Chinese Professor With Only High School Diploma Suspended in Credentials Scandal

A doctoral supervisor at Jiangsu University of Science and Technology has been suspended and is under investigation after evidence emerged that he had only a high school diploma and fabricated large portions of his academic credentials, The Paper has reported.

Guo Wei, 49, from Ji'an, Jiangxi Province, was hired by the university two years ago as a "chief scientist" and doctoral adviser in its School of Materials Science and Engineering.

His resume claimed he was the top science scorer in Shaanxi Province in the 1994 national college entrance exam, held a Ph.D. from the University of California, served as a senior researcher at the German National Academy of Sciences, led seven national-level major research projects, published over 170 SCI-indexed papers, held 68 international patents, and was elected a foreign academician of the Russian Academy of Engineering.

Subsequent investigations, however, revealed these claims to be almost entirely fictitious.

According to a May report by Top China, Guo claimed to have been admitted to Xi'an Jiaotong University in 1994 as that year's top science scorer in Shaanxi. However, this claim is false. Official records confirm that the actual top scorer was Chu Huaixiang, who enrolled at Tsinghua University and has no connection to Guo.

Guo's doctoral diploma from the University of California was confirmed to be forged, with discrepancies in its font, official seals, and certification numbers. Furthermore, his purported "Guo Model" research was never published in journals such as Nature Materials, and the claimed 170 SCI papers were unverified. Fewer than 80 papers could be traced to him, many of which were published in predatory journals and exhibited signs of data fabrication and duplicate publication.

More strikingly, Guo's title of "foreign academician of the Russian Academy of Engineering" was exposed as a "paid honor," reportedly obtainable for a fee of tens of thousands of dollars. The institution is not recognized as a leading scientific authority in Russia. Other honors, including "Alexander von Humboldt Young Researcher" and "Outstanding Scientist of ASM International," were also unverified, with their certificates identified as digitally altered forgeries.

The scandal came to light in September when Internet users discovered Guo's name absent from the official list of foreign academicians of the Russian Academy of Engineering. An anonymous post on an online whistleblower platform subsequently detailed his fabricated qualifications, fake awards, and alleged misuse of research funds, supported by forged certificates and reimbursement records.

The expose prompted widespread scrutiny from materials science academics and overseas alumni, who systematically dismantled each element of Guo's fabricated profile. Concurrently, his application to become an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences underwent stringent verification, leading to the full exposure of his academic fraud.

On November 18, Jiangsu University of Science and Technology issued a statement confirming it had launched an investigation in September 2025 after receiving reports of Guo's academic misconduct. The probe concluded he had engaged in severe academic dishonesty. The university has since terminated his employment, reassigned his research team members, and filed a report with public security authorities.

On November 21, Guo's wife confirmed to The Paper that he is currently detained by the local police.