On October 13, 2010, at the meeting of the Dissertation Council of the IOM RAS the Habilitation Dissertation of Dr Serguei A. Frantsouzoff, Society and State in Ancient Hadramawt, from the Early First Millenium BCE to the mid-first millenium CE [Общество и государство в древнем Хадрамауте (начало I тысячелетия до н.э. – середина I тысячелетия н.э.], was defended.

All 16 members of the Council headed by Prof Dr E.I. Kychanov took part in the meeting. Three official opponents such as Prof Dr M.B. Piotrovsky, the head of the State Hermitage, Dr M.A. Dandamayev, chief researcher at the IOM’s Department of Ancient Eastern Studies, Dr M.A. Rodionov, head of the Department of South-Eastern and Southern Asia of the Peter the Great Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography (the Kunstkamera), delivered their positive reviews.

During discussion Dr V.V. Emelyanov, St Petersburg University, and Dr Yu.A. Vinogradov, head of the Department of the History of Classical Culture, the Institute of History of Material Culture, RAS, delivered their opinions.

The Dissertation Council decided unanimously to petition the Russian Highest Classification Committee for granting Dr V.M.Rybakov the Habilitation degree.