Destruction of the VAK monopoly

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The Higher Attestation Commission as a state body is a phenomenon of the post-Soviet space. Its own HAC exists not only in Russia, but also in Belarus, Azerbaijan, Armenia and a number of other countries.

In Western countries, there is a different procedure for awarding academic degrees - this is done by special Dissertation Committees, which are created at some universities. For example, in Germany these are universities of the lands (state universities). The decision of such a Dissertation Committee is not approved by any higher body: it comes into force immediately after its adoption. At the same time, a person who has received the title of PhD (Doctor of Philosophy, similar to our candidate of sciences) can immediately call himself such and receives the right to evaluate other dissertations. The members of the Dissertation Council are responsible for the quality of the newly minted Doctor of Philosophy: external and internal reviewers and the scientific supervisor.

This approach is considered ideal in Russia as well. In particular, V. M. Filippov admits that scientific certification "ideally should mean recognition of an academic degree or academic title by the scientific community," and not by the state. In Russia, the existence of such a state body as the Higher Attestation Commission is explained by the high level of corruption in Russian science (especially in social and medical sciences) and the insufficient development of the scientific community and its reputational responsibility.

The necessity of the existence of the Higher Attestation Commission has been questioned since the 1990s. In reality, the idea of ​​moving away from the HAC monopoly in awarding academic degrees began to be discussed in 2014. In 2016, Article 4 of the Federal Law "On Science" was supplemented by the Law of May 23, 2016. According to this Law, Moscow State University and St. Petersburg State University received the right to independently award candidate and doctoral degrees from September 1, 2016, bypassing the Higher Attestation Commission. The choice of Moscow State University and St. Petersburg State University was explained by the authority of these universities and the availability of conditions for an objective assessment. Of course, at first, the activities of these dissertation councils are under the control of the Higher Attestation Commission.

From September 1, 2017, it is planned to grant buy telemarketing portugal data such rights to other organizations that have “achieved high results in scientific and (or) scientific and technical activities, have authority in matters of training highly qualified scientific and scientific-pedagogical personnel.” In general, it is expected that the experiment, as it is called in the Higher Attestation Commission, will cover about 10 leading universities and 10 research institutes of various profiles.

As for the future of the Higher Attestation Commission, opinions differ. Some believe that the Higher Attestation Commission, as a “legacy of the totalitarian regime,” should disappear, while others consider such a move premature. In particular, the director of the Institute of Economics of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Doctor of Economics Elena Lenchuk, believes that “granting some, even authoritative, organizations the right to award academic degrees without the participation of the Higher Attestation Commission may lead to a reduction in the level of requirements for dissertation defense.” Some propose making do with reforms — for example, Professor of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Doctor of Pedagogical Sciences O. N. Barabanov, as part of replacing state control with public control, proposes transferring the Higher Attestation Commission from the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Education and Science to the auspices of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

The only thing that most experts agree on is that in its current form, the Higher Attestation Commission does not meet the needs of domestic science.

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