Why I Burned My University Diploma

Ukrainian science is not quite science in the universal sense. It is a fragment of Soviet science, which was based not on truth but on authority and connections. Soviet academicians, like general secretaries, were only removed from their offices feet first. Anything the state needed could become "science"—for example, electric welding or various kinds of humanitarian and philosophical nonsense. But anything that did not fit into the state ideology, such as genetics, was not considered science at all. The largest number of scientific articles in history was published by such Soviet scientists.  

In my early years, I worked under the leadership of a director of a National Academy of Sciences institute. I never saw him conduct any research. Yet, he was constantly publishing in a journal (in which he was the editor-in-chief)—always as the first author. He had no real understanding of how science worked beyond the walls of his own institute. There is nothing wrong with an older scientist providing general guidance while younger researchers do the tedious work. But in such cases, the first author should be the direct executor of the research, while the supervisor should be listed only at the end.  

At another National Academy of Sciences institute where I worked, the department head always placed her name at the end of the author list. She had extensive experience working abroad at leading research institutions. Like all scientific cosmopolitans (and science can only be cosmopolitan—"national science" is a fiction and a barren chimera), she had mastered the unwritten rules of scientific ethics.  

KNU (Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv) is a bastion of Soviet-style mentality. Danilyuk is a typical Soviet-era, fossilized academic leader. He does nothing himself but is always the first author on papers, like an eternal student. And now it turns out that he is also a thief—grabbing anything that isn’t nailed down and claiming it as his own scientific work.  

After my thesis defense speech, Danilyuk asked, "How did you manage to do such a project without me?" There was genuine surprise in his eyes. In societies like Ukraine, spheres of influence are divided among powerful 'watchers,' a term borrowed from Russian prison jargon ('smotriashchiy'). In those fields of domestic science where Soviet authoritarianism persists—mainly among non-natural disciplines that have never had and still do not have international ties—there are also their own "watchers."  

Danilyuk is the "watcher" of ethnic psychology in Ukraine. No dissertation in this field is defended without his strict paternal oversight. He is the first name on all supervisory boards, editorial boards, and roundtable discussions. The first in the list of authors. Not seeking his permission to conduct research in this field is considered a personal insult—one that, as it turned out, he does not forgive.  

At the end of my thesis defense, he muttered several times under his breath: "Good work, this needs to be published, needs to be published." At the time, I didn't pay much attention to his words. I made a grave miscalculation. He took my work as his own, without asking for my permission, and published it under his name.  

Since discovering this theft, I have been plagued by bouts of nausea. Not a single day has passed without me thinking about this horror. Not a single day without suffering and remembering that naïve, astonished face: "How did you manage to do such a project without me?"  

I feel disgusted holding a diploma obtained from the hands of thieves, Soviet-era relics, and "watchers." KNU can revoke that diploma if they wish—I will never use it in my life. I have never presented myself as a "psychologist," and I never will.  

But my work is my work. They have no right to steal the result of my years of labor.

    

In my initial appeals to KNU in April 2022, I requested that Danilyuk’s article be retracted and that the entire clique (Danilyuk, Shikovets, Kozytska) be held accountable. The extent of their liability was for KNU to determine—it was their right.  

Two and a half years have passed. The article has not been retracted. No one has been held accountable. Danyliuk continues to live large as dean. Shikovets has already defended his dissertation at KNU and moved up the ranks. KNU and Rector Buhrov have engaged in open mockery. In the last letter I received from them, they stated that they had suspended the review of all my appeals.  

On top of this, there have been attempts to bribe the judge presiding over the copyright case (though “presiding” is a wrong word, considering that in two years, not a single hearing has taken place—something I intend to discuss separately in my publications about the legal proceedings).  

Thus, my demands have changed. These people simply do not understand the language of the law or the fundamental principles of human ethics. In the near future, I will declare a hunger strike, followed by self-immolation beneath the red walls of KNU.  

My demands are now as follows:  

To KNU and the Ministry of Education and Science:  

- Dismiss Danilyuk, Shikovets, and Kozytska from KNU for deliberate and conscious plagiarism.  

- Dismiss Buhrov from his position as rector for his cynical mockery of me as an honest scholar and human being, for covering up plagiarism, and for the intentional destruction of the archival copy of my thesis.  

- Establish an independent commission to compare all theses defended at the Faculty of Psychology and the Institute of Continuing Education at KNU during Danilyuk’s tenure with all of his publications from the same period.  

To the Ministry of Education and Science:  

- Create an open electronic database containing full texts of all bachelor's and master's theses defended at all higher education institutions in Ukraine. 

 

To law enforcement agencies:

- Initiate a criminal case against Danilyuk, Shikovets, Kozytska, Lunyov, and Buhrov for driving a person to suicide.  

- Initiate a criminal case against Danilyuk, Shikovets, and Kozytska for misappropriating state funds allocated for research that they never conducted.  

The date of the hunger strike and self-immolation will be announced separately (as soon as I upload all materials to this site in two languages, including court cases, which will take some time).