A star neuroscientist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology will not be punished for trying to discourage a young female scientist from accepting a job there, even though an MIT investigation found that he had behaved inappropriately. The Boston Globe reports that the provost, Rafael Reif, says several people, including Susumu Tonegawa, behaved inappropriately, but Mr. Reif maintains that the real problem was the competitive relationship between different MIT research centers.

The provost and Susan Hockfield, the president, wrote letters to the professors accompanying a report on the investigation’s findings. In hers, Ms. Hockfield said that the report shows the “critical importance of balancing internal competition and institutional vitality.”

“Each of us benefits from our membership in a larger community,” she wrote, “and we cannot allow internal competitiveness to undercut the integrity, values, and mission of the institute as a whole. Our history demonstrates that competition and fierce drive to advance a research program need not preclude collaboration.”