanAID (2019), supporting NGOs in identifying corruption risks in humanitarian aid. Additionally, CLEANBIZ (2021-2022) strengthens anti-bribery efforts for sustainable development and human rights. Our work spans critical areas such as lobbying, whistleblower protection, and anti-money laundering.
Project & Finance Officer at TI Portugal
BSc in Economics and MSc in Management from Nova School of Business and Economics (Nova SBE). Professional with a diversified path and having performed roles in different fields such as Procurement, People Management, Sales and CRM, Martim has been working with NGOs since 2016 and joined TI Portugal in 2017, as a Project Assistant.
Contact: martim.agarez@transparencia.pt
Project & Advocacy Officer
Maria Ana Lopes is the Project & Advocacy Officer at Transparency International Portugal since 2022. Her background is in Political Science, International Relations, Strategic Communications and Political Consulting. She has worked in diverse settings, such as civil society and international organizations, communication agencies and governmental bodies.
Contact: maria.lopes@transparencia.pt
Bocconi University was established in Milan in 1902 as a private, independent, non-profit university, becoming the first Italian institution of higher education to grant a degree in Economics. Today Bocconi is considered the leading university in Business and Economics in Italy and worldwide and regularly appears in the most prominent rankings, which cover its areas of expertise in economics and management, and more generally the social sciences. Eight permanent research centres and six laboratories make Bocconi scientific productivity high, both in terms of number of publications and awarded research grants. The number of publications in prestigious A+ magazines has constantly grown in recent years, as have the citations and the H-Index, which measures the impact of research. The number of international grants acquired increases year on year and to date there have been 50 European Research Council grants hosted.
In 2022, there were 63 active international grants of which 47 were funded by the European Commission (including ERCs, MSCA, EuropeAid and Erasmus projects).
Postodoctoral Research fellow at Bocconi University P.I. PRIME LIBERTIES project
Dr Riva is a qualified lawyer with a PhD in Privacy, Ethics and New Technology from University College Dublin and a Doctorate in Private Law from University of Pavia. His research revolves around the broad intersections between data protection and new technologies, with a focus on artificial intelligence, brain-computer interfaces and human enhancement. His research interests span from space law to AI ethics and mental health. He is the chair of the Marie Curie Alumni Association’s Ethics Committee, member of several COST Actions, Connection Science fellow at the MIT Media Lab, and a Maria Curie, Fulbright, and Lindau Alumni.
Contact: gianluigi.riva@unibocconi.it
Dublin City University was founded in 1981 and comprises over 17,500 students including over 2600 postgraduate students, of whom c. 800 are research students. Following the incorporation in 2016 of leading colleges of education (St Patrick’s College, Drumcondra; Mater Dei Institute of Education; Church of Ireland College of Education) into the University, the number of DCU staff members increased from 400 to over 650. The University is now a multi-campus university occupying approximately 60 hectares just north of Dublin City Centre. Having grown its student population by more than 50% in the past five years, DCU is Ireland’s most innovative university and fastest growing university, and delivers more than 200 programmes across its five faculties – Humanities and Social Sciences, Science and Health, Engineering and Computing, DCU Business School and DCU Institute of Education.
Excellence in DCU education and research activities has led to the University being consistently ranked among the top young universities globally, appearing in the 2021 QS Top 70 under 50, and 2020 Times Higher Young University Top 150.
Nationally, DCU has been named Sunday Times ‘University of the Year’ three times (2004, 2010, 2021).
