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NZZA tweet cost him his doctorate

 

A tweet cost him his doctorate: The extent of China’s influence on Swiss universities

A Swiss Ph.D. student tweeted critically about China. Afterward, his professor at the University of St. Gallen wanted nothing more to do with him, worried that her own ability to get a visa would be at risk.

 

Larissa Rhyn, Katrin Büchenbacher (text); Christoph Fischer (illustrations)August 4, 2021

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A St. Gallen Ph.D. student tweeted about China for a space of 10 days. It cost him three years of research work.

When Oliver Gerber* first heard that his tweets might cost him his future Ph.D., he was sitting in his old childhood bedroom. It was March 28, 2020, at 9:50 p.m. An email had appeared in Gerber's mailbox from his doctoral supervisor at the University of St. Gallen. The subject line read: «Very urgent: Complaint from China about your Twitter.

He opened the email on his smartphone. The professor had written that she had received «angry emails from China.» Gerber was accused of spreading «neo-Nazi-like content» on Twitter. She said that was dangerous, even for her. «Ultimately, it may even turn out that I won’t be able to get a visa to China because of you. This is definitely going too far, and I would have to end our advisory relationship,» she wrote. He should «tone down his political expression immediately», she added. She had «no desire to receive emails like this because of one of my doctoral students.»

Gerber had to read the message twice. He had been tweeting for just 10 days, and had fewer than 10 followers. 

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