We asked Professor Rostovtsev what a ‘ Dissernet ‘is, why this project is objectionable to the current Russian authorities, and how it can help in the case of Berkovich and Petriychuk. And also why the professor himself ended up in Montenegro and what he thinks about the future. (Spoiler alert: Tries not to think.)
What is a Dissernet?
– ‘Dissernet’ started in 2011-2012, when it became clear that corruption was flourishing in Russian scientific circles. Dissertations are sold and purchased ‘turnkey’: paying a round sum, the client receives not only the finished work, but also a guarantee of successful defense, approval of the Higher Attestation Commission, and a crust. I fell asleep and woke up as a doctor. This corruption chain goes to the very top. and, most importantly, often these dissertations are written off from the first to the last line, only the title page and it are replaced.I’m the author. This is not to say that this is a purely Russian phenomenon. This is a global problem, but in Russia it has taken on an outstanding scale-directly proportional to the scale of universal corruption.
Now there are about 15,000 dissertations in Russia, which we have already proved to be a copywriter. Approximately the same amount-in the process of proof. And these are only those that represent large-scale plagiarism. There are even more of those where an idea or several key pages were stolen.
This benefits science scammers. They run institutes where half of the scientists bought their work. In fact, they are dead souls, not scientists. But there are many of them. Consequently, it is possible to get serious state funding for them.
And it is completely unprofitable for ordinary people who are treated by fake doctors of medical sciences, who are judged by fake (and therefore obedient to the state) judges and prosecutors.
How does this practically happen?
— My friends and I created a compa web database that stores all scientific papers written in the last 20 years. When a new dissertation passes through it, the machine outputs the result: this is plagiarism. All dissertations that are currently being submitted to the Higher Attestation Commission are included in our program. However, it is not enough to find that the work has been written off. It is necessary to prepare an evidence base, write a statement about the deprivation of an academic degree, and apply to the Ministry of Education with it. In 2023, we sent 1-2 such applications every day. 80 of all the works we applied for were found plagiarism, and academic degrees were taken away from their ‘authors’. The remaining 20 were also plagiarized, of course, but their authors were excused at the level of the Presidium of the Higher Attestation Commission. Since the beginning of the war, lawyers and security forces are often excused. And a new topic has emerged: pseudoscientific forensic examinations. They are also written by scientists.
What is ‘pseudoscientific forensic examination’?
-A recent example is the story of Zhenya Berkovich and Sveta Petriychuk. They were told to prove that their’Finist Yasny Sokol’ campaign was a veiled call to extremism. The linguist involved issues a conclusion (conditional): ‘Textbook Z says that a finger held up is a secret sign of terrorists. And in pesi, everyone keeps their thumbs up. This is a call to terrorism.’ Dissernet digs up Textbook Z, andit’s clear that nothing like this is written there. And reports it.
How did you feel when another pseudoscientist was stripped of his degree?
‘No gloating. This is interesting for me from the point of view of creating a sociological map of scientific Russia: where do such ‘scientists’ nest? What will happen to this ‘nest’? I myself was dismissed from the Institute of Theoretical and Experimental Physics in 2013, due to global differences in views on science (and politics) with the new head of ITEF and the Kurchatov Institute, Mikhail Kovalchuk. At the same time, we came up with a ‘Dissernet’. Ahead of the question: no, Dissernet is not funded by anyone. This is a volunteer community. Small donations helped us create a website and pay for the work of lawyers and technicians. We do crowdfunding to support the server and data warehouse. That’s all.
What did you do on February 24, 2022?
– I was in Turkey, on a trip. I read the Internet and was stunned. I thought it was impossible, it wouldn’t last long. I was sure that the ‘orderlies’ would come in tomorrow and sort it out. For several weeks, I woke up every two hours, monitored the news: not yet..? But the paramedics never came. I don’t wake up now.
I’ve been trying to continue doing something in Russia for a long time. After all, we were getting somewhere. For example, the absurd forensic examination in the Berkovich-Petriychuk case was canceled. From Montenegro, it would have been more difficult to do this: you would have had to meet and talk with academics in person, collect their signatures. When I’m here, there’s nothing I can do. There-what I could.
And still went?
– Yes, because there was a real threat. In general, I am used to threats: in 2016, comrades who were dissatisfied with Dissernet’s investigations shot at my Moscow window. I wasn’t hit. Then I moved to live in the country. .. in general, they could get hit now. Everything was resolved within 3 days. I found out that there is a Pristaniste in Montenegro, where you can stay for two weeks, look around. It is very good that there is a Pristaniste. And not only because it gave me a roof over my head personally.
– And who stayed in Russia?
‘That’s all. Friends, colleagues, daughters, cats, home. Crossing the border was unsettling. I went through customs and sent everyone a picture: everything is OK, sleep well. I arrived with only one backpack, and there wasa computer in it. Lucky: I rented an apartment in Budva, I look at the sea in the morning. I’m learning the language, working. I’m enjoying the warm February. I sometimes conduct master classes for Pristaniste: I talk about ‘Dissernet’, about the ‘physics of wine’. Good people come. I do what I like without thinking ahead. There were a lot of losses in my previous life, and I learned to treat them philosophically. But I will return to Russia.
When?
– When the vector changes. When the legislation is rewritten again. When the war is over, and black is black again, and white is white. It will happen, absolutely.
