Defences of doctoral thesis/licentiate seminars are held between August 15 and June 15.
Here you can find the SLU template for doctoral thesis.
The information on this web page is also available in a pdf-file for printing.
Please observe that more detailed information on each step is given below in the expandable menus.
1. Approx. 6 months before the public defence
It is time to book a time and date, and make a request for a room, for your defence, and this is done in the digital calender for public defences. You can see for yourself what times are available via the system. In order for the request to proceed to the venue booking, it is technically important that all fields are answered. Contact external reviewer, examining committee and chairperson.
Instruction for booking time, date and room for public defence or licentiate seminar. (N.B. Swedish and English instructions in the same document.)
2. 3 months before public defence
Application for public defence, together with declarations of conflict of interest, should be sent to the faculty office at least 3 months before the defence (12 weeks for doctoral students admitted before January 1 2013.) Here you will find appropriate forms for application of public defence and declaration of conflicts of interest. At the LTV-faculty the thesis is also sent to the faculty director of studies for pre-examination.
After the decision about public defence has been made, the faculty office sends out an e-mail with information to the external reviewer, examining committee, chairperson, doctoral student and supervisor. The e-mail contains a copy of the decision, as well as degree outcomes and information about the procedures during public defence.
3. 3 weeks before the public defence
The thesis shall be nailed/"spikad" (announced) at least 3 weeks before the public defence. By giving printed versions of the thesis to the registry office (Registrator) and the library, as well as registration of fulltext in the SLU publication database SLUpub which makes it fully accessible, the thesis is announced correctly. You will find more information about announcement, number of theses ex etc below.
4. Day of public defence
NJ- and S-faculties: After the defence, please give a copy of the "Examining committee minutes" to your Ladok-administrator at the department and send the original to your faculty office.
VH- and LTV- faculties: After the defence, please send the "Examining committee minutes" (original) to the officer at your faculty office.
5. Application for a degree is carried out using Ladok for students.
Good luck with your public defence!
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As part of their PhD studies, students will produce a written thesis, consisting of a synthesis based on three to four papers that should have been accepted by, or at least submitted to, an international scientific journal with a referee system or a monograph. A printed thesis should be available for public scrutiny before the candidate's public defence.
A thesis may be a compilation of papers (articles or manuscripts) or a monograph. The faculty board may exclude the possibility of presenting the thesis as a monograph. If so, this must be evident from the general syllabus for the subject. A thesis must be written in English, or in Swedish if this is relevant for the subject.
Rules on the format and quality requirements of the thesis can be found in the SLU guidelines for doctoral education, please read them thoroughly. Please observe that there are different versions of the guidelines, and the one that apply for you is the one that was active when you were admitted as doctoral student.
Here you will find the thesis template.
In addition to the papers included, a compilation thesis must include a summarising chapter, in which the students places their work in an international scientific context with the help of a literature review of the subject and a synthesis of the papers included in the thesis. The thesis section must be checked using the Ouriginal plagiarism checker.
The quality of all papers included in a compilation thesis must be such that they can be published without major reworking in international peer-reviewed scientific journals, or of similarly good quality as recognised within the discipline.
For more information on this, please see the SLU guidelines for doctoral education.
All doctoral students writing a monograph thesis must hold a final seminar no earlier than nine months before the planned date for defence of the thesis, or the licentiate seminar.
The students must present their work, answer questions and discuss comments at the final seminar. An evaluator must participate in the final seminar. Monograph theses must be checked using the Ouriginal plagiarism checker.
For more information on this, please see the SLU guidelines for doctoral education.
External pre-examination is only necessary if the principal supervisor decides that the thesis and doctoral student are ready for the licentiate seminar or the defence of the thesis, even though the formal requirements are not met or if the principal supervisor decides that the thesis and doctoral student are ready for the defence of the thesis even though the evaluator at the final seminar strongly questioned the prospects of the thesis being completed according to timetable.
For more information on this, please see the SLU guidelines for doctoral education.
Thesis defence proceedings/licentiate seminars are held between 15 August and 15 June. Exemption from these time limits may be granted by the faculty board.
The faculty board decides the time and place of the thesis defence/licentiate seminar, and appoints a chair, examining committee and external reviewer (for defence only). Applications for defence of a thesis/licentiate seminar must be received by the faculty office no later than three months before the planned date of the defence/ licentiate seminar.
