Doctor of Philosophy

Online education used to be seen as something distant and borderline science fiction, but it's a very real element of our society nowadays. Various institutions are offering accredited programs in different fields, and the number is on the rise. At the same time, students have started to pay more and more attention to this type of education due to its inherent benefits.

Serbia's Commission for Accreditation and Quality Assurance said it had detected irregularities at a private college that has been at the centre of plagiarism claims concerning a government minister.

The most important noted flaw is in the field of PhD studies and teaching staff employed at the Belgrade-based Megatrend university.

BELGRADE - The Megatrend University released on Thursday that it has filed the response to the Commission for Accreditation and Quality Control (CAQA) listing the measures implemented to remove the faults concerning PhD theses.

BELGRADE - Over 1,800 scientists and university staff from Serbia and abroad backed the motion to protect academic honour in Serbia which has been submitted to the Ministry of Education, National Council for Higher Education, National Council for Scientific and Technological Development, Conference of the Universities of Serbia and the Commission for scientific titles.

The Senate of Belgrade University is to ask the Conference of Universities of Serbia, comprised of both state and private universities, to form a commission to review claims that the Interior Minister plagiarised his PhD thesis.

BELGRADE - Education Minister Srdjan Verbic has said on Monday that the new public presentation of former Megatrend rector Mica Jovanovic's PhD from another university just confirms the ministry's previous statements.

Professor Srbijanka Turajlic said the only way to resolve the row over whether the Interior Minister plagiarised his university dissertation was for the academic to "wake up and press the authorities" about it, she told BIRN.

Instead, the academic community seems intent on pushing the issue of Nebojsa Stefanovic's PhD thesis under the carpet, the retired professor added.

Srdjan Verbic, Serbian Education Minister, on Thursday called on Mica Jovanovic, rector of the privately run Megatrend University in Serbia, to resign.

The call came after the European Network of National Information Centres on Academic Recognition and Mobility determined that Jovanovic did not obtain a PhD at the London School of Economics, LSE, as his official biography claims.

Over 2,700 professors, lecturers and PhD students in Serbia have signed an online petition demanding an investigation of claims that the Interior Minister copied parts of his doctoral thesis.

BELGRADE - The Serbian Ministry of Culture, Science and Technologic Development has implemented steps in order to establish the facts in connection to the disturbing allegations in the public which call into question the credibility of PhD title of Megatrend University Rector Mica Jovanovic, the Ministry released on Thursday.