By no later than six months before the planned defence of the doctoral thesis, the PhD student and supervisors must make decisions concerning the timetable, requirements, processes, etc. of the examination. This plan must be approved by the Director of PhD Studies – please see the checklist for defence of doctaral thesis.
Application for public defence of doctoral thesis
The doctoral thesis must be defended at a public seminar that is held within normal working hours during term time (spring or autumn term).
Written application for the public defence (form 5:5) must be submitted by the main supervisor to the Coordinator of PhD Studies by no later than three months before the preliminary date of the public defence.
Instructions concerning the public defence are available in Appendix 2 of the Guidelines for examination in doctoral studies.
Nailing and publication in DiVA
By no later than three weeks prior to the public defence, the thesis must be made available to the public. The purpose of this is so that members of the public shall have the opportunity to read the thesis in advance in order to be able to ask questions at the public defence.
The time and location of the public defence, the PhD student’s name, the title and a summary of the thesis, and the name of the external reviewer (opponent) will be made available on the University’s website (electronic nailing).
The printed thesis shall be made available at the University by no later than three weeks before the public defence. The PhD student is responsible for distributing the thesis according to the specified distribution list to interested parties within and outside the University.
By no later than three weeks before the public defence, the thesis shall also be published electronically in the University’s database of publications, DiVA (Digitala Vetenskapliga Arkivet).
For more detailed information, please refer to the Printing and distribution of theses and for publishing in DiVA.
Nailing ceremony in the University library
Nailing can take place at the universities concerned, for example at both institutions and libraries. When nailing at the library at the University of Skövde, a representative of Team Research Support assists with receiving the PhD student and company and provides a hammer, nail and string to hang the dissertation.
The PhD student brings a nailing copy with holes drilled for the string in the upper left corner. Normally, just over ten people can be accommodated in direct connection to the nailing itself, but all interested parties and, of course, supervisors, close colleagues and relatives are welcome.
A nailing usually takes place within 15-30 minutes and is usually in the nature of a light-hearted event. The library can assist with photography. The Marketing and Communications Office assists the library with advertising in the calendar on the Staff Portal before nailing.
To register a nailing ceremony, please contact forskarstod.biblioteket@his.se.
Public defence – examination of thesis work
The written thesis must be defended at a public defense. The seminar is led by a chairperson ('moderator') who is active at the school within which the thesis was written. The external reviewer (opponent) discusses the thesis with the respondent (PhD student), while the Examining committee is the examiner.
A description of how a public defence at the University of Skövde is to be conducted is available in Appendix 3 of the Guidelines for examination in doctoral studies.
Follow the links to find out more information about the competence requirements, roles and division of responsibility for the external reviewer (opponent), examining committee and the chair.
Applying for degree certificate
Following the successful completion of the third-cycle studies/PhD education, the PhD student must apply to have the degree awarded. This is done either directly in Ladok for students .