Work of dissertation councils of new system of scientific attestation

Abstract

The paper is devoted to the consideration of the question of whether the Russian system of scientific attestation retains its integrity. The elimination of the monopoly of the Higher Attestation Commission (HAC) in matters of control over the activities of dissertation councils and procedures for defending dissertations made it possible to increase the variety of rules and practices of scientific attestation. Many scientific and educational organizations have developed their own regulations governing the corresponding activities. At the level of legislation, the instruction was fixed for the self-awarding of academic degrees to set requirements not lower than how they are formulated in federal acts. The question of how exactly this instruction is implemented is of research interest. In addition, it is important to understand whether applicants can receive equal rights and opportunities in different parts of the modern system. During the study, three existing subsystems were identified, together forming a single system. The first of them consists of ordinary and special dissertation councils, regulated directly by the Higher Attestation Commission and the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of Russia. The second subsystem is a collection of leading scientific and educational organizations that independently award academic degrees. Finally, the third subsystem consists of spiritual educational organizations, empowered to award theological degrees, which at the level of federal state educational standards are recognized as like other academic degrees. In all three subsystems, options for the defence of dissertations in permanent, one-time and joint dissertation councils were considered. Comparative analysis of regulatory and legal acts made it possible to highlight the similarities and differences of these subsystems, as well as to identify possible options for their development.