Submission, assessment and public defence
The defence is an academic discussion between the opponents and the doctoral candidate. The defence itself is open to the public.
Main content
Normally, close relatives, fellow students, colleagues and faculty members from the department are present. It is customary for the candidate and the opponents to dress formally.
For detailed information, please see “Procedure for the defence of doctoral theses at the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences". This can be found bellow.
Guidelines for errata
A PhD dissertation must be assessed exactly as submitted. The candidate can apply once to correct formal mistakes that do not affect the academic content, before the final version of the thesis is printed and/or published in BORA.
Press release
In consultation with the supervisor, the candidate shall write a press release in Norwegian a minimum 3 weeks before the disputation. The press release must be based on the current template, and is sent to the faculty. The faculty is responsible for sending the press release to the Communication Department no later than two weeks before the public defence takes place.
Trial lecture and public defence (disputation)
The trial lecture shall be held after submission of the thesis, and shall normally be held no later than 3 weeks before the public defence. The trial lecture is organised by the department. The head of the department or whoever he/she authorises appoints a separate committee to assess the trial lecture. The committee for the trial lecture shall consist of at least three members, and may have the same chair as the chair of the assessment committee. All of the members can be employed by UiB. All of the members must hold doctoral degrees or equivalent qualifications.
The public defence of the thesis shall be held at the University of Bergen. PhD candidates who have been employed by UNIS may hold their public defence at UNIS by application to the department. The faculty announces the time and place of the public defence at least ten working days before the public defence takes place. No disputations are held in the month of July.
