GERMANY

Plagiarism charges cost German

minister PhD
German Education Minister Annette Schavan lost her PhD on Tuesday after a
committee at the University of Düsseldorf found sufficient evidence to support
claims of plagiarism.

The irony is hard to top that Germany's education minister has become the next high-profile
politician to be found guilty of plagiarizing portions of a doctoral dissertation.
At 351 pages, German Education Minister Annette Schavan's doctoral thesis was quite thick.
But, the dissertation, titled "Person und Gewissen" ("Character and Conscience"), published
in 1980, has finally caught up with her after months of uncertainty and cautious
maneuvering.
In early 2011, the resignation of Germany's former Defense Minister Karl-Theodor zu
Guttenberg, after it became known that he had plagiarized large chunks of his doctoral
dissertation, had broader consequences for other politicians. Since then, "plagiarist hunters"
have taken it upon themselves to look into the doctoral dissertations of well-known
politicians and check whether they were plagiarized.

Annette Schavan's doctoral dissertation

It was the plagiarist hunters who discovered "Person und Gewissen." Even though
she apparently did not plagiarize as much as the former defense minister, at least 130
passages of her doctoral dissertation were initially listed as suspected plagiarism on the
website (schavanplag.wordpress.com). Schavan herself asked the University of Düsseldorf
to investigate the case. She now plans to sue the university for damages.
Reviewers speak of "deliberate intent to deceive"
A university committee got down to work and came to a devastating conclusion in autumn
2012. Its chairman spoke of "plagiarizing practice" and of the "deliberate intent to deceive" -
accusations that Schavan vehemently denied. Since then, the dispute has been whether the
allegation of plagiarism is justified and whether the university has adequately carried out
enough evaluation.

The Faculty of Arts at the University of Düsseldorf

In mid-January, there was an interim decision: With 14 votes to 1, the university faculty
council decided that the allegations were so substantial that official proceedings should be
carried out to rescind the Minister's doctoral title. The result of these proceedings is "open,"
Bruno Beckmann, the Dean of the Faculty of Arts, said at the time. The announcement on
Tuesday (05.02.2013) to rescinde Schavan's PhD comes at an awkward time with a national
election slated for September.
Discussion draws other groups
The discussion about Schavan's dissertation had already grown more and more political
over the months. Shortly after the University of Düsseldorf published a review attesting to
the legally correct handling of the case, the German Council of Science and Humanities
(WR), the German Research Foundation (DFG), the German Rectors' Conference (HRK)
and the Max Planck Society for the Advancement of Science (MPG) criticized the university
in a joint statement.

The great irony is that Schavan is Germany's education minister

They charged that the investigations against Annette Schavan did not meet academic
standards. It was a "one-sided assessment of the plagiarism allegation," Wolfgang
Marquadt, the head of WR said.
These statements make Bernhard Kempen, the president of the German Association of
University Professors and Lecturers (DHV), angry. He believes the response of the academic
organizations constitutes unprecedented interference in the ongoing investigation.
"There is an attempt here to intervene," he said. "It is clear that any attempt to influence the
result of this process in any way - no matter whether it benefits or harms the (education)
minister - is absolutely damaging."