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Science 2 December 2005:
Vol. 310. no. 5753, p. 1423
DOI: 10.1126/science.310.5753.1423a
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Figure 1
One degree too hot? Just a year after taking office, Ireland's first national science adviser, Barry McSweeney, has been transferred to a new job in light of a controversy over alleged flaws in his résumé. McSweeney had described himself as a "biochemist" with a Ph.D. from Pacific Western University (PWU) in Los Angeles, California. Questions about his credentials arose after an investigation last year by the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) named PWU as one of several "diploma mills" that give degrees based on life experience rather than coursework. PWU, for example, offered to sell a Ph.D. to a GAO investigator for $2595 (www.gao.gov/new.items/d04771t.pdf).

McSweeney, 55, has two degrees that haven't been challenged: a bachelor's from the University of Cork and a master's from Trinity College, Dublin. Before becoming science adviser, he directed a joint research center for the European Union, overseeing a staff of 2500 in four countries. Last week, he moved to a research manager's job in the Irish Department of Communications, Marine, and Natural Resources.

"Nobody questioned [McSweeney's] ability or enthusiasm," says Conor O'Carroll of the Irish Universities Association in Dublin, but O'Carroll says some people felt his résumé was not a good advertisement for Irish science. McSweeney's former office issued a statement saying he was "pleased" with his new job but that he would not comment further.

CREDIT: DEPARTMENT OF ENTERPRISE TRADE AND EMPLOYMENT/DUBLIN




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