The professor who won first place in the UFMG competition set up the test – Gerais

The Federal Court, at the request of the Federal Public Prosecutor (MPF), suspended the outcome of a competition for an assistant professor in the Department of Genetics, Ecology and Evolution of the Institute of Biological Sciences (ICB) of the Federal University of Minas Gerais (UFMG).

“Since administrative ethics is a broad concept that includes integrity, honesty, probity, and impartiality, it is clear that the teacher deliberately acted in a flagrant conflict of interest, undermining the impartiality and fairness of the selection process,” the MPF argued in the proceeding.

By law, it is prohibited for a general agent of the bidding body to participate in the bid, directly or indirectly. Therefore, the teacher’s participation in the competition is null and void.

advantage over competitors

According to the MPF, the professor was appointed to head the department in February 2018. Since then, he has been directly involved in defining the criteria for the vacancy to be put forward in the competition, such as the field of knowledge, the required candidate profile, assessment questions, and degree assignment. Documents signed by him prove participation.

The tender announcement was published in August 2019 and in November of the same year the then head of the department was removed from office. Days later, he entered the same contest. In December 2022, the certified result awarded to the professor first place.

The professor has also applied for retirement, and thus the salaries of the retired professor and assistant professor can accumulate.

Acknowledging the invalidity of the process

The Federal Court recognized the apparent invalidity of public selection due to a violation of, in particular, impersonality, justifying the suspension of the selection process. “When the servant is found to have interests other than strictly collective, there is an affront to the public interest. Only the utter indifference of a public servant has an obvious impersonal character. Administrative law cannot be full of subjectivism, personal inclinations and preferences,” says an excerpt from the court decision.

The general civil lawsuit continues to be heard in the Federal Court of Minas Gerais. There is still an appeal against the initial decision.

a report Minas state He requested a position from UFMG and the ICB’s Department of Genetics, Ecology, and Evolution but had not received any answers by the article’s publication. The space remains open to express those mentioned in the article.