The chairperson opens the dissertation by presenting the respondent, the title of the thesis, the Faculty Opponent and the members of the examination committee (this part is usually in Swedish). The respondent continues by accounting for errata, and other corrections or information, if any.

General presentation

The respondent gives a presentation (typically 15 minutes), summarizing his/her work. Then the Faculty Opponent gives a brief presentation (typically 15 minutes), giving some general background and, thus, putting the thesis into a larger perspective.

After these presentations the chairperson will give an opportunity for those in the audience who wish to leave before the main discussion to do so.

Discussion

Then the opposition follows. The Faculty Opponent offers questions and views on the scientific relevance, methods and results, and the respondent then orally defends his/her thesis in relation to the questions raised by the Faculty Opponent. While the time spent is up to the opponent and there is no formal time limit, an overly long defence should be avoided.

Before the Faculty Opponent closes the discussion, he/she may summarize his/her opinion of the thesis.

Question session

The members of the examination committee then have the opportunity to ask the respondent questions. After that the chairperson invites questions from the audience.

If it appears that the whole procedure will last considerably more than about two hours, there should be a short break after two hours. This is decided by the chairperson.

The examination committee

The three (or five) members of the examination committee, selected by the Board of the Faculty, meet afterwards to decide whether the thesis and the defence should be approved. The Faculty Opponent and the supervisor are allowed to participate in this meeting, but have no vote and must leave when the committee takes the decision.

The respondent, friends and family and other members of the department wait for the decision in MISU’s lunch room.

Finally, if the defence has taken place in the morning (as is customary), the respondent, the supervisors, the opponent, the examination committee and the chairperson of the defence are all invited to lunch, usually at the Faculty Club.

Decide on the date of the defense at least three months in advance. Discuss the dissertation and the defense before that in the PhD committee. The defense and nailing of the thesis shall take place within the term period; exceptions are only permitted by the Vice-Chancellor. The defense should be conducted between 15th August and 15th June (no public defense is allowed during the summer months). Only one defense within the same section can take place simultaneously. In practice the availability of the opponent often determines the date. At some periods of the year, especially at the end of the spring term, there may be shortage of available dates.

It is the PhD student’s responsibility to book the date for the public defense at the Student Services (disputationer@su.se or extension 7527); information is available on the Faculty’s homepage (click current year for guidelines). The PhD student informs the responsible administrator at MISU about the date of the defense and the administrator books the room for the defense.

The main supervisor shall inform the ämnesansvarig about the public defense no later than eleven weeks before the intended date of the defense. The dissertation doesn’t necessarily have to be finished at this point (the writing of the summary may not even have begun yet) but enough material should be ready to make it possible to judge whether the defense can be recommended. The material should include a description of the PhD student’s contribution to the different articles (this description should also be included in the summary). The ämnesansvarig nominates an internal reviewer. The ämnesansvarig shall also inform the Teachers Board at the department about the dissertation, and they can contribute with feedback. The reviewer and the ämnesansvarig deliver a proposal to the Head of Department (Prefekt). If a decision is made to advise against a public defense, the PhD student can demand a written decision from the Head of Department.

The Section Dean must appoint the opponent, the members of the examination committee and the defense chairperson no later than seven weeks before the intended public defense. The main supervisor, in agreement with the ämnesansvarig, shall one week in advance prepare a proposal to be approved by the Head of Department. The proposal shall be completed on the form disputationsanmälan, available on the Faculty’s homepage. The description of the people in the proposal should mainly concern their scientific competence and academic level; the description should also state clearly that they meet the requirements listed below. Send the form to prefekten@misu.su.se and a copy to the ämnesansvarig at least 8 weeks before the date of the defense (the Head of Administration at MISU, receives a copy automatically). After approving the proposal, the Head of Department forwards the form to the Dean for decision (disputation@science.su.se), with a copy to the ämnesansvarig, the responsible administrator and the Head of Administration.

