University can’t remove a qualification once awarded?

[TomatoSquash]

I completed my PhD ten years ago. It wasn’t until after the examination that I noticed some errors in adding up numbers. Neither my supervisor or examiners had noticed. I asked my supervisor should I correct it? He said no, don’t faff about with it at this point, just do the corrections the examiner has requested.

Now I’ve been informed that a malicious person has been looking at my thesis in the library and has noticed the errors. Apparently they’re saying they’re going to report it and get my PhD taken off me. They can’t do that right?

I have heard of them being stripped but usually only for things like gross misconduct so plagiarism or something along the lines of that.

It's not uncommon for errors to exist in a PhD thesis even after corrections. I would be incredibly surprised if an error resulted in a stripping of the qualification.

Agree - it's highly unlikely your Ph.D. would be removed. Fraud, rather than error, would be required.

Are the results of these calculations essential to your thesis? If they'd come out differently, would you have changed part of your argument? Or your whole argument?

I find it hard to believe examiners wouldn't have spotted fundamental problems. If they had, they would likely have offered you the opportunity to make major / minor revisions. I'm guessing since you offered to fix this that the error had no serious consequences for the argument?

So if this person - and what a creep - is complaining of anything short of fraud, they're actually requesting re-examination of your thesis. And they've no right to make that request. You might have had, within a limited time frame.

I doubt anything will happen, but if you tell us how significant the errors were, maybe we could suggest strategies. Really wouldn't worry though.

I can think of a few theses I've read over the years that I could challenge for misunderstanding / representation of the facts. I'd just look like an idiot - you write a challenge / critique of a published article, but not a PhD thesis. Have you published since, @TomatoSquash . I've seen articles where people also take the opportunity to correct their PhD findings. And without any drama or breast-beating.

God, academia is rife with total losers. I can’t wrap my head around how pathetic you’d have to be to try to wreck someone’s achievement because they made a mistake. But as others have said, it’s highly unlikely that anyone will care.

If the data is in a published scientific paper, the paper could be withdrawn / corrected / retracted. But I've never heard of that happening to a thesis, nor do universities have any process by which they can withdraw a thesis (except gross plagiarism).

I wouldn't be worried - Naomi Wolf still has her DPhil from Oxford, despite her thesis being based on a fundamental historical isconception, and being riddled with errors.

@Bingobango69

I wouldn't be worried - Naomi Wolf still has her DPhil from Oxford, despite her thesis being based on a fundamental historical isconception, and being riddled with errors.

😂 😂 😂

@parietal

If the data is in a published scientific paper, the paper could be withdrawn / corrected / retracted. But I've never heard of that happening to a thesis, nor do universities have any process by which they can withdraw a thesis (except gross plagiarism).

Blatant, demonstrably deliberate falsification of significant results can get a thesis withdrawn too, but that's extraordinarily rare because a) how do you prove that and b) would normally have needed supervisors and examiners to have been asleep on this job.

Your case sounds nothing like that. I wouldn't worry at all. Have you any idea why this person is victimising you like this?