Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg’s doctoral thesis had received the top grade. Both reviewers rated it summa cum laude. When the plagiarism became known, the University of Bayreuth did not lower the grade. Its own explanation: Verstöße dagegen führen nicht zu einer anderen Note, sondern wie hier zur „Disqualifikation”. Violations of the rules lead not to a different grade but to disqualification. The university withdrew the doctorate on 23 February 2011. For this it did not need to decide whether he had cheated on purpose. It was enough that the title had been acquired unlawfully in objective terms. Guttenberg admitted that he had not worked correctly. He denied any intent to deceive. A commission for self-regulation in science then examined that question separately. On 6 May 2011 it found that he had die Standards guter wissenschaftlicher Praxis evident grob verletzt und hierbei vorsätzlich getäuscht, evidently and grossly violated the standards of good scientific practice and deceived on purpose.