German education minister stripped of PhD One of the closest confidantes of Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, was fighting for her political survival on Wednesday after a committee of university professors stripped her of her title of doctor of philosophy. Annette Schavan, minister for education, science and research in Ms Merkel's coalition government, refused to accept the decision, and announced her intention to appeal against it. She is resisting strong pressure from opposition leaders calling for her resignation. The philosophy faculty of the university of Düsseldorf, where Ms Schavan received her PhD degree in 1980, announced that after a thorough investigation her thesis had been found to contain numerous unattributed quotations from other people's work. The professors concluded that her doctoral essay, titled "The Individual and Conscience," contained such frequent citations without identification that it amounted to "deliberate deception through plagiarism." Ms Schavan has publicly admitted to making "careless mistakes." Although she is a popular minister, a devout Roman Catholic, and a very close ally of the chancellor, Ms Schavan is facing strong calls from the opposition for her resignation. In an election year, she may find them impossible to resist, in spite of strong support from Ms Merkel. Her position is particularly sensitive because she is responsible for scientific research and university education in the German government. "Ms Schavan is no longer credible as minister for science," Andrea Nahles, secretary-general of the opposition Social Democratic party, told the newspaper Die Welt. She must draw the right conclusions. The same standards must apply to everyone, regardless of the esteem in which they are held. Renate Künast, joint leader of the Green party in the German Bundestag, said: "I assume that Ms Schavan will spare herself and the scientific community any continuation of this affair, and announce her resignation." Although Ms Merkel has repeatedly expressed her trust in Ms Schavan, the minister's political position has been further weakened by her own very public criticism of Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg, the former defence minister, when he was forced to resign two years ago after being accused of plagiarising his doctorate. At the time, Ms Schavan said that she was "ashamed, and not just secretly" of Mr zu Guttenberg's behaviour, as someone who had studied for her own doctorate more than 30 years previously. She was thought to be reflecting the views of Ms Merkel, who also has an academic doctorate, but was not prepared to criticise her defence minister in public.