Mystery of Iran's president-elect Hassan Rowhani's two theses

The timeless setting of the religious seminary of Qom - spiritual home of Iran's ruling theocracy - could hardly be in greater contrast to the rumbustious modernity of Glasgow Caledonian University.

Students in the former willingly submit themselves to a monastic life of earnest study designed to qualify them as Islamic clerics. Most of those in the latter lead a less self-depriving existence, aided by the large number of pubs in nearby Glasgow city centre. Yet Hassan Rowhani, Iran's new president-elect, has the distinction of having crossed the cultural divide to attend both institutions.

Having experienced the rigours of Qom's theological teachings in his youth, Rowhani apparently sampled the secular environment of Glasgow Caledonian University in the Nineties, according to his official biography, where he is said to have graduated with a master's degree followed by a PhD.

University records confirm that two theses on Islamic law - both "with reference to the Iranian experience" - were submitted in 1995 and 1998 by a Hassan Feridon, which is believed to be Rowhani's family name. Both theses, one 256 pages long and the other 445 pages, are available in the university library. However, an attempt by The Daily Telegraph to borrow them failed yesterday when it was discovered that both were already out on loan. Library staff said his theses could be borrowed only by students or academic staff.

A university spokesman was unable to shed light on Rowhani's time as a student - a period which would have coincided with his duties as secretary of Iran's national security council, a job whose demands presumably left little scope for prolonged absences or study.

Two university alumni from the Nineties contacted by The Daily Telegraph had no recollection of a  Rowhani - or Feridon - increasing suspicions that he may have earned his qualifications in absentia. Writing in the Huffington Post, Amir Dastmalchian, an academic affiliated to King's College, London, said absenteeism was possible.

"The lack of regular compulsory elements in most British doctorates means that students can find ways to obtain doctorates for work conducted in another language," he wrote. "Whatever is the case with Rowhani's PhD, it is certainly possible, in specific instances, to obtain a doctorate in the UK without truly going through a process of new learning and without being part of the academic life of a university."