OK, so who here is going to qualify for PhD.ac?

[George Brown]

http://www.phd.ac

This press release (http://www.prweb.com/releases/2005/2/prwebxml209357.php) suggests that 'there is neither a legal nor technical barrier in impersonating a respected researcher online, or creating a line of ficticious qualificatios (sic) for oneself. PhD.ac reverses this, by only providing services to those who have been hand verified to be bonafide holders of higher academic degrees, such as the PhD and the DPhil. By incorporating widely used digital signatures, and a revolutionary 'email whois' lookup, PhD.ac gives users as much authority online as they hold offline.

I can see the feathers fly over this one.

Cheers,

George

[J]

You bet.

It is strange that such a venture should not disclose who is behind it. One would expect, at the least, major university support in order to attract credibility.

How long, I wonder, before the first lawsuit? Not long, I suspect. On the other hand, the definition of "recognised" universities may be wide rather than narrow. How will St Regis fare, I wonder?

I also note in that respect that the coat of arms which appears on their site is not theirs and that they are acting illegally by using it.

[George Brown]

Dear Vincent,
Many thanks for your reply. I agree with your sentiments re-the prevalence of academic fraud, and the ease by which people can obtain fake qualifications. As such, I am interested to know what the criteria for membership are re-the use of a PhD.ac address. What types of higher education institutions are acceptable re provision of a PhD and therefore to be deemed a legitimate PhD holder (in the eyes of your organisation) Kind regards, George Brown
*****************************

Dear Mr. Brown,

What can I help you with?

Kind Regards,

Vincent
--
V F Murphy
Director
PhD.ac
************************************************
Quoting George Brown <gbrown@HigherEdConsulting.com.au>:

> Dear Sir/ Madam,
>
>
>
> I have some questions regarding this service - can you assist?
>
>
>
> Kind regards,
>
>
> George Brown

[George Brown]

...and the response:

Dear George,

PhD.ac verify applicants at three levels. First the identity of the issuing university is checked for recognition with an appropriate government body for that country. The university is then contacted to verify the details of the PhD award which was described to us. Finally the applicant's existing employer or institution is contacted in order to verify their current placement.

It is not our policy to involve ourselves with the debate over which institutions are able to issue PhD degrees, if they are recognised by the relevant government agency and all seems above board to us then they will be accepted.

Kind Regards,

Vincent

[J]

Good news for the St Regis guys, then.