Following last week’s diary entries on the impact of bullying on a young academic, this week another victim from Cambridge University steps forward to speak out.
In this instance, the mistreatment of the early career researcher has been reported to the pro-Vice Chancellor for Community and Engagement. He has failed to act for months, despite receiving Whistleblowing and Safeguarding disclosures in August 2025.
There seems to be a disparity between the words in the ‘Dignity at Work’ video above and the actions of some senior University officers.
As this is another disturbing story, we emphasise anyone experiencing bullying should get support and care. Protecting your mental health is vital. You don’t have to face this alone. Speaking with a counsellor or mental health professional can help ease the strain and guide you toward survival and recovery. For further information and resources, please visit our mental health support pages.
The 21 Group is deeply grateful to our contributor for their courage in sharing this very troubling story.
We are always interested in publishing the experiences of bullied victims in Universities. We need to hear these voices. We need “to break the silence”.
Please use contact@21percent.org to tell us your story.
“Three years ago, I loved my life. I loved waking up and going to the lab, teaching, and learning alongside students who inspired me as much as I inspired them. I thrived on the discipline of sport — rowing, running, and triathlons — and rarely missed a day of training. My diet, sleep and focus were strong. I believed that with enough willpower I could overcome anything. The future looked bright, full of discovery.
Now that life has disappeared. My days begin around 4 a.m., when I wake in a sweat despite a constant room temperature. My heart races, my mouth is dry, and my stomach churns with sudden fear. In the past, these sensations came only during acute stress, but now they arrive daily, before I am even fully awake. Staying in bed intensifies them, yet getting up brings no relief. I have lost interest in everything, and anxiety fills each waking moment.
My appetite is gone. Food tastes flat. Many days I eat only once — sometimes just a sandwich. Blood tests have shown abnormal liver function, and recently I began to experience internal bleeding. I have been sent for repeated tests on blood and stool, and regular appointments with my GP have become routine. She worries about my health and tells me to avoid the source of stress, but that is impossible. Antidepressants were offered, but I declined. They cannot treat the cause.
For two years I tried to find a solution through the proper channels. I believed that if the Department ignored the misconduct, higher levels of the University would act. I wrote to the Head of School, University HR, the Academic Secretary and even the Vice-Chancellor. None of them responded. Each silence deepened the damage — not only to my career, but to my body. The continued dismissal of evidence left me feeling powerless. Chronic powerlessness has become illness.
The past months have been even worse. When I was dismissed from my research position, I still trusted that my college would act differently. For years, colleagues there had told me I was not alone. Yet when I finally asked for help, they withdrew. People I had known for years avoided me because my situation might cause discomfort or risk. I learned from the porters — not from any official communication — that my Fellowship had not been renewed. The Master and Senior Tutor, who had all the medical letters and evidence, never spoke to me directly.
The sense of abandonment is physical. It lives in my chest, in my stomach, in my skin. I feel constantly tense, with nausea, dizziness, and trembling that sometimes leaves me unable to stand. The first time I thought about suicide, I felt deep shame. I called 111, and they told me I was having a panic attack — that suicide would not solve the problem, and I should see my GP urgently. I understood them, but I had already exhausted every avenue.
Now, suicidal thoughts come more often. The physical sensations — the nausea, the tingling, the dizziness — have become constant companions. My body feels as if it is slowly shutting down under unrelenting stress. I know that if I took my life, it would be the final proof of what the institution has ignored: that neglect and abuse have real, measurable, physical consequences.
I remain, technically, a member of the University of Cambridge, though it is against the University’s will. I am no longer proud of this affiliation. I have learned how power truly operates — how reputation and hierarchy outweigh truth, health, and humanity. I stay only because leaving would mean surrendering entirely. I continue to fight for what I believe is right, though I know that each day the struggle erodes what strength I have left.
The damage is no longer only emotional. It is written in my blood tests, my sleep, my digestion, my heartbeat, my skin. My body has become the record of what has been done to me.”
29 Comments
Dalton · 25 October 2025 at 09:03
The YouTube video on Dignity@Work must rank as one of the most deceitful pieces of propaganda ever published. It’s like the tobacco industry funded research denying links between smoking and cancer, or the Theranos “Blood Testing Revolution”.
Everyone in the video must know perfectly well that the system is nothing like what they are claiming. Even the graduate student — if he actually talks to other graduate students — must know what he is saying is just not true.
But, it is worse. Some of the principal bad actors, some of the worst enablers and deniers of bullying in the University, are present and saying the exact opposite of what they do every day of their lives.
The ProVCs, the Registrary, the Academic Secretary and the Heads of School know what is really going on. They are silent either because they don’t know how to stop the misconduct in HR, or because they are active & willing participants in the misconduct. The video shows a number of people in the latter, and much more culpable, group.
TheResearcher · 25 October 2025 at 10:31
“There seems to be a disparity between the words in the ‘Dignity at Work’ video above and the actions of some senior University officers.”
