Defence of doctoral thesis

An application for a public defence is made using an online form. The doctoral student completes the form with the support of the principal supervisor.

Submit an application for a public defence
Read more information and instructions for the form

For the Research Training Committee to process the application, the application form must be correctly completed and the application approved by the principal supervisor and the person responsible for doctoral studies at the department.

Apply to the Research Training Committee 12 days before a committee meeting that is at least 12 weeks before the defence date.

The defence application must include

• The title of the thesis
• The date of the public defence
• Proposal for the external reviewer
• Proposal for the examining committee
• Chair of the defence ceremony
• All supervisors
• Examiner

Appendices:

1. The author’s brief summary of the thesis with a list of included papers
2. The supervisor’s statement on the novelty of the thesis and the doctoral student’s contribution, progression and independence, and whether the objectives of the doctoral studies have been achieved
3. A report card for the internal distribution of funds at the Disciplinary Domain, signed by all concerned supervisors and heads of department
4. A register extract from Ladok, where the doctoral courses are clearly marked
5. The papers included in the thesis

When applying, the papers must be published articles or manuscripts. The manuscripts must be ready to be submitted to a journal, with finalised tables and figures, and any supplementary information.

Before the application for a public defence can be finalised, a consultation must be held with a member of the Research Training Committee regarding, among other things, the election of members and conflict of interest issues. Please note that consultations cannot be held with the chair or student representatives of the committee.

The consultation will address issues such as:

• Choice of an external reviewer
• Composition of the examining committee
• Conflict of interest issues
• Included papers, the publication status of each paper and whether each paper has been or will be included in a thesis of another doctoral student

Checklist for consultation before defence registration

The supervisor or doctoral student should consult with the appointed member of the Research Training Committee:

Find out more about publishing your thesis on the University Library’s webpage

All theses at the Disciplinary Domain of Medicine and Pharmacy must be completed using the University’s thesis template.

The doctoral thesis must be available at the University Library for at least three weeks before the defence, in the number of copies needed to enable a satisfactory review of the thesis before the defence.

The period from 15 June to 15 August may not be included in this availability period.

The external reviewer should be an academically well-qualified person, from another higher education institution, with the necessary knowledge of the author’s research field.

Fee: SEK 15,000. The department is responsible for payment.

The defence is led by a chair.

The chair may be one of the members of the examining committee, but may also be a person appointed solely to chair the public defence, in which case they must be an academically well-qualified person. In the latter case, the chair may not participate in the examining committee’s deliberations or decisions. The examiner may act as chair.

The supervisor or other person directly connected to the author’s thesis work cannot be the chair.

The chair must be employed at, adjunct to, emeritus at, or otherwise affiliated with Uppsala University.

All dissertations at the Disciplinary Domain of Medicine and Pharmacy undergo a mandatory advance review before the public defence. The advance review is done by the examining committee appointed by the Research Training Committee.

One of the members should be appointed as the coordinator for the advance review. The supervisor may propose a coordinator. The coordinator should not work at the same department as the author or any of the supervisors. The Research Training Committee decides on the coordinator for the advance review.

1. When the Research Training Committee has decided on the advance review, the defence application, together with the protocol for the examining committee’s advance review and instructions, is sent to the examining committee.
2. The coordinator summarises the results of the examining committee’s advance review and confirms with their signature (preferably electronic), after which the protocol is sent to the Research Training Committee. The examining committee has ten working days from when the assignment is decided and communicated by the committee.
3. When the Research Training Committee has received the protocol from the advance review, the defence application can be taken up again for approval of printing and publication (“spikning”). The decision is usually made as a chair’s decision or, if the examining committee recommends not to authorise the public defence, after discussion at the committee’s next meeting.

If the decision is negative, the new defence date may not be closer than three months from the first indicated date.

Plagiarism control of theses is crucial for ensuring the quality of theses.

After the examining committee has completed its advance review, the Research Training Committee decides whether the doctoral student may proceed to the printing and “spikning” of the thesis with the support of the Disciplinary Domain. In connection with this, a plagiarism check of the introductory chapter of the thesis (so-called “Kappa” ) must be done. The principal supervisor and the doctoral student are responsible for carrying out the plagiarism check. The software is called Ouriginal.

Find out more about the plagiarism control system

The department must ensure that the plagiarism check is documented and registered and that the documentation is available for any follow-up.

The defence should be held at Uppsala University. However, the Research Training Committee can decide that the public defence may be held elsewhere, for example, at the clinical research centres affiliated with Uppsala University.

The description below is based on examples from the website of the Swedish Council for Higher Education.

