A researcher has taken a Dutch university to the country¡¯s Institute for Human Rights for not allowing him to defend his PhD dressed as a pirate.

Environmental engineer Michael Afanasyev says that he is a priest of the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster, an organisation that lampoons what it claims are special exemptions for religious people.

He told the Dutch paper?: ¡°Muslims can wear headscarves on their passport pictures for religious motives, and Sikhs can wear turbans.¡± He questioned the university¡¯s right to determine what was important to his religion.

Mr Afanasyev, studying at Delft University of Technology, has previously successfully obtained an Israeli passport in which he wears a colander on his head, in honour of the Spaghetti Monster.

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Pirates are a key part of the satirical religion. ¡°Believers¡± have pointed out that there is a direct inverse correlation between the number of pirates in the world and rising global temperatures.

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The university told the newspaper that PhD defendants needed to wear ¡°formal¡± attire. Headscarves would be allowed if they did ¡°justice to the subdued character¡± of the occasion, but a pirate costume was not appropriate, it stated.

david.matthews@timeshighereducation.com