China man, 29, with 4 PhDs and several master’s degrees probed for dubious credentials
Many question man’s academic credentials as ‘against common sense’ given that most PhDs take at least 4 years to complete
A young Chinese man has astonished mainland social media with his remarkable academic accomplishments, which include two postdoctoral degrees, four PhDs, four master’s degrees, and more than 20 memberships in academic organisations.
Zhao Zijian, 29, sparked intense public debate after the Inner Mongolian National Culture and Art Research Institute announced his appointment as a researcher and shared his incredible academic credentials.
Zhao stated that he earned doctoral degrees in performing arts, psychology, education, and biblical studies. He specifically mentioned two institutions where he completed his doctoral studies: a “Catholic university” in South Korea and Lyceum of the Philippines University, a private school.
He also claimed to hold multiple master’s degrees in communications, Buddhist studies, and mindfulness studies from the University of Hong Kong, Baptist University, and both the University of Zaragoza and Miguel de Cervantes European University in Spain.
In addition to his degrees, Zhao has 22 memberships in various academic societies spanning diverse fields such as economics and medicine, and he has published 24 “high-level” academic articles, aggregating an impact factor of “28+” - a metric indicating how frequently the articles were cited in a given year.
Many people questioned Zhao’s academic credentials as being “against common sense”, since most PhDs typically take at least four years to complete.
