Higher Attestation Commission (Russian: Высшая аттестационная комиссия, abbreviated Russian: ВАК, VAK) is a name of a national government agency in Russia, Ukraine and some other post-Soviet states 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 (Bulgarian: Висша атестационна комисия) is operating in Bulgaria.
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During the Soviet Union, 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 ranks 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:
Scientific degrees awarded VAK were classified into an established list of specialties, grouped into the following major sections[1]
| Code | Field | Code | Field | Code | Field | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01.00.00 | Physics and Mathematics | 09.00.00 | Philosophy | 17.00.00 | Art Studies | ||
| 02.00.00 | Chemistry | 10.00.00 | Philology | 18.00.00 | Architecture | ||
| 03.00.00 | Biology | 11.00.00 | Geography | 19.00.00 | Psychology | ||
| 04.00.00 | Geology and Mineralogy | 12.00.00 | Law | 22.00.00 | Sociology | ||
| 05.00.00 | Technical Sciences | 13.00.00 | Education | 23.00.00 | Political Science | ||
| 06.00.00 | Agriculture | 14.00.00 | Medical Sciences | 24.00.00 | Culturology | ||
| 07.00.00 | History | 15.00.00 | Pharmaceutics | 25.00.00 | Earth Sciences | ||
| 08.00.00 | Economics | 16.00.00 | Veterinary |