The public defence is led by a chair.

1. The chair opens the defence, explains the proceedings and introduces the author, title of the thesis, external reviewer and examining committee members.
2. The author may present any corrections and amendments to the thesis.
3. The external reviewer and/or the author provides an overview of the research area, a summary of the content of the thesis and its novelty value.
4. The external reviewer provides a review of the thesis with discussions and questions of various kinds to the author, and the author defends their thesis by answering the questions.
5. The examining committee asks the author supplementary questions.
6. The audience is invited to ask the author questions.
7. The chair closes the defence.
8. The examining committee convenes.

Remote defences

The author and the chair must always be present on the premises specified in the “spikblad”. Ordinarily, the external reviewer and the examining committee are also present.

However, if there are special reasons, remote participation via video link may be allowed for the external reviewer or examining committee members. This should be announced in the defence notification or promptly thereafter through a request by email to the Research Training Committee for a decision.

In such cases, a video link for the public must also be available. The Research Degrees Committee recommends a video link for public participation for all public defence documents.

If the external reviewer or a member of the examining committee gives notice of inability to attend before the defence

• A written request with a proposal for a new external reviewer or member is sent to the Research Training Committee. If necessary, there is a consultation, after which a chair’s decision is made as soon as possible.
• If a chair’s decision cannot be made before the public defence, the chair or vice chair should be contacted for an oral notification. If the chair or vice chair cannot be reached, one of the other regular members of the committee should be contacted, and the administrator notified.

Absence on the day of the defence

1. The chair first examines if the absent person is late. If this is the case and the late person can come, the defence can be postponed for an hour. A morning defence can be moved to the afternoon if it has been checked that the time is free. Contact the committee chair, vice chair or administrator.
2. If an absent examining committee member is unable to attend the defence, the chair of the public defence investigates whether a replacement is available. If an extra examining committee member is listed in the author’s defence application, they should be asked in the first place. The rules for the composition of the examining committee must be observed. Contacts are made according to point 1 above.
3. If the external reviewer fails to appear, the chair of the public defence examines whether a member of the examining committee can take over the role of the external reviewer. A replacement member of the examining committee must then be appointed according to point 2 above, following the rules for the composition of the examining committee (same as above). Contacts are made according to point 1 above.
4. If the absence of the chair, if they are not a member of the examining committee, one of the members of the examining committee is asked to take on the role of chair.
5. If the defence has to be postponed, a new date must be booked in the defence calendar, and the Research Training Committee notified for a formal decision.

The committee shall appoint a chair from among its members. The external reviewer is entitled to be present at the examining committee meeting and to participate in the deliberations but not in the decisions. The same applies to the supervisors. The examining committee has a quorum when all members are present.

The decision of the committee shall be the majority opinion. The committee decides whether to justify the decision and if reservations should be recorded.

Meeting of the examining committee:

1. The supervisor reports on the doctoral student’s work in the presence of the examining committee and the external reviewer, after which the supervisor leaves the room.
2. Deliberations are held in the presence of the examining committee and the external examiner, after which the external examiner leaves the room.
3. Further deliberations and decisions are made in the presence of the examining committee only.

The chair of the defence, if not a member of the examining committee, and the author’s examiner may not attend or participate in either the examining committee’s deliberations or its decisions.

Minutes are prepared according to the template for the examining committee’s decision and sent, partly in electronic form, scanned with signatures, and partly as an original, to the Office of Medicine and Pharmacy.

• Book the date, in good time, in the defence calendar.
• Contact Thesis Production at the University Library.
• Ensure that the intended external reviewer and intended examining committee members are available.
• Consult a representative of the Research Training Committee (not the chair, vice chair or doctoral student representatives) about the defence application.
• The application has to be discussed at a meeting of the Research Training Committee no later than 12 weeks before the planned defence date.
• The defence application has to be sent to the Research Training Committee 12 days before the committee meeting, which is at least 12 weeks before the date of the defence.
• All mandatory courses and elements must be approved.
• The total number of theoretical credits must be at least 30 credits.
• Book a venue.
• “Spika” 3 weeks before the defence. The author sends the thesis to the external reviewer, examining committee members and chair of the defence.
• Inspect the premises in advance so that you know how the technology works.
• Examination board minutes.
  

The Student Registry Unit issues degree certificates. For them to do so

1. The administrator at the doctoral student’s department must first register the thesis in Ladok
2. The doctoral student must then apply for a degree certificate from Ladok

When these steps are completed, the degree certificate will be sent to the doctoral student.

For further information, please contact the Student Registry Unit.