The affair started on 19 January 2024 when it was revealed that the Minister of Research and Higher Education, Sandra Borch, had plagiarized her master's thesis, resulting in her resignation the same day.
The next day it was revealed that the Minister of Health Ingvild Kjerkol had plagiarized parts of her thesis and fabricated interviews with research informants, leading to calls for her resignation.
[8] Newspaper Aftenposten reported that Borch told Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre that she would resign about an hour after being confronted with the plagiarism accusation.
[16] The day after Borch's resignation it was revealed that parts of the master's thesis of the Minister of Health Ingvild Kjerkol had been plagiarised, and she was accused of fabricating interviews with research informants.
[1][17] Kjerkol's master's thesis in the field of "knowledge management" was submitted to Nord University by her and her co-author Kristel Buan Linset, currently headmistress at Hommelvik lower secondary school, in 2021.