Fairness and justice starts with you!

Why should I submit a report?

As the largest university in the Free State of Saxony with over 30,000 students and around 8,700 employees (as of 2022), TU Dresden assumes a high degree of social responsibility. Naturally, compliance with legal, academic and internal regulations and policies – coupled with a shared sense of responsibility – contributes to creating a positive and value-oriented university culture.

You may be aware of damaging behavior or behavior which crosses boundaries and violates regulations, placing TU Dresden and the university community at risk.

By submitting your report, you are helping us to detect damage and loss of reputation for TU Dresden, its members and associate members at an early stage and to create a university community shaped by integrity, thus strengthening the institution of TU Dresden on a long-term basis.

Which reports are helpful for TU Dresden?

You should submit a report if you have noticed any violations of statutory, academic or internal rules or if you believe there is a high likelihood of such violations occurring. This may, for example, include crimes such as bribery, fraud, theft, etc. as well as scientific misconduct or significant personal violations like harassment, discrimination or (psychological or physical) violence.

You will receive detailed information on the possible categories of a report during the reporting process.

Please only share information that you believe to be true to the best of your knowledge. Nobody should be unfairly placed under suspicion on the basis of incorrect or misleading information. The deliberate submission of false accusations by whistleblowers will not be tolerated and may even be penalized under civil or criminal law (Section 164 German Criminal Code (StGB)).

However, should a subsequent investigation lead to the conclusion that the information you provided was not correct, you do not have to fear any negative repercussions insofar as you believed the information to be true in good faith when you submitted the report and you also took the necessary care when reviewing your information.

What is the process for submitting a report and how do I set up a postbox?

To submit an anonymous or personalized report, start by clicking the ‘Submit Report’ button located at the top of our introduction page.

The reporting process consists of 4 steps:

1. First, you will be asked to read pertinent information on the protection of your anonymity and to answer a security query.
2. On the following page, you will be asked about the category of your report.
3. On the report page, you can elaborate on your report in your own words and answer simple multiple-choice questions about the case. You can enter up to 5,000 characters into the free text field, which roughly corresponds to a full page. You may also upload a file of up to 5 MB to corroborate your report. Please bear in mind that documents may contain information about the person submitting them. After submitting your report, you will receive a reference number to confirm that you have sent this report. Your reports will then be forwarded to the case manager responsible for the category. This case manager will handle the entire case management process, potentially involving responsible departments/units and/or external experts. In the interests of everyone involved, your reports will be handled with strict confidentiality, which also serves to protect the suspected party against potential slanderous rumours and prejudgements.
4. After this, please set up your own secured postbox. We will send the confirmation of receipt of your report within seven days to your postbox. We will also send feedback, answers to your questions and information about the progress of your report to your secured postbox.

If you already have a secured postbox, you can go straight to it via the “Login” button. Here, too, you will have to answer a security query first.

As long as you do not enter any data from which conclusions about your identity can be drawn, BKMS^® System will protect your anonymity.

How do I receive feedback and remain anonymous at the same time?

The BKMS^® System process used here places the utmost importance on protecting the whistleblower. The system’s anonymity protection function is certified by an independent body.

Please set up a secured electronic postbox. When you are setting up the postbox, you will select your own pseudonym / login name and password. This login information is not visible to anyone except you. If you lose your login information, please submit a new report and set up a new postbox. Where possible, please provide the reference number of your old report, which the system displays to you once you have completed your report. The new postbox will not contain anything associated with your previous report.

The anonymity of your report is protected through encryption and additional security measures. You do not have to provide any personal information if you submit a report anonymously. Do not submit any information that contains any reference to you if you do not wish to reveal your identity.

Please do not use any device provided by your employer, such as a PC or smartphone, to submit your report.

Via the secured postbox, the case manager will give you feedback about the further processing of your report or ask you questions if some details are still unclear – you remain anonymous throughout the dialog.

How am I protected as a whistleblower when submitting a report?

TU Dresden makes an active commitment to protecting whistleblowers when they report misconduct or behavior which violates regulations.

Any social or professional disadvantages, repercussions or reprisals of any kind or any threats of the same directed at whistleblowers are strictly prohibited and will not be tolerated. This includes the following reprisals in particular:

1. Termination, failure to extend or early termination of a temporary employment contract or failure to convert a temporary employment contract into a permanent employment contract although a conversion would have rightly been expected
2. Negative performance evaluation or issuing of a poor job reference
3. Coercion, intimidation, bullying or ostracization

Nobody should be unfairly placed under suspicion on the basis of incorrect or misleading information. The deliberate submission of false accusations by whistleblowers may be penalized under civil or criminal law (Section 164 German Criminal Code (StGB)).

Who processes my report?

Reports submitted via the whistleblowing system will automatically be forwarded to the expert case manager responsible for the particular category. This case manager will handle the entire case management process, potentially involving responsible departments and/or external experts.

In the interests of everyone involved, your reports will be handled with strict confidentiality, which also serves to protect the suspected party against potential slanderous rumours and prejudgements.

The category of “Corruption/bribery and property crimes” will be handled by the Anti-Corruption Officer at TU Dresden and the Legal Office.

TU Dresden
Anti-Corruption Officer
01062 Dresden
Email: antikorruptionsbeauftragte@tu-dresden.de

All reports concerning the category of “Scientific misconduct” will be processed by the Office for Good Scientific Practice.

TU Dresden
Office for Good Scientific Practice
01062 Dresden
Email: gute.wiss-praxis@tu-dresden.de

The contact person at the Complaints Office handles all reports in cases of harassment, discrimination and violence concerning the category of “Harassment, discrimination, violence”.

TU Dresden
Complaints Office in cases of harassment, discrimination and violence
01062 Dresden
Email: beschwerden-diskriminierung@tu-dresden.de

The category “Further significant violation of legal provisions or other criminal conduct” will be processed by the Legal Office.

TU Dresden
Legal Office
01062 Dresden
Email: justitiariat@tu-dresden.de

Reports in the category “Enquiries/I am looking for advice” will be handled by the Anti-Corruption Officer, the Office for Good Scientific Practice at TU Dresden and the contact at the Complaints Office in cases of harassment, discrimination and violence.

If a report relates to multiple categories with different responsibilities, this shall be coordinated between the specified bodies and / or officers. The whistleblower decides where the report is initially sent by selecting the category.