Applications will only be approved if
The application must be accompanied by
External pre-examination is only necessary if the principal supervisor decides that the thesis and doctoral student are ready for the licentiate seminar or the defence of the thesis, even though the formal requirements are not met or if the principal supervisor decides that the thesis and doctoral student are ready for the defence of the thesis even though the evaluator at the final seminar strongly questioned the prospects of the thesis being completed according to timetable.
Announcement
When the faculty board has approved an application for a public defence or licentiate seminar, the faculty office must announce the defence or seminar in an appropriate manner.
Notification of the defence of a thesis (spikning)
Doctoral and licentiate theses are announced by way of registration with the senior register clerk no later than three weeks before the defence or licentiate seminar. When registered, the thesis must be published in SLUpub at the SLU Library. Registration takes place between 15 August and 1 July. The faculty board may decide on exemptions from these time limits.
Checklist - before the day of public display of the thesis ("spikning")
The application for public defence of a thesis proposes a chair, external reviewer (opponent) and examining committee composed of three or five members to the faculty board, which decides the matter. If the examining committee has three members, a reserve member must be appointed. The persons proposed must have accepted the engagement and signed a conflict of interest declaration before they are proposed to the faculty board. The principal supervisor and assistant supervisor may not be members or chair of the examining committee. Both sexes must be represented as full members of the examining committee. The faculty board may grant exemption if there are particular reasons for doing so.
The external reviewer must have a PhD and the chair must be employed at SLU. Examining committee members must have PhDs, and the majority of them must have been admitted as docent or possess scientific competence considered by the faculty board to be equivalent to that required to be admitted as a docent in the relevant subject. The examining committee present at the defence of the thesis must have at least one member who does not work at SLU and who is employed at a university other than SLU. Only one member may be employed at the same faculty but not in the same department as the doctoral student. A reserve member is appointed if the examining committee is to be composed of three members, and may be employed at the same department as the student. The reserve member should be well prepared to participate in the examining committee, to attend the dissertation or seminar and stay until it seems safe that they do not need to step in. Provided they can be contacted and quickly return, the reserve member can then leave the defence.
The application for a licentiate seminar proposes a chair and examining committee composed of three members and a reserve member. The persons proposed must have accepted the engagement and signed a conflict of interest declaration before they are proposed to the faculty board, which decides the matter. The principal supervisor and assistant supervisor may not be members or chair of the examining committee. Both sexes must be represented as full members of the examining committee. The faculty board may grant exemption if there are particular reasons for doing so.
The chair of the licentiate seminar must be employed at SLU. Examining committee members must have PhDs, and at least one of them must be employed at a faculty other than the student. One member may be employed in the same department as the student.
There must be no conflicts of interest between members of the examining committee and the doctoral student or supervisor. The following circumstances must particularly be taken into account in relation to the examining committee:
A conflict of interest exists if:
The opponent and examining committee members are under a duty to report a conflict of interest in relation to a doctoral student or supervisor. When a member accepts the engagement, a signed conflict of interest declaration must be submitted on the form provided for the purpose.
In the light of the degree outcomes, the examining committee present at the thesis defence must assess the thesis and the author of the thesis oral defence of the thesis. The external reviewer must facilitate the examining committee's assessment by engaging in discussion with the author of the thesis. Hence, the thesis defence must be organised so there is time for
The examining committee must meet immediately after the public defence of the thesis. The committee must appoint one of its members chair of the meeting. The chair keeps the thesis file; the external reviewer and supervisor may attend the meeting of the examining committee, but must leave the meeting when the degree decision is to be taken. The grades possible are pass or fail. The decision is minuted using a common university form provided for the purpose. You will find the form on the staff web page for Regulations and forms used in doctoral education.
The chair must answer questions put by members and the external reviwere as to how the thesis defence is carried out, and is responsible for ensuring that the defence is conducted so the examining committee has the best possible opportunity to perform its duties, and the author of the thesis has the best possible opportunity to show that the degree outcomes have been achieved.
In the light of the degree outcomes, the examining committee present at the licentiate seminar must assess the thesis and the author's oral defence of the thesis. Hence, the seminar must be organised so there is time for
The examining committee must meet immediately after the public seminar. The committee must appoint one of its members chair of the meeting. The chair of the licentiate seminar and the supervisor may attend the meeting of the examining committee, but must leave the meeting when the degree decision is to be taken. The grades possible are pass or fail. The decision is minuted using a common university form for the purpose. You will find the form on the staff web page for Regulations and forms used in doctoral education.