The opponent should have the academic level of docent and should not be emeritus. Deviations from these rules must be motivated in the proposal. The opponent must not be employed by SU, and must not have collaborated, co-published or shared research grants with the PhD student or, during the last five years, with the supervisors. For more detailed information, check the faculty’s regulations.

The examination committee consists of three persons. They should have the academic level of docent, but should not be emeritus. Deviations from these rules must be motivated in the proposal.  The conditions for impartiality of the committee members are the same as for the opponent. If there are any doubts as to the impartiality of a member, this is usually a sufficient reason to propose a different person, even if formal impartiality doesn’t exist. It is not recommended to propose members of the student’s PhD committee for the examination committee. Both genders should be represented in the committee; if this is not the case, a motivation must be written in the proposal.

One reserve member of the examination committee should be appointed. At MISU the reserve member is nominated within the department, and also acts as the committee coordinator. The reserve member must be able to replace anyone of the three regular members. This means that two of the regular members must not be employed by SU. These two members should not come from the same department. The third regular committee member should come from the Faculty, according to the SU guidelines, but must not come from MISU. Also remember that adjunct lectors and professors are considered to belong to both the department where they are adjunct and to their regular workplace.

The supervisor cannot act as a chairperson during the public defense. However, a member of the examination committee can be a chairperson. The conditions for impartiality of the chairperson are the same as for the opponent. At MISU, the reserve member and coordinator of the committee is usually also appointed as the defense chairperson.

The examination committee and the opponent must have access to the PhD thesis in a preliminary form at least seven weeks before the intended public defense. The PhD student sends the thesis to the opponent and the committee. Note that it’s important to make clear to the potential committee members and the opponent that they must read the thesis in time to be able to give the preliminary evaluation before the thesis is printed.

The examination committee coordinator (normally the chaiperson or the reserve committee member from MISU) shall receive the committee’s recommendation in good time before the printing of the thesis. The printing of the thesis takes place five or six weeks before the defense; the PhD student should check the exact date. It means that the committee members may have only one week to submit their recommendations. The opponent has formally no say in this matter, but it’s advisable to give him/her the possibility to express his/her opinion in advance.

A recommendation to postpone the defense, e.g. as a result of the examination committee’s preview, shall be submitted to the Head of Department, the ämnesansvarig and the main supervisor as soon as possible. The advice against defense shall be submitted to the PhD student by the Head of Department.

When the Dean has taken a decision about the defense, the responsible administrator sends a letter to the examination committee and the opponent with a copy to the main supervisor and the committee coordinator. The letter contains information about the defense procedures and travel arrangements as well as an invitation to the defense lunch. The Faculty also sends out key guidelines, but this usually happens so late that the opponent has already done most of the preparations.

The PhD student shall contact the printer in good time to obtain information and make a schedule (see instructions on the Faculty’s webpage, under current year). The thesis shall be printed and delivered no later than 12 o’clock the day before the nailing, and the final printing must begin at least 8 working days before nailing. One should therefore submit the manuscript for the printing of galley proofs two to three weeks before the nailing.

The nailing of the thesis must take place no later than 3 weeks before the intended public defense. In connection with the nailing the printer delivers three copies to the Student Services, seven obligatory copies, 18 copies to the University Library for further distribution to Swedish university libraries and the Nordic national libraries and the rest (at least 50 copies) to the department. From the copies delivered to the department the PhD student distributes the thesis further to the opponent, the examination committee, the supervisors, all researchers and PhD students at the department and to other Swedish university departments for which the thesis is of interest. The PhD student retains at least 5 copies (and possibly the copies that have been returned).

The public defense usually begins at 10 o’clock. The people involved usually meet at MISU in advance.

The public defense begins with the chairperson presenting the participants. The respondent and the opponent then give short presentations, the former to present the thesis and the latter to put the thesis in a broader perspective. The presentations shouldn’t be longer than 15 minutes each. After the presentations the opposition takes place. Finally, the committee and the public shall also have the possibility to ask questions. There is no formal time limit, but it’s good if the defense can be finished after about 2 hours or possibly a bit later. The chairman should discuss this with the opponent in advance, and if the opponent expresses a wish to oppose for a longer time, a break should be arranged after about 2 hours.

