Comments and Suggestions of the Institute of Industrial Economics of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine to the Draft Rules for Awarding Scientific Degrees

The paper highlights the comments and proposals prepared by scientists of the Institute of Industrial Economics of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine to the draft Rules for Awarding Scientific Degrees, developed by the National Agency for Quality Assurance in Higher Education (NAQAHE) and proposed for public discussion. The proposals address the issues of organization of dissertation defence, improvement of organizational forms of presentation of materials, motivation of applicants for scientific work and involvement of young people in creative activities, increasing the prestige of science, problems of admission to the defence of dissertations of applicants, who are working in business entities, but not in educational and scientific institution, personal responsibility of members of the specialized academic councils for unreasonable decision-making, low level of professional expertise and unpretentiousness, as well as emphasizes the need to substantiate the provisions on funding pre-trial procedures and the defence of dissertations, especially in budgetary institutions. In the paper considerable attention is paid to the requirements given in the draft Rules to applicants for the degree considering publications of main results of their studies. The proposed system does not provide a balance between the remuneration of scientists and the costs associated with the publication of their scientific results in journals, which are indexed in leading abstracting and indexing services. It is inexpedient to accept the proposed requirements for dissertations in the form of scientific articles for candidates for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. The article provides a table of changes that are proposed to be made to the draft Procedure for publications. Given that the process of preparation of higher qualifications scholars goes far beyond the powers and competencies of the NAQAHE, it is proposed to return to the system of the Higher Attestation Commission (HAC) as a supervisory body under the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine. This system has paid off over the years, along with the expansion of the rights, duties and responsibilities of higher education institutions and research institutions for the training of scientific personnel – doctors of philosophy and doctors of sciences. The important role of the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine and the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine in scientific and methodological support and coordination of research works, which should become the basis of dissertation research, their examination and coordination of implementation, is also emphasized.