Higher Attestation Commission

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Higher Attestation Commission (Russian: Высшая аттестационная комиссия, abbreviated Russian: ВАК, VAK) is a name of a national government agency in Russia and some other post-Soviet states 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 (Bulgarian: Висша Атестационна Комисия) is still operating in Bulgaria, but since the country is about to join the EU, the commission has to be removed.

[edit] Russia and the former Soviet Union

During the Soviet Union, the Higher Attestation Commission under the USSR Council of Ministers (also abbreviated as VAK) oversaw and controlled the awarding of advanced academic degrees and academic ranks in all of the USSR. With the fall and break up of the Soviet Union, the agency became the Higher Attestation Commission of the Russian Ministry of Education and Science, taking similar duties in the Russian Federation.

The responsibilities of the Commission include:

coordinating Dissertation Councils in Russian universities and research institutes;
promulgating regulations concerning awarding of academic degrees;
awarding the degrees of Candidate of Science and Doctor of Science, 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;
making decisions on equivalence of foreign degrees awarded to Russian citizens.