German Science Minister Stripped of Her PhD
Baku, February 7 (AZERTAC). On Tuesday, a committee at the University of Düsseldorf announced Education Minister Annette Schavan had plagiarized passages of her doctoral thesis over 30 years ago and that her Ph.d. title was deemed invalid. German commentators say the Merkel confidant has little choice but to resign.
. Schavan, a close confidant of Chancellor Angela Merkel, has long dodged accusations that she plagiarized parts of her doctoral thesis, which she submitted in 1980. Based on an internal analysis of the thesis -- as well as on her own statement regarding her work -- a committee at the University of Düsseldorf voted 12 to 2 to invalidate her academic title.
Bruno Bleckmann, a professor of ancient history at the university, announced the decision at a press conference on Tuesday evening. "As a doctoral candidate, she systematically and deliberately presented intellectual efforts throughout her entire dissertation that were not her own," he said.
Several members of the CDU and their coalition partner, the FDP, came forward to defend her, with CDU Deputy Floor Leader Michael Kretschmer calling the process a "politically motivated campaign" against the minister.
Some are now asking if Schavan is applying double standards between her work and that of Guttenberg.
"With Guttenberg and Schavan, the government has a plagiarizer rate of 12.5 percent. That's almost as much as the percentage of flawed pages in Schavan's doctoral thesis. This is harming the conservative coalition government, of all times in an election year, and the civic virtues it holds so high: motivation and abiding by the rules. Plagiarizers disregard both of those."
"Back in 1980, it was the matter of a small college and a young woman who, because of a good job offer, was in a hurry to finish her doctorate. The questionable passages of her work are not mere slips of the pen, but they are open to interpretation. What is expressed scientifically was clear even in Einstein's time.
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