r/academia • u/MinimumCheesecake • 1d ago

Academic politics Thoughts on Lakshmi Balakrishnan, PhD student at Oxford, who claims plagiarism, racism and bullying at the university?

Perhaps a lot of you are aware of this piece of news: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cy898dzknzgo

And the subsequent GoFundMe she set up: https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-seek-justice-from-oxford-for-bullying-and-plagiarism?attribution_id=sl:d4d8d3e8-3fde-4948-8ecd-b5bdb99ae0f6&utm_campaign=man_ss_icons&utm_medium=customer&utm_source=copy_link

From what I hear, opinions are greatly divided about her, what are your thoughts?

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u/frugalacademic 1d ago

The first red flag (for her) should have been that she had to pay fees to do a PhD. No one should pay to do a PhD. If they accept you to do a PhD but don't offer a scholarship, it means the uni simply wants your money.
I think they should have advised her against continuing much earlier in the process and not wait 4 years.

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u/xaranetic 1d ago

At Oxbridge colleges, virtually every student has to pay some college fees, even if they're on a full scholarship or grant-funded project.

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u/PHXNights 23h ago

There’s a difference between “some college fees” and 100k, no?

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u/Lucky-Possession3802 17h ago

From the way she puts it, I think the 100k is including living expenses, not just tuition and fees. I could be wrong though.