The 21 Group is being too mild here. If the Pro-Vice Chancellor for Community and Engagement has failed to act even after receiving whistleblowing disclosures and safeguarding referrals about this case that is associated with extensive medical evidence, he is contributing to the current health state of the victim and behaving in the exact opposite of what the “actors” of the ‘Dignity at work’ video explicitly tell us.
The Pro-Vice Chancellor for Community and Engagement says, “We are enormously proud of this university and the people behind it.” What a shame. He should be embarrassed by these words. This video, like the emails and notifications we receive telling us that the university cares about freedom of speech, encourage us to report abuse and remind us how important the wellbeing of members is for the university, are a humiliation for victims who know this is absolutely false. They have to speak up.
The reputation of an institution cannot be more important than the lives of its members, and it is deeply disturbing to see how the senior managers of UCam could not care less about these lives. The perseverance of this contributor who has endured for years at a high personal cost shows that the people who address misconduct at Cambridge are not just incompetent.
Armando · 25 October 2025 at 12:19
This is sad. But nothing surprises me about Cambridge. It’s a bungle-ocracy. Malcolm Tucker has already provided the best description of University HR.
“Jesus Christ, you are a fucking omnishambles, that’s what you are. You’re like that coffee machine, you know: from bean to cup, you fuck up.“
TigerWhoCametoET · 25 October 2025 at 16:09
My thoughts of heartfelt solidarity are with the contributor. Please know that you are not alone and there is a better future for us all. Thank you for having the bravery to endure their acts for so long and the courage to break the silence.
TigerWhoCametoET · 25 October 2025 at 16:11
The more victims who demonstrate this courage the safer we all are.
21percent.org · 25 October 2025 at 17:45
We agree with this and we thank all individuals (from Cambridge University and elsewhere) who have given us permission to report what has happened to them.
One of the reasons why Universities have been able to avoid exposure is their insistence on “confidentiality”, which has no legal basis and simply allows the misconduct to continue and thrive.
TheResearcher · 25 October 2025 at 18:08
As I keep saying, confidentiality is the best ally for institutions such as UCam that conceal and manipulate information about misconduct. It helps them at two levels. First, confidentiality helps institutions to deal with specific cases, to tell different things to different participants and to isolate victims. Second, it prevents that other members of the institution, namely other victims, know the behavioural practices of HR and others who deal with reports of misconduct.
To all who read these blogs, please resist confidentiality at all costs and reject NDAs to the best of your ability. Choosing silence will only help institutions such as UCam that put reputation ahead of anything else, namely ahead the personal lives of its members.
21percent.org · 25 October 2025 at 18:19
Thirdly, the confidentiality is a form of mental cruelty towards the victims. They are unable to report the terrible things that are being done to them and it enforces their isolation, loneliness and depression. It provokes the suicidal ideation that is feature of this blog posting, and other confessional posts.
It is an extremely cruel & uncaring policy.
TheResearcher · 25 October 2025 at 19:03
Incidentally, the Master of St Machiavelli’s College has a different view. He thinks that confidentiality is important to protect the reputation of respondents. When I heard that argument I got struck and I seriously doubt that most of the members of his college agree with him, but of course, the knows better than I. After all, as he remind us all, he is in the Council!
IMAGINARY · 25 October 2025 at 19:43
UCam protects its bullies! In one School, with full knowledge of the Head, two serial bullies continue to act in tandem! One has a lover that his junior faculty to him (literally bed fellows where one is hierarchicaly the line manager of the other!!!) and the second frequently reeks of the liquid substance he abuses! The University knows and obviously approves. Disgusting but true!
MUSKETEER · 25 October 2025 at 21:01
This scandal will eventually become public! These two bullies have destroyed world class research and victimised several people in the School! Head of HR knows well who they are!!!
Bloody right · 25 October 2025 at 22:05
Bloody right
Stop · 25 October 2025 at 22:37
I reported to the University of Cambridge that the actions of management had resulted in loss of a life and had evidence. They replied threatening me with disciplinary action should I inform anyone. I can provide full documentation of the report I made and the resultant threats. I am ready to speak out in public.
21percent.org · 25 October 2025 at 23:07
Please could you make contact with us by emailing contact@21percent.org ?
TheResearcher · 25 October 2025 at 23:35
Stop, thank you for this. Unfortunately, what you report is a very common practice at UCam, namely against those who report misconduct and do not accept being silenced or manipulated. I have been recurrently threatened by UCam managers, and they are now doing a ridiculous investigation against me for my alleged abusive “unreasonably persistent behaviour” where I am forbidden from contacting hundreds of people, including the Vice-Chancellor, all Pro-Vice Chancellors, the Academic Secretary, the Registrary, all HR of the University of Cambridge among many many others. They already gave me “precautionary measures,” “urgent precautionary measures, “special precautionary measures” and a “final warning.” Incidentally, they decided to make that investigation precisely one day after they realized I was going to make my story public after many months of neglect. But rest assured, when I have an update of this investigation, I will post it here and will tag the relevant managers of the university and the relevant college in their social media not only with that investigation but also its background story and its medical consequences.
