Commission for the Safeguarding of Good Academic Practice

The Commission for Safeguarding Good Scientific Practice was established in accordance with the University of Salzburg’s current guidelines for safeguarding good scientific practice.

Responsibilities of the Commission:

  • Communicating the principles of good scientific practice
  • Providing advice on matters of scientific integrity
  • Reviewing notifications of potential scientific misconduct
  • Initiating proceedings to investigate scientific misconduct

Non-responsibility of the Commission:

  • Reports from individuals outside the university (excluding former university members)
  • Anonymous reports
  • Reports concerning academic work (diploma or master’s theses, dissertations, habilitation theses)
  • Reports that fall under the purview of the University of Salzburg’s “ digital submission point for internal reports“

Where can I report a notification?

  • Reports from university members can be submitted to one of the Commission’s confidential advisors.
  • Reports from university members concerning academic theses should be submitted to the Rectorate of the University of Salzburg.
  • Anonymous or external reports can be submitted to the Austrian Agency for Scientific Integrity (ÖAWI) in justified cases.

Legal basis and further documents:

Composition of the Commission

The commission consists of five elected representatives who together form the commission. The Senate has appointed the following representatives and alternate members to the Commission for Safeguarding Good Scientific Practice for a term of two years by resolution.

Confidential advisors

  • Ao. Univ.- Prof. Rudolf Feik, MA, PhD (RWW; Department of Public Law)
  • Julian Hörndl (NLW, student member)
  • Ao. Univ.- Prof. Bernd Minnich, MSc, PhD (NLW / Department of Environment and Biodiversity)
  • Dr. Tatsiana Nazarnka (KW; Department of Slavic Studies)
  • Assoc. Prof. Dirk Tiede, PhD (DAS, Department of Z_GIS)

Alternate Members

  • For Feik: Prof. Sebastian Haumann, PhD (GW, Department of History)
  • For Minnich: PD Dr. Raphael Berger (NLW; Department of Chemistry and Physics of Materials);
  • Further alternate members: Dr. Glenda Hannibal, BA MA (DAS; Department of Applied Humanities and Social Sciences); Associate Professor Martin Weichbold, MA, PhD (Department of Sociology and Social Geography); Sophie Schwertner, MA, PhD (Department of Labor and Social Law); Laurin Blecha, PhD (Department of History); Sujitha Puthukodan, PhD (Department of Biosciences and Medical Biology); Assistant Professor Hanna Kreuzbauer, MA, PhD (Department of International Law, European Law, and Foundations of Law).
  • For Hörndl: Fabian Plank (Department of Social Sciences)

The commission’s inaugural meeting took place on November 7, 2025. Ao. Univ.-Prof. Bernd Minnich, MSc, PhD, was elected Chair and Associate Professor Dirk Tiede, PhD, Vice Chair.