After the defense all participants return to MISU where the examination committee deliberates and a reception is held in the kitchenette. The responsible administrator arranges the reception and books lunch at 12.30 for the opponent, the examination committee, the chairman, the supervisor and the PhD student. The PhD student’s partner is also welcome to participate.

If the opponent is a guest from far away and arrives earlier, the main supervisor (if he/she wishes to) can, within the representation expenses, invite the opponent for a dinner the evening before the public defense.

• Three months before: the supervisor contacts the opponent; the PhD student books the date for defense and informs the responsible administrator at MISU who books a room.
• Eleven weeks before: the supervisor informs the ämnesansvarig who appoints an internal reviewer.
• 8 weeks before: the supervisor sends the disputationsanmälan form with the proposal for opponent and examination committee to prefekten@misu.su.se
• 7 weeks before: the Dean of the section decides about the public defense and the PhD student sends the thesis to the opponent and the examination committee.
• 6 weeks before: the coordinator receives the committee’s recommendation.
• 5-6 weeks before: the PhD student delivers the dissertation to the printer.
• 3 weeks before: nailing.

The defense of the licentiate thesis also requires a preliminary review.

1. 8 to 6 weeks in advance The supervisor proposes an opponent and one external committee member as well as a planned time for the defense to the ämnesansvarig. The seminar time should have been discussed with the MISU administrator responsible for scheduling. Ämnesansvarig appoints an internal reviewer at MISU, who performs a preliminary assessment of the thesis and gives a recommendation of whether it meets the criteria for a licentiate thesis. It is practical if the internal reviewer also can serve as the internal committee member at the licentiate seminar.
2. Information about the template and layout of the thesis can be found at Medarbetarwebben/Visuell Identitet (Swedish).
3. 4 weeks before the seminar
   i) The internal reviewer gives a recommendation to ämnesansvarig.
   ii) Ämnesansvarig takes a formal decision on the seminar time and the committee members and opponent. The supervisor normally chairs at the seminar.
   iii) The candidate distributes the thesis to the committee.
4. 3 weeks before the seminar
   i) The committee gives a recommendation to ämnesansvarig on whether the thesis holds sufficient quality to be publicly defended.
   ii) The licentiate seminar is announced by the department; the announcement provides information on how an electronic version of the thesis can be obtained.
   iii) The candidate publishes the summary/abstract of the thesis in DiVA and distributes the thesis to relevant institutions in Sweden.
   iv) The candidate starts the printing process.
5. 3 weeks before the seminar
   Contact Eprint in Stockholm for printing the thesis. They offer a test-print service and would need at least 10 working days to print the thesis. The delivery might take 2 extra days.

Some general remarks of responsibility in relation with Licentiate seminars

The supervisor:

• proposes an opponent and one external committee member.
• in consultation with the MISU administrator responsible for scheduling, finds a suitable seminar time.
• puts the opponent and external committee member in contact with relevant MISU administrator if they need assistance with travel booking.
• chairs the seminar (as a general rule).
• takes part in the grading discussion directly after the seminar.

Ämnesansvarig:

• appoints the internal reviewer, the committee members, and the opponent.
• receives the recommendations from the internal reviewer, the committee members and the opponent.

Internal committee member:

• is the examinator.
• chairs the grading discussion directly after the seminar; the committee members, the opponent, and the supervisor should be present.
• makes sure that the grade is documented in a written protocol, singed by the internal committee member and the supervisor.

The candidate:

• distributes a preliminary thesis to the internal reviewer in time.
• distributes the thesis to the committee members, and opponent/discussion leader in time.
• takes care of the printing of the thesis.
• publishes in DiVA.

More information:

Regulations for Licentiate seminars at MISU

Rules for examination of Licentiate theses at the Faculty of Science (in Swedish)