Voigt to lose doctorate - lawsuit announced

The Chemnitz University of Technology has reportedly revoked the doctorate of Thuringia's Minister President Mario Voigt (CDU). Voigt announced that he would appeal against the decision of the Faculty of Philosophy to the Administrative Court. The passages objected to by the faculty related to 2.58 percent of the words in his thesis, Voigt explained. "The scientific core of my work is not affected by the accusations." Chemnitz University of Technology has not yet commented on the matter.

Famous political scientist is doctoral supervisor

Voigt received his doctorate in 2008 with a thesis - largely written in the USA - entitled "Der amerikanische Präsidentschaftswahlkampf. George W. Bush versus John F. Kerry". His doctoral supervisor is the Chemnitz-based political scientist Eckhard Jesse, who became known for his controversial image of the horseshoe for left-wing and right-wing extremism. Allegations that Voigt's doctoral thesis had been sloppy arose during the election campaign ahead of the 2024 state elections.

According to Voigt's lawyers, the allegations regarding the dissertation relate to the fact that Voigt did not evaluate the original sources he quoted, but instead blindly copied them from secondary literature. "It is noteworthy that the allegations do not predominantly concern allegedly unmarked plagiarism," the statement said. The allegations could have been completely refuted. According to his lawyers, it was possible to prove that Voigt had written his entire thesis himself.

Stricter rules in ongoing proceedings?

Voigt reacted to the university's decision in a statement with incomprehension. "The independent expert appointed by the university clearly confirmed that my dissertation meets the scientific requirements. Why the university did not follow its own expert opinion is incomprehensible to me," said the 48-year-old.

In addition, the head of government criticized the procedure in the review process. According to the report, the external assessor had voted against revoking the doctorate in February 2025. New assessment standards for plagiarism procedures were then introduced in May 2025 and applied to his dissertation. "To change the rules of the game retrospectively and drastically in an ongoing procedure is - to put it mildly - highly unusual," said Voigt.