Higher Attestation Commission (, , abbreviated Cyrillic: ВАК, Latin: VAK) is a name of a national government agency in

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

and some other

post-Soviet states The post-Soviet states, also referred to as the former Soviet Union or the former Soviet republics, are the independent sovereign states that emerged/re-emerged from the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. Prior to their independence, they ...

that oversees awarding of advanced academic degrees. Due to translation differences, these committees are sometimes translated as the "State Supreme Certification Commission" or other similar variation; the common Cyrillic-based acronym of VAK remains a constant with all versions. A commission of a similar kind () operated in

Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...

until 2010, when it was abolished as part of a reorganisation of academic structures. On December 9, 2010, the Higher Education Commission of Ukraine was merged into the

Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine The Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine () is the main body in the system of central bodies of the executive power of Ukraine. History On 28 June 1917 Ivan Steshenko was appointed Secretary of Education in the First Vynnychenko gov ...

Russia and the former Soviet Union

During the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

, the Higher Attestation Commission under the USSR Council of Ministers (also abbreviated as VAK) oversaw and controlled the awarding of advanced

academic degrees An academic degree is a qualification awarded to a student upon successful completion of a course of study in higher education, usually at a college or university. These institutions often offer degrees at various levels, usually divided into un ...

and

academic rank Academic rank (also scientific rank) is the rank of a scientist or teacher in a college, high school, university or research establishment. The academic ranks indicate relative importance and power of individuals in academia. The academic ran ...

s in all of the USSR. With the fall and break up of the Soviet Union, separate Higher Attestation Commissions arose in the newly independent nations. For example, the Russian agency became the Higher Attestation Commission of the Russian Ministry of Education and Science, taking similar duties in the

Russian Federation Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

. The responsibilities of the Russian Commission include: * coordinating Dissertation Councils in Russian universities and research institutes; * promulgating regulations concerning awarding of academic degrees; * awarding the degrees of

Candidate of Sciences A Candidate of Sciences is a Doctor of Philosophy, PhD-equivalent academic research degree in all the post-Soviet countries with the exception of Ukraine, and until the 1990s it was also awarded in Central and Eastern European countries. It is ...

and

Doctor of Sciences A Doctor of Sciences, abbreviated д-р наук or д. н.; ; ; ; is a higher doctoral degree in the Russian Empire, Soviet Union and many Commonwealth of Independent States countries. One of the prerequisites of receiving a Doctor of Sciences ...

, upon the recommendation of the Dissertation Council in the university or research institute where the defense of the dissertation took place; * awarding the academic rank of

Professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other tertiary education, post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin ...

; * making decisions on equivalence of foreign degrees awarded to Russian citizens. Since 2016-2019, some (29, as of June 2020) top-level educational and scientific establishments in Russia, e.g.

Moscow State University Moscow State University (MSU), officially M. V. Lomonosov Moscow State University,. is a public university, public research university in Moscow, Russia. The university includes 15 research institutes, 43 faculties, more than 300 departments, a ...

, were granted the right to award degrees independently, i.e. without a control, of the VAK; there are voices against extension of this option. The Higher Attestation Commissions in other nations have similar responsibilities.

Fields of study

Scientific degrees awarded VAK were classified into an established list of specialties, grouped into the following major sections *positions 20.xx.xx were occupied by military sciences, position 21.xx.xx are kept in reserve since abolition of "naval sciences" at 1980th.

References

External links

Higher Attestation Commission of the Ministry of Education and Science of Russian Federation
(official site)
Higher Attestation Commission of Ukraine
(official site)
Higher Attestation Commission of the Republic of Belarus
(official site)
Higher Attestation Commission of the Republic of Uzbekistan
(official site)
Higher Attestation Commission of Bulgaria
(official site) {{Authority control Science and technology in Russia Education in Russia Education in the Soviet Union Education in Ukraine Science and technology in Ukraine Science and technology in the Soviet Union Science and technology in Belarus Education in Belarus Educational organizations based in Belarus

Russia and the former Soviet Union

Fields of study

See also

References

External links