October 20 is a key date in the dissertation of Medinsky. What will happen?

On October 20, at 11 o’clock in Moscow, a meeting of the Presidium of the Supreme Certification Commission should begin. It is assumed that it will give the final recommendation to the Ministry of Education and Science for one of the main issues of the last weeks: whether the Minister of Culture Vladimir Medinsky is worthy of the degree of the doctor of historical sciences. Medusa briefly tells what you need to know about this case and how the meeting will take place.

The Presidium of the Higher Attestation Commission is not the final stage yet

If you want to deprive someone to a scientific degree, you will have to stock up on. Having received a statement, the Ministry of Education and Science first sends the dissertation for consideration to one of the dissertation councils, then it is considered by the Higher Attestation Expert Council, then the Presidium, and only then, having received the recommendation of the Presidium, the Ministry of Education and Science makes the final decision. When this happens, we do not know.

The Presidium of the Higher Attestation Commission may not agree with the expert council

On October 2, the Expert Council on History supported scientists who demanded to deprive Medinsky doctoral degree. Briefly their assessment of the dissertation of the minister sounds like this: this is not a science.

The assessment of the Expert Council is extremely important, because this body is a kind of higher professional instance, which contains not just scientists, but historians - and among them many outstanding researchers. Nevertheless, the Presidium can make a different decision and recommend that Medinsky leave the degree, although this happens extremely rarely. Member of the VAK Presidium, Doctor of Biological Sciences and Member of Dissernet Mikhail Gelfand, in a conversation with Medusa, recalled the case of Moskhorduma deputy Alexander Smetanov , whom the Presidium decided to deprive, despite the decision of the Expert Council. Gelfand added that reverse cases were also, but could not recall specific examples. Formally, in such cases, the expert council and the Presidium should convene a special conciliation commission, but, according to Gelfand, the expert council is usually inferior.

The order of the Presidium of the Higher Attestation Committee in 2017 has changed a lot

The Presidium of the Higher Attestation Commission is divided into different specialized sections in scientific areas. Previously, any member of the Higher Attestation Commission could come to any meeting and vote, but in May 2017, the Minister of Education Olga Vasilieva changed this order. Now, for example, a historian may not be allowed to a meeting, where a dissertation in chemistry is considered, and vice versa. Experts of the Ministry of Justice criticized this decision in their recall: “The restriction of the participation of the VAK members in the meeting of the Presidium may entail excessive closeness of the meetings and, as a result, corruption risks,” wrote one of the authors of the conclusion, Stanislav Solntsev. Mikhail Gelfand told Medusa that this decision was directed not only against the activities of Dissernet, but also against him personally. Gelfand and several more mathematicians often attended a meeting of “alien” sections, where the issue of depriving scientific degrees was considered - in particular, those whom Dissernet was in plagiarism. A striking example is the already mentioned case of a deputy of Smetanov, who defended his dissertation on the economic topic, but was deprived of a scientific degree in many ways thanks to the efforts of Gelfand bioinformatics.

The meeting of the presidium is closed, the decision is made by voting

When in July 2017 the dissertation of Medinsky was discussed in the dissolution of the University of Belgorod, journalists could follow the meeting with the help of a direct broadcast. On October 20, there will be nothing of the kind - journalists will learn about how everything happened, according to representatives of the Presidium. At the request of Medusa, Mikhail Gelfand told how such meetings are usually held:

“First, the chairman of the Expert Council reports the opinion of this body. After the author of the dissertation under discussion is invited. Large bosses, as a rule, do not appear at the meetings (Medinsky was not either at the dissolution in Belgorod or at the Expert Council in Moscow - approx. Medusa ). He is asked questions about his work until they decide what is enough. A few questions can be asked by the applicant [who asked for a person to deprive a person]. After that, only members of the Presidium remain in the hall, they discuss the case and vote - openly, with their hands. There are about 20 people in the humanitarian section of the Presidium, but other members of the Higher Attestation Commission can vote if they have a suitable specialty. No resolution is published, and even the members of the meeting are sent to members of the Presidium. ”

A few days before the meeting of the Presidium, the dissertation of Medinsky was again in the spotlight of the media

On October 16, New Gazeta published an article under the heading "Was there a defense of the dissertation of Medinsky?" . Journalists talked with the scientists who were indicated in the author’s abstract as official opponents, and they said that in reality they were not opponents. Members of the expert council of the past convocation informed the publication that they did not prepare a positive review of the dissertation of Medinsky, as required.

Representatives of Medinsky in response said that journalists refer to the draft version of the abstract, there was protection, there were just other opponents. Despite the fact that they even published a fragment of the scan of the “real” abstract, the reaction did not look too convincing .

On the evening of October 18, the supervisor of the State Archive, Member of the Higher Attestation Commission, historian Sergey Mironenko decided to check which opponents are indicated in the Author of Medinsky, and requested a dissertation in the Ministry of Education and Science, but he was refused to issue documents under a very strange excuse .

And again: on October 16, a few days before the meeting of the Presidium, one of the defenders of Medinsky Nikolai Arister was excluded from its composition.

Alexander Borzenko