Please consider contributing your experience to the initiative we discussed in an earlier post (https://21percent.org/?p=2729) where our intention is to publish our stories in a book and/or website so that others do not experience what we did. Thank you in advance.
ProfX · 26 October 2025 at 12:55
Stop, this is very distressing. to hear.
I am so sorry that you were threatened with disciplinary action and I do understand — especially if you are on a fixed-term contract — how difficult it is to feel really safe in Cambridge University.
There was a suicide in my department a few years ago. Every work-related suicide should be investigated carefully to make sure any mistakes in handling matters are rectified. It is completely inappropriate for the university to threaten someone over this.
Good luck · 27 October 2025 at 13:20
Good luck getting accountability from a university—Cambridge or otherwise—for a suicide and a toxic workplace culture that drives people to the brink. You’ll need exceptional levels of mental health when you become the target of abuse and bullying for pointing out the obvious.
21percent.org · 27 October 2025 at 20:14
Battle for the Soul of Cambridge University
Bury St Edmunds Employment Tribunal, June 1st-28th 2026
TheResearcher · 27 October 2025 at 20:52
It would be great if many Cambridge members could be there, not just people involved in the incident that led to that trial, namely other victims that experienced concealing and manipulation of research and behavioural misconduct at UCam. I can imagine that the university will try to say that was an isolated case if the verdict works against them and we cannot let that happen.
NoWords · 27 October 2025 at 11:19
Heartfelt thanks to both the contributor of the post and to Stop for their courage.
The contrast between the life loved and the life that is left (when it is left) is far too extreme to be normal i.e. the product of processes and procedures within an institution claiming to have (and follow) a Dignity at Work policy. It is abject abuse, perversion, and a violation of human rights.
Does the picture of individuals enjoying satisfaction and success as a result of their hard work, their talent, their commitment, their dedication, their standards no longer fit into the University of Cambridge? Is it a picture that has become so intolerable (to some) that it needs to be altered, defaced or erased altogether?
How many others are there, who can make reports similar to the very sad testimony provided in this post? Please come forward. Please support those who do and those who make disclosures about the abuse they have witnessed.
Nobody has the right to destroy another life.
Mr_Freeze · 26 October 2025 at 19:53
******** BREAKING ******** BREAKING ********
The financial position of the University has worsened & hiring freezes are now being implemented.
Our prosperity is being undermined by an HR division that consistently squanders money, resources and time through mismanagement. We’re all now paying for their failures.
******** BREAKING ******** BREAKING ********
Anon · 27 October 2025 at 08:28
HR have blocked hundreds of millions of pounds of funding by obstructing grants, donations, and research labs, and caused untold damage to labour productivity through sickness and mismanagement.
21percent.org · 27 October 2025 at 09:08
We know this to be correct
Some research groups targeted by malevolent individuals in HR have been reduced to ruins
They are now unable to bring in the grants, whose overheads … err … pay for the HR division
- · 27 October 2025 at 10:31
A full audit requires i) complete estimates of funding streams disrupted, ii) estimates of lost labour hours (due to unnecessarily protracted grievances and legal procedures), as well as iii) estimates of surplus hours and cost within the administration. This will likely total a figure of billions, not millions.
TheResearcher · 27 October 2025 at 12:34
Do not forget iv) estimates of hours paid to expensive lawyers such as Carter-Ruck… Will the Consigliere University also freeze payments to them?
Econ 101 · 28 October 2025 at 23:21
More important factor here you are missing. Now many high profile instances of leading research labs shut down by internal retaliation. Across university every one knows this fact. Resultant effect is what economists term expropriation risk: i.e. people disincentivized from applying for grants out of fear their money will be blocked / stolen by low performance but internally connected professors. Culture of rule violation / nepotism truly destroys revenue stream by undermining incentives but if internal protection and rule of law upheld will make 2x or 3x current grant income.
21percent.org · 29 October 2025 at 08:20
This is an excellent point & the 21 Group knows of a number of examples of this
... · 29 October 2025 at 08:38
“people disincentivized from applying for grants out of fear their money will be blocked / stolen by low performance but internally connected professors”
In some instances the individuals stealing grants are not even professors, just low performance individuals colluding with the management and utilising the stolen goods to pad out their CVs and publications lists, parade as deserving PIs and get promotions out of it.
Applying for more grants would be throwing pearls to swine. That is how low the university has sunk.
E. · 29 October 2025 at 13:38
The path to promotion is not hard work or achievement. only networking and acquisition of power. nothing else. It is just a fiction manufactured by heads of department who distribute the spoils from those who do to those who don’t. A rotten system like this will eventually end up just laggards and hangers on.