[3][4][5][6][7] He played an important role during the Victor Ponta doctoral thesis plagiarism controversy (then the Prime Minister) scandal.

In response, interim Education Minister Liviu Pop (PSD) contested the committee's jurisdiction and dismissed the findings, citing the lack of a quorum.

On July 27, 2016 the CNATDCU (Consiliul Naţional de Atestare a Titlurilor, Diplomelor si Certificatelor Universitare) (reformed by the new Education Ministry) has reconfirmed the plagiarism verdict, subsequently requesting the withdrawal of Ponta's doctoral title.

He is also known for making very embarrassing grammar, spelling and logical mistakes, for example misspelling the word "knee"[8] in Romanian ("genunche" instead of "genunchi"), or that "mistakes can be fixed, while errors cannot" ("greşelile se pot corecta, erorile nu”[8]), or that "12th grade students have been in school for 17-18 years" ("[...] Vă place cum arăta şcoala, când aţi intrat acum 18 ani sau 17 ani?

In defense Pop (graduated from the faculty of mathematics and informatics at the Babeș-Bolyai University, Cluj) publicly argued that this could be the case in another number system for example base 5.