Sandra Borch

Sandra Konstance Nygård Borch (born 23 April 1988) is a Norwegian former politician who served as the minister of research and higher education from 2023 to 2024 until her resignation over the extensive plagiarism of her master's thesis. As minister she had launched a crackdown on students' reuse of their own texts, so-called "self-plagiarism," leading to criticism from many academics who argued that reuse of one's own work is not plagiarism or research misconduct. She previously served as minister of agriculture and food from 2021 to 2023. A member of the Centre Party, she served as the leader of the Centre Youth from 2011 to 2013, while simultaneously serving as a deputy MP from her home constituency of Troms from 2009 to 2013. She was elected a permanent representative in 2017. In January 2024 it was revealed that significant parts of her master's thesis had been plagiarised. She announced her resignation in the evening of 19 January 2024. She risks losing her degree.