The new Minister of Education and Science Oksen Lisovyi refused the title of candidate of sciences. The government has just approved the mechanism of voluntary refusal of a scientific degree — previously there was no such possibility.
According to him, he wrote a corresponding statement and got rid of his scientific degree.
"I am not going to hold on to formal statuses for myself. Real affairs and actions are much more important," wrote Oksen Lisovyi.
The minister also stated that a new culture of academic integrity should be formed in Ukraine, saying that just as military uniforms can only be worn by military personnel, only scientists can have scientific degrees.
Serhii Babak, the head of the Committee on Education, Science and Innovation of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, also formally renounced the scientific degree of Doctor of Technical Sciences, as "partial coincidences of the text with other works" were found in his doctoral dissertation.
- After the appointment of Oksen Lisovyi as the new Minister of Education and Science, information appeared on the Internet that plagiarism was discovered in his dissertation. He submitted it for verification and said that he was ready to give up his scientific degree if the plagiarism was confirmed.