Lessons from Lieber
The prosecution of Charles Lieber has had a chilling effect on US researchers, leaving them uncertain about collaboration with overseas programmes
The scientific community was shocked when Charles Lieber, who chaired Harvard’s chemistry department and was a faculty member for almost 30 years, was convicted of hiding his links to China in December 2021. More than three years after the nanoscience pioneer’s arrest, he has finally been sentenced and avoided jailtime . With this case closed, researchers in the US and abroad are left asking whether and how they should partner with foreign scientists and institutions.