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So, what are the criteria of "scientifically valid" theses these days?

I would have preferred a statement like, "After discarding all parts which relied upon the fabricated data, the resulting thesis is still acceptable to the committee as a doctoral thesis." However, I feel bad about all the Ph.D.'s out there who may feel they have to defend the integrity of their work. (Mine is in pure math; fabricated data is not a big worry for us :D )

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I was very surprised by the response from the institution. I wonder what the backlash will be with regard to those grants (NIH and AHA). Should this invalidate those grants?

In a world where grant funding is extremely limited, yes. Funding agencies are looking for any reason to reject a grant. I think the only reason to not retract the grant(s) would be the difficulty / practicality of doing so.

Nonetheless, this guy's PhD is practically worthless in this country. He will be unemployable and unfundable.

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