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German Science Minister Stripped of Her PhD

Posted by Soulskill on from the politician-lied-film-at-11 dept.

An anonymous reader writes "In a move likely to have major political implications, the University of Düsseldorf has revoked the doctoral degree of Germany's science and education minister, Annette Schavan. The committee investigating allegations of plagiarism came to the conclusion that she 'systematically and deliberately claimed as her own intellectual achievements which she had in fact not produced herself.' Schavan wants to appeal the decision in court and has not resigned from her post so far."

21 of 123 comments (clear)

  1. someone had to say it by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    "Annette Schavan stripped"

    do NOT want!

    1. Re:someone had to say it by Moses48 · · Score: 4, Funny

      I read this "for her PhD" instead of "of her PhD". I was really confused how that works.

    2. Re:someone had to say it by antek9 · · Score: 3, Informative

      Oh my, that depends entirely on context. Dunno if it will make you happy, but do a search on 'Doktorspiele'.

      --
      A World in a Grain of Sand / Heaven in a Wild Flower,
      Infinity in the Palm of your Hand / And Eternity in an Hour.
  2. Oh, the irony!! by MightyMait · · Score: 5, Funny

    "A university committee yesterday evening confirmed accusations, first aired last May, of plagiarism in Schavan’s ethical-philosophical dissertation entitled ‘People and conscience — studies on the conditions, necessity and requirements for formation of conscience today’."

    Naturally!!

    --
    Nothing interesting to say...MUST...NOT...REPLY...ohtheheckwithit.
    1. Re:Oh, the irony!! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Actually the irony gets even better.: A year ago she publicly humiliated another politician because of his shoddy "copy & paste" PhD. http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/german-press-review-of-the-annette-schavan-plagiarism-scandal-a-881783.html

  3. Re:PhD's in Germany by grumpy_technologist · · Score: 3, Informative

    That's a sweeping and unfair generalization.

  4. She'll have to wait by Ukab+the+Great · · Score: 4, Funny

    Until she can copy off someone else's letter of appeal.

    1. Re:She'll have to wait by icebike · · Score: 4, Funny

      Until she can copy off someone else's letter of appeal.

      No problem, shes studying for her law degree right now.
      Started yesterday, should be done tomorrow.

      --
      Sig Battery depleted. Reverting to safe mode.
  5. Re:PhD's in Germany by vlm · · Score: 5, Funny

    Google search for "That's a sweeping and unfair generalization." shows 14 results... Looks like you've got some explaining to do, Mr "I don't use footnotes", or you're about to be stripped of your second post achievement.

    Now I'm doing it right, put my post in quotes and google for it and "did not match any documents" is the result.

    --
    "Science flies us to the moon. Religion flies us into buildings." - Victor Stenger
  6. Did she copy Lobachevsky? by eddy_crim · · Score: 4, Funny

    No one wil ever say it better!
    The great Tom Lehrer

    --
    hmmm.
  7. Re:Smear campaign or missing job qualification? by h4rr4r · · Score: 4, Insightful

    It is now a smear campaign to point out someone is a cheater and a liar?

    She has had many years to admit this. She chose not to.

  8. Re:Smear campaign or missing job qualification? by Chris+Mattern · · Score: 4, Insightful

    When the University officially strips you of your degree, it's moved from "smear campaign" to "substantiated charges".

  9. She wouldn't be the first by excelsior_gr · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Defense Minister Guttenberg resigned from his post for the exact same reason a while back. Getting a PhD in Germany is a hardship and I can well imagine that some people would like to "cut some corners" to reach their goal.

    1. Re:She wouldn't be the first by WoOS · · Score: 4, Informative

      Mr. Guttenberg resigned because his whole Ph.D. - done outside the university while he was already a politician - was a lousy Copy&Paste job including copying papers done by the research arm of the parliament for him. Especially also in places where he claimed original thought.

      Mrs. Schavan did the Ph.D. at the university before she started her career and seemingly ca. 15 years before she went into heavy politics. As far as I understand her Ph.D. was revoked because of incorrect citations (i.e. she named sources but not marked text as direct citation) in her literature section.

      The only commonality is that both lost their Ph.D..

  10. Re:She was stripped? by tekrat · · Score: 3, Funny

    Just found out what she looks like..... Never mind. Can we strip the German Chick from Top Gear instead? Sabine Schmitt?

    --
    If telephones are outlawed, then only outlaws will have telephones.
  11. Meanwhile in the US by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    current Committee on Science, Space and Technology member Paul Broun...

    " embryology, evolution, and the Big Bang are "lies straight from the Pit of Hell ... lies to try to keep me and all the folks who are taught that from understanding that they need a savior."

    former Committee on Science, Space and Technology member Todd Akin...

    "If it’s a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down. "
    on Evolution - "I don’t see it as even as a matter of science, because I don’t know if you can prove one or the other."

    -------
    I'd love to see that kind of zeal put on the backgrounds of US politicians.

  12. Bribes-for-PhD's scams reported in Germany. by Andy+Prough · · Score: 5, Interesting

    There are some very interesting articles on the "bribes-for-PhD" scam in Germany: In 2008 Time Magazine reported on an investigation into around 100 cases of bribes for PhDs: http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1919339,00.html. One blogger claims 500 to 700 PhD's are illegitimately "purchased" each year by aggressive career-climbing German lawyers, managers and politicians. The blogger provides numerous citations: http://ktwop.wordpress.com/tag/guttenberg-fraud/. In 2011, the DW German news outlet called some German PhD's "cut and paste": http://www.dw.de/academic-consultants-target-phd-wannabes/a-14852460-1.

  13. Re:should censure U of Dusseldorf too by WoOS · · Score: 3, Informative

    How does a university not know a dissertation is full of plagiarism? [...] So how could this happen?

    A) The Ph.D. thesis in question was submitted 1980. Long before computer checks and internet groups gathering to check Ph.D.s.
    B) It was not "full of plagiarism". You might want to fetch (non-marked) copy from the net and find the sentences in question before you accuse others of intent.

  14. Re:She was stripped? by macraig · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Would you even think to make that joke if Schavan was a man? Food for thought.

  15. Re:Smear campaign or missing job qualification? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

    What accused? She's already been found guilty. The summary alone specifically says her PhD has been revoked.

  16. Re:Smear campaign or missing job qualification? by moronoxyd · · Score: 3, Informative

    Yes, people from her party claimed that the University didn't handle the case properly.
    Just as people from opposing parties said the opposite.

    This is just the usual politics.

    The decision to strip her of her title was made by a commission with 15 or 16 members, with 2 opposing and 1 abstention.

    So far, the German courts always upheld such decisions from Universities.

    Mrs. Schavan has the right to appeal the decision. Doesn't mean she will get the result she's looking for.