Higher Attestation Commission is a name of a national government agency in Russia

Russia

Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...

, Ukraine

Ukraine

Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...

 and some other post-Soviet states

Post-Soviet states

The post-Soviet states, also commonly known as the Former Soviet Union or former Soviet republics, are the 15 independent states that split off from the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics in its dissolution in December 1991...

 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 is operating in Bulgaria

Bulgaria

Bulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...

.

Russia and the former Soviet Union

During the Soviet Union

Soviet Union

The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....

, 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 rank

Academic rank

This list of academic ranks identifies the hierarchical ranking structure found amongst scholars in academia, whether tenured or non-tenured. The lists below refer specifically to colleges and universities throughout the world, although other institutions of higher learning may follow a similar...

s 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
  Kandidat
  The Candidate of Sciences degree is a first post-graduate scientific degree in some former Eastern Bloc countries, such as Russia and Ukraine, which is awarded for original research that constitutes a significant contribution to a scientific field. The degree was first introduced in the USSR on...
  
   and Doctor of Science
  Doctor of Science
  Doctor of Science , usually abbreviated Sc.D., D.Sc., S.D. or Dr.Sc., is an academic research degree awarded in a number of countries throughout the world. In some countries Doctor of Science is the name used for the standard doctorate in the sciences, elsewhere the Sc.D...
  
  , 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
  Professor
  A professor is a scholarly teacher; the precise meaning of the term varies by country. Literally, professor derives from Latin as a "person who professes" being usually an expert in arts or sciences; a teacher of high rank...
  
  ;
• making decisions on equivalence of foreign degrees awarded to Russian citizens.

Fields of study

Scientific degrees awarded VAK were classified into an established list of specialties, grouped into the following major sections

Code	Field	|	Code	Field	|	Code	Field
01.00.00	Physics Physics Physics is a natural science that involves the study of matter and its motion through spacetime, along with related concepts such as energy and force. More broadly, it is the general analysis of nature, conducted in order to understand how the universe behaves.Physics is one of the oldest academic...  and Mathematics Mathematics Mathematics is the study of quantity, space, structure, and change. Mathematicians seek out patterns and formulate new conjectures. Mathematicians resolve the truth or falsity of conjectures by mathematical proofs, which are arguments sufficient to convince other mathematicians of their validity...	09.00.00	Philosophy Philosophy Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational...	17.00.00	Art Studies
02.00.00	Chemistry Chemistry Chemistry is the science of matter, especially its chemical reactions, but also its composition, structure and properties. Chemistry is concerned with atoms and their interactions with other atoms, and particularly with the properties of chemical bonds....	10.00.00	Philology Philology Philology is the study of language in written historical sources; it is a combination of literary studies, history and linguistics.Classical philology is the philology of Greek and Classical Latin...	18.00.00	Architecture Architecture Architecture is both the process and product of planning, designing and construction. Architectural works, in the material form of buildings, are often perceived as cultural and political symbols and as works of art...
03.00.00	Biology Biology Biology is a natural science concerned with the study of life and living organisms, including their structure, function, growth, origin, evolution, distribution, and taxonomy. Biology is a vast subject containing many subdivisions, topics, and disciplines...	11.00.00	Geography Geography Geography is the science that studies the lands, features, inhabitants, and phenomena of Earth. A literal translation would be "to describe or write about the Earth". The first person to use the word "geography" was Eratosthenes...	19.00.00	Psychology Psychology Psychology is the study of the mind and behavior. Its immediate goal is to understand individuals and groups by both establishing general principles and researching specific cases. For many, the ultimate goal of psychology is to benefit society...
04.00.00	Geology Geology Geology is the science comprising the study of solid Earth, the rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which it evolves. Geology gives insight into the history of the Earth, as it provides the primary evidence for plate tectonics, the evolutionary history of life, and past climates...  and Mineralogy Mineralogy Mineralogy is the study of chemistry, crystal structure, and physical properties of minerals. Specific studies within mineralogy include the processes of mineral origin and formation, classification of minerals, their geographical distribution, as well as their utilization.-History:Early writing...	12.00.00	Law Law Law is a system of rules and guidelines which are enforced through social institutions to govern behavior, wherever possible. It shapes politics, economics and society in numerous ways and serves as a social mediator of relations between people. Contract law regulates everything from buying a bus...	22.00.00	Sociology Sociology Sociology is the study of society. It is a social science—a term with which it is sometimes synonymous—which uses various methods of empirical investigation and critical analysis to develop a body of knowledge about human social activity...
05.00.00	Technical Sciences	13.00.00	Education Education Education in its broadest, general sense is the means through which the aims and habits of a group of people lives on from one generation to the next. Generally, it occurs through any experience that has a formative effect on the way one thinks, feels, or acts...	23.00.00	Political Science Political science Political Science is a social science discipline concerned with the study of the state, government and politics. Aristotle defined it as the study of the state. It deals extensively with the theory and practice of politics, and the analysis of political systems and political behavior...
06.00.00	Agriculture Agriculture Agriculture is the cultivation of animals, plants, fungi and other life forms for food, fiber, and other products used to sustain life. Agriculture was the key implement in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that nurtured the...	14.00.00	Medical Sciences	24.00.00	Culturology Culturology Culturology is the branch of Social Sciences concerned with the scientific understanding, description, analysis and prediction of cultural activities, cultural systems and culture broadly-construed.-History of the term in Russia:...
07.00.00	History History History is the discovery, collection, organization, and presentation of information about past events. History can also mean the period of time after writing was invented. Scholars who write about history are called historians...	15.00.00	Pharmaceutics Pharmaceutics Pharmaceutics is the discipline of pharmacy that deals with all facets of the process of turning a new chemical entity into a medication able to be safely and effectively used by patients in the community. Pharmaceutics is the science of dosage form design...	25.00.00	Earth Sciences
08.00.00	Economics Economics Economics is the social science that analyzes the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. The term economics comes from the Ancient Greek from + , hence "rules of the house"...	16.00.00	Veterinary

• Notice the gap of 20-21: these positions were occupied by Marxist topics during the Soviet era.

External links

• Higher Attestation Commission of the Ministry of Education and Science of Russian Federation (official site)
• Higher Attestation Commission of Ukraine (official site)
• Higher Attestation Commission of the Republic of Belarus (official site)
• Higher Attestation Commission of the Republic of Uzbekistan (official site)
• Higher Attestation Commission of Bulgaria (official site)