Public defence of doctoral thesis

Details of the Dissertation and licentiate seminar, thesis preparation and application for degree certificate are listed on this page.

Public defence of doctoral thesis (Dissertation)

To receive a doctorate, the doctoral student must receive a pass grade on a doctoral thesis. Writing the thesis must be equivalent to studies worth at least 120 credits (equivalent to two years of full-time study). More specific requirements for the thesis' scope in credits are described in the general syllabus for each subject.

Thesis production

According to the Higher Education Ordinance, a doctoral thesis shall be orally defended at a public defence. A proposal for the public defence is prepared at the school. The process for this at each of the faculties is outlined below.

The proposal states e.g. date of the public defence, title of thesis, opponent, examination committee members and chair. The proposal is administrated by analysts at the Faculty Office and a decision on the proposal is made by the chair of each faculty board (the dean).

If you have any questions concerning the proposal for public defence etc. contact the Faculty Office, disputation@oru.se.

The Faculty of Business, Science and Engineering (ENT)

The doctoral student and/or main supervisor informs the school's study and research administration that they wish to submit a proposal for the public defence, whereupon the administration sends a link to an online form, which the doctoral student and main supervisor must fill in. The head of school then makes a digital decision regarding the submission of the proposal for the public defence. Thereafter, the Faculty Office's analyst must be notified by the study and research administration, no later than two months before the planned date of the public defence, that a digital proposal is ready for further processing. If a public defence is planned to be held in September, the proposal must be submitted to the Faculty Office no later than the first week of June.

The Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences (HS)

The proposal for the public defence of a thesis is prepared at the school (a link to the form can be found below) and must be signed by the head of school before it is submitted to the Faculty Office, no later than two months before the proposed date for the public defence. If a public defence is planned to be held in September, the proposal must be submitted to the Faculty Office no later than the first week of June.

Proposal for public defence of doctoral thesis   (Please make sure to print the form single-sided)

Faculty of Medicine and Health (MH)

The doctoral student and/or main supervisor informs the school's Study and Research Administration that they wish to submit a proposal for the public defence, whereupon the administration sends a link to an online form, which the doctoral student and main supervisor must fill in. Please note that the school's Study and Research Administration ask that this is done no later than 15 weeks prior to the suggested date for the defence of the thesis. The head of school then makes a digital decision regarding the submission of the proposal for the public defence. If a public defence is planned to be held in September, the online form need to no later than week 20.  During the Christmas and New Years's holiday, no applications are precessed. 

All dissertations within the Faculty of Medicine and Health (MH) must undergo an ethics review prior to a decision being made in regard to the proposal for the public defense of a doctoral thesis. The documentation must be submitted in accordance with the template developed within Rutin för etikgranskningsfunktion inom Fakulteten för medicin och hälsa (Appendix 1) (in Swedish). This process should begin at the latest 15 weeks prior to the date for the public defence of the thesis. The etical review function is closed during the summer and opens week 32. 

Licentiate seminar

For a licentiate degree, the doctoral student must achieve a pass grade on a thesis that is equivalent to studies worth 60 credits. More specific requirements for the thesis' scope in credits are described in the general syllabus for each subject.

The thesis should be defended at a seminar. The head of school decides on whether a seminar should be held and, where applicable, the time and place and a reviewer/faculty examiner at the seminar.

Degree certificate

A doctoral student who fulfils the requirements for a Doctoral degree or Licentiate degree shall, on request, receive certification of this from the university. You can apply for the degree certificate through Studenttjänster.