Nobel prize winner Sir Tim Hunt claims he has been 'hung out to dry' over comments about women in labs

 
Given no chance to explain: Nobel prize winner Sir Tim Hunt (Picture: Getty)
CSABA SEGESVARI/AFP/Getty Images
Sebastian Mann13 June 2015

A Nobel prize-winning scientist who said women are prone to crying in laboratories has claimed he has been "hung out to dry".

Sir Tim Hunt resigned from his post at University College London after telling a conference about his "trouble with girls".

At the World Conference of Science Journalists in South Korea, he said: "Let me tell you about my trouble with girls. Three things happen when they are in the lab: you fall in love with them, they fall in love with you, and when you criticise them they cry."

The comments prompted widespread condemnation and led to the British biologist, who won the 2001 Nobel for medicine, stepping down from his honorary position at UCL as well as other prestigious posts including membership of a Royal Society committee.

But in an interview with the Observer, he said the remarks were meant as a "self-deprecating joke" and claimed UCL forced him to resign without asking him for an explanation.

"At no point did they ask me for an explanation for what I said or to put it in context,” he said.

"They just said I had to go. There has been an enormous rush to judgment in dealing with me.”

He added: “I have become toxic. I am finished.”

Issuing a full apology, he said: "I accept that my attempts at a self-deprecating joke were ill-judged and not in the least bit funny ... I also fully accept that the sentiments as interpreted have no place in modern science and deeply apologise to all those good friends who fear I have undermined their efforts to put these stereotypes behind us."

Earlier this week, a spokesman for UCL said of the resignation: "UCL can confirm that Sir Tim Hunt FRS has today resigned from his position as Honorary Professor with the UCL Faculty of Life Sciences, following comments he made about women in science at the World Conference of Science Journalists on 9 June.

"UCL was the first university in England to admit women students on equal terms to men, and the university believes that this outcome is compatible with our commitment to gender equality."

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