Pressure mounts on science adviser over dubious PhD

WITH his €120,000-a-year job on the line, pressure is mounting on the Government’s chief scientific adviser to publicly explain a dubious PhD he received in America.

As controversy continues over a US doctorate received by Dr Barry McSweeney, EU Commissioner Janez Potocnik has been formally asked by Labour MEP Proinsias De Rossa whether the scientist used the PhD to apply for two senior EU jobs as the director general of the EU's Joint Research Centre and head of the EU unit responsible for the Marie Curie research fellowships.

The doctorate in question was awarded by the Pacific Western University, an institution accused of being no more than a 'degree mill' and described by the Irish accrediting authorities as not having "accrediting powers within the US".