The chair must answer questions put by members as to how the licentiate seminar is carried out, and is responsible for ensuring that the seminar is conducted so the examining committee has the best possible opportunity to perform its duties, and the student has the best possible opportunity to show that the degree outcomes have been achieved.
Changes prior to the date of the defence concerning the examining committee, the external reviewer or the time of the defence
Decisions regarding changes prior to the date of the defence concerning the examining committee, the external reviewer or the time of the defence are made in the first instance by the chair of the doctoral education committee or the chair of the faculty board. The principal supervisor for the author of the thesis is responsible for ensuring that these changes are observed.
The chair for the public defence, who is appointed by the faculty board, is responsible for dealing with any urgent problems on the day of the public defence.
All decisions regarding changes to how the public defence is to be conducted must comply with the provisions in chapter 8 of the guidelines for doctoral education.
If a member of the examining committee is absent or leaves the public defence/the meeting before a decision has been reached
The examining committee is only quorate when all of its members are present. If a member is absent for an urgent reason from an examining committee comprising three members, the reserve appointed by the faculty board steps in, provided this person has been present at the public defence. For an examining committee with five members, one of the members steps down, so that the total number of members present is three. If a member of an examining committee leaves the public defence or a meeting of the examining committee, the chair for the public defence must inform the members that the examining committee is not quorate if a member is absent.
If, during a public defence and as a result of an urgent situation, the examining committee only comprises two members, the chair of the doctoral education committee in the first instance, and the chair for the public defence in the second instance, may appoint a replacement. Provided that all the conditions prescribed in the university's guidelines for doctoral education are met, the external reviewer may also be appointed as a member of the examining committee.
If the external reviewer is absent
If the external reviewer sends his/her apologies prior to the date of the public defence, a new external reviewer must be appointed by the faculty board, following proposals from the principal supervisor.
If the external reviewer is absent for an urgent reason on the day of the public defence, the chair for the public defence examines whether it will be possible to conduct the public defence later the same day when the external reviewer has arrived. The chair for the public defence determines a later time the same day, in consultation with the author of the thesis, the principal supervisor and the examining committee. The new time must be posted on the door of the venue where the public defence is to take place, and the doctoral education administrator at the faculty office must be informed. If the public defence is delayed by more than 2 hours, the decision to postpone the public defence must be attached to the examining committee's minutes.
If the external reviewer is unable to be present later the same day, the chair for the public defence examines whether it will be possible to conduct the public defence with a newly-appointed external reviewer. Together with the principal supervisor, the chair for the public defence examines whether or not one of the members of the examining committee is willing and able to serve as external reviewer, and what the consequences of this change will be on the composition of the examining committee. If this is possible, a decision is made about a new external reviewer by the chair of the doctoral education committee in the first instance, and the chair for the public defence in the second instance. The author of the thesis must be informed of the decision as soon as possible. Decisions concerning a new external reviewer must be attached to the examining committee's minutes, and must explain the background to the decision and specify who made the decision.
If it is not possible to appoint a new external reviewer, the public defence is postponed until another day. This decision is made in the first instance by the chair of the doctoral education committee, and in the second instance by the chair for the public defence. The decision must describe the reason for the decision and specify who made the decision. The author of the thesis and the doctoral education administrator at the faculty office must be informed as soon as possible, and the decision must be posted on the door of the venue where the public defence was to take place. The decision must be sent in writing to the doctoral education administrator at the faculty office for recording purposes.
In the event of dissenting opinions among the examining committee
The grade voted for by the majority of the examining committee shall apply. A member is entitled to register a dissenting opinion in the examining committee's minutes. If a majority of the examining committee votes to fail the author of the thesis, this must always be justified.
If a member of the examining committee announces that he/she has concerns about the quality of the thesis prior to the public defence
If a member of the examining committee announces that he/she has concerns about the quality of the thesis prior to the public defence, the principal supervisor must discuss the matter with the author of the thesis in order to arrive at a solution, e.g. that the public defence be postponed until the problem has been resolved.
LTV-faculty: Lotta Malmborg forskarutbildning-ltv@slu.se
NJ-faculty: Charlotta Eriksson or Sabine Sampels
S-faculty: Charlotta Bergström
VH-faculty: Anette Wichman (fun-vh@slu.se)
General information: Lotta Jäderlund or Eva Stening (FUR-sekr@slu.se)