The Board of Directors of the Centre for Social Studies (CES) would like to complement the information already made public in the press release of November 26, regarding the preliminary inquiry process opened following the presentation of the Report of the Independent Commission to Clarify Situations of Harassment at CES, and the subsequent and spontaneous lifting of the anonymity of whistleblowers.

The Board recalls that the preliminary inquiry process, being an internal CES process, aimed to ascertain concrete facts and possible indications of wrongdoing, to determine possible disciplinary and/or statutory consequences. Throughout the process, the Board of Directors and the investigating team remained committed to formal rigour and to ensuring that the people denounced had the opportunity to be heard. Given the conclusions reached by the external and independent team that investigated the case in question, no disciplinary action was taken, either because of the circumstances mentioned above, relating to the fact that the CES governing bodies do not have statutory disciplinary power over people who are no longer linked to the institution, or because no evidence of possible infractions relevant to the opening of disciplinary proceedings was found.

In this context, the prior investigation process is therefore concluded and the report is not subject to disclosure.

The CES Board of Directors remains convinced that the work of the Independent Commission has been a fundamental tool for recognizing, preventing and combating harassment and/or abuse practices and an important element for internal reflection.

To this end, CES remains committed to deepening its internal policy and mechanisms for preventing and combating harassment, through participatory and transparent processes, and, accordingly, has formed a Working Group involving doctoral students, post-doctoral researchers, junior researchers, staff, researchers, as well as representatives from the Ethics Committee, the Scientific Board and the Board of Directors. This group is actively working on revising the Code of Conduct and defining a protocol for action in situations of harassment, which will be subject to consultation by the CES community. The Ombudsperson, with its own confidential communication channel, will continue to be an important instrument in the internal reception of complaints and the formulation of recommendations, as it has been throughout this period.

Alongside the development of these instruments, a revision of the Statutes and Internal Regulations governing the functioning of the institution is planned, as well as the implementation of training aimed at researchers with scientific supervision responsibilities.

The CES Board remains committed to promoting a healthy, stimulating and welcoming working environment, and a critical and broad reflection on working environments and academic careers.