Submission and public defence

The doctoral promotion takes place in Håkonshallen twice a year

Ephorus

From 2012 the introduction to all PhD dissertations are run through Ephorus, a text recognition programme. The introduction includes everything the candidate has produced for his or her pPhD, except the published articles. If a candidate writes a monograph, the whole dissertation is run through the programme. The check can take from a few hours to a couple of days.

The programme is a help to find text that has been published elsewhere, and the aim is to make it easier to control that the work of others is quoted sufficiently. The report from Ephorus must be approved by the main supervisor before the application to submit a doctoral thesis is sent to the Faculty. Please note that Ephorus might not find all sources, and does not replace the candidate's own responsibility to comply with the University of Bergen's standards for the use of written sources, or the supervisor's responsibility to help the candidate to do so, or to read the work and look for possible palgiarism or poor use of sources. 

Submission

The candidate submits the dissertation to the department, which formally applies to submit the dissertation on behalf of the candidate. Tha candidate can choose to hand in four paper copies, or one pdf file on a USB stick or CD. Please note that the thesis should be the only file on the USB/CD. The following is to be submitted:

• Application to submit a doctoral thesis, including a suggestion for an evaluation committee (Application form here). On paper.
• Dissertation (four paper copies or a single pdf file)
• Statement on multiauthorship (signed by main supervisor) in the same language as the dissertation is written, where the contribution of the candidate is clearly explained in relation to the other authors' contribution. 
• Renewed agreements about the division of academic or financial credit (if relevant)
• Statements on the legal competence of the suggested avaluation committee. (if relevant)

Please note that you can not submit the thesis by e-mail.

Appointing an evaluation committee

To evaluate the dissertation and the public defence thereof, the Faculty appoints an expert evaluation committee consisting of at least three members, based on the proposal from the relevant academic staff. Two members should be from other institutions than the UiB, and the leader of the committee should be from the Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry.

Evaluation report

Within three months, the committee must submit an evaluation report. In this report, the committee reccomends that the thesis is recommended accepted or rejected for public defence. The report is submitted to the faculty and forwarded to the candidate as soon as possible. 

Printing

The candidate should contact the department about how to order printing of the thesis, which is done by AIT. AIT has templates which should be used, to ensure that all printed dissertations from the UiB look similar. 

Press release and announcement

The candidate must prepare a press release in Norwegian and send to the Faculty within two weeks before the public defence. The press release and a photo of the candidate, in two separate files, sholuld be sent to the faculty by e-mail. 

Trial lecture and public defence

The department is responsible for the practicalities concerning the trial lecture and public defence. There is also some technical assistance available. The prescribed topic for the public defence is suggested by the ecaluation committee, and sent to the candidate by e-mail 10 working days before the trial lecture. The trial lecture lasts for 45 minutes, followed by a discussion and questions (15 minutes).

On the public defence, the candidate presents his/her work (20 minutes). The first and second opponents have 1-2 and 1-1,5 hours respectively. Opposition ex auditorio is possible.

Awarding the degree

After the public defence, the faculty notifies the University board about whether the public defence has been approved or not. If the public defence is approved, the candidate will receive an official letter from the rector's office, awarding the degree. The diplomas are handed out twice a year at the doctoral promotion in Håkonshallen. Invitations to this event is sent to the candidates by the rector's office, and we therefore ask the candidates to update their address on studentweb if they move between the public defence and the doctoral promotion.