Council of Higher Educational and Scientific Institutions

(also called academic council), in the USSR, a consultative body headed by a rector, dean, or director that reviews and coordinates research, methodology, and instruction.

The council of a higher educational institution or of a department reviews curricula and syllabi and supervises research and instruction, advanced training for specialists, and the preparation and publication of methodological studies. The council also reviews applicants for professorships and other teaching positions and selects heads of subdepartments and deans. In addition, it makes recommendations for the conferring of academic ranks on instructors and staff members. The scientific and technical councils of scientific research institutions are analogous to the councils of higher educational institutions or of departments.

The Council for Awarding Academic Degrees is a specialized certifying body that approves the presentation of dissertations for defense. The dissertations may deal with one subject or with two or three related subjects. Councils that approve the presentation of doctoral dissertations are established at the leading scientific research and higher educational institutions in each field. Members of these councils—who number at least five in each specialty—hold the degree of doctor of sciences. Councils for awarding the degree of candidate of sciences are established at higher educational and scientific research institutions that are widely known for their scholarly and scientific achievements. Such councils include at least three doctors of sciences and three candidates of sciences in each specialty; doctors of sciences should constitute at least half of the council.

At the request of academies of sciences, ministries, and departments, the Supreme Certifying Commission of the Council of Ministers of the USSR (the SCC of the USSR) confirms the membership of the specialized councils that approve the presentation of doctoral dissertations and the awarding of academic degrees. These councils consist of 11 to 25 persons. The commission also approves the specialties covered and specifies the term of the councils’ authority (three to five years). Councils for the scientific research institutions of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR are established by the SCC of the USSR and the Presidium of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR. The work of the councils is regulated by the Statute on the Procedure for Awarding Academic Degrees and Conferring Academic Ranks (1975).