From final seminar to public defence
This orientation provides an overview of procedures and processes from the final seminar to the conferral of the doctoral degree.
Main content
Final seminar
Each candidate must complete a final seminar in accordance with the faculty’s guidelines for obligatory final seminars. The final seminar typically takes place three (3) months before applying for assessment.
- The final seminar is organized by the individual department.
- The committee is led by the department head or research leader.
- When using an external member in the committee, a notification should be sent to the faculty, which will arrange the appointment letter and compensation.
- The main supervisor writes a report from the final seminar according to the guidelines.
- The committee signs the report, in addition to the candidate and main supervisor.
- The report is sent to the faculty for storage in the candidate’s study folder.
Current regulations:
Application for Assessment
Prior to the application
The training component of 30 ECTS credits must be completed and approved before submitting the artistic reflection. Contact the faculty to obtain final approval of the completed training component with an FS report 727.001 attached, signed by the main supervisor, department head, and dean. The documents for final approval should follow as an attachment to the application for assessment.
It is recommended that you review the application form to understand the documentation required well in advance before planning to submit the assessment application, preferably in connection with preparations for the final seminar.
Application for assessment
The application for assessment is directed to the faculty with a copy to the department head five (5) months before the planned presentation of the artistic outcome. NOTE: The application must be submitted 6 months in advance if the period includes the holiday month of July. It is the main supervisor’s responsibility to inform the faculty that the assessment application is imminent. The main supervisor typically recommends the application and signs the application form.
See the guidance on page 3 in the template for details on what should be included with the application for assessment.
Current regulations:
Processing of the application
The department initially processes the application by reviewing all attachments and contacting the candidate if anything is missing. Once all attachments are in place, the department head signs the application before the faculty processes it.
The faculty reviews the application to ensure all requirements are met and necessary attachments are included. If the application is incomplete, it is returned to the department, which is then responsible for providing any missing information. If all aspects of the application are complete and the necessary attachments are included, the faculty will request the department to propose an assessment committee.
Current regulations:
Appointment of assessment committee
When the faculty itself has approved the application for the evaluation of the PhD result, it appoints an expert committee consisting of at least three members. The committee is responsible for assessing the PhD result and the public defence. Here are some important points regarding the appointment of the assessment committee:
Committee Proposal: The unit where the PhD project originates proposes members for the evaluation committee. Proposed members receive a brief presentation of the project. The unit must ensure that the members are available during the period when the candidate plans to present the artistic result and inform them that a tentative defence will take place within 2 months thereafter. The composition of the committee should be justified and demonstrate how it collectively covers the field of the PhD project. The criteria for composition are outlined in section 11-2 Appointment of assessment committee in the regulations. The committee chairperson should normally be employed by the faculty. The institute head completes the form, which is signed and sent to the faculty.
Faculty Review: The rules of impartiality in section 6 of the Administrative Procedure Act apply to the committee members, and the faculty obtains declarations of impartiality from the proposed members.
Notification to the Candidate: The candidate is informed about the proposed committee composition by the faculty and has the opportunity to submit written comments within five (5) working days after the proposal is made known.
Timeframe: Normally, no more than four (4) weeks should pass from the approval of the application for assessment until the committee is appointed.
Faculty Appoints Assessment Committee: The dean evaluates the proposal and approves it by signing. Subsequently, the faculty sends an appointment letter to the committee. If the dean rejects the proposal, the form is returned to the department with comments, and the department must make a new proposal.
Current regulations:
Assessment of the PhD Result
The committee's recommendation must be available no later than three (3) months after the committee has received all parts of the Ph.D. result for evaluation.
Based on the assessment committee's recommendation, the faculty itself decides whether the Ph.D. result is worthy of defense.
The assessment committee's recommendation, with any dissents and individual statements, is sent to the faculty and should be forwarded to the candidate as soon as possible. The candidate is given a deadline of ten (10) working days to submit written comments on the recommendation. Comments should be directed to the faculty.
Regulations:
§ 11-3 Asessment of the Ph.D.-result
§ 12-2 Recommendation of the assessment committee
§ 12-3 The faculty´s procedures relating to assessment committee´s recommendation
Program description section 4.4 The assessment committe´s work.
Errata - Correction of Formal Errors
The candidate may, after submission or presentation, apply for permission to correct formal errors, but only in the reflection component.
Programme description section 4.5 describes what is meant by formal errors.
The deadline for applying to correct formal errors is five (5) working days after the candidate has received the recommendation. Correction of formal errors can only be done once.
The faculty's template for errata must be used.
If the application contains many corrections, it is recommended to list the corrections in a spreadsheet with the following column references:
Exposition section/Chapter/Section/Type of Change/Current Incorrect version/Proposed Change
Applications to correct formal errors should be sent to the faculty, and the processing time is 14 days.
Once the application is approved, the document must be uploaded to the Research Catalogue as a single-page PDF under Content, and the formal errors must be corrected in the reflection component in accordance with the approved errata. The faculty will reopen the exposition for this purpose and set a deadline for the candidate to do the corrections.
At the same time, the candidate must insert the UiB logo (see the section on Publication for logo download) and a standard text on the front page of the exposition as follows:
Reflection and documentation of artistic result submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Philosophiae Doctor (PhD) in Artistic Research at the University of Bergen. Date of public defence: dd.mm.yyyy.
The candidate must change the status of the exposition to resubmit for reviewing within the deadline, thereby notifying the faculty that the exposition has been submitted (closed for reviewing).
Regulations:
Publication
When presenting the artistic result, it must be publicly showcased. The reflection section and any other material included in the assessment should be made publicly accessible no later than two (2) weeks before the date of the public defense. The material will be made available in the form it was submitted for assessment, possibly with corrections made according to Regulation § 12-5.
Documentation of the artistic outcome, along with the reflection section, should be archived and made available in a permanent format.
Upon publication or release, the candidate must adhere to current guidelines for crediting institutions. The general rule is that an institution should be acknowledged if it has provided necessary and significant contributions to or the foundation of the published work.
The publication must clearly state that it is a collaboration with the Faculty of Music and Design and is part of the named Ph.D. candidate's artistic result for the Ph.D. degree in artistic research at the University of Bergen. The KMD/UiB logo should be used.
Regulations:
Press release
The time and location of the public defense must be announced at least ten (10) working days before it takes place.
The candidate is required to submit a press release in Norwegian. The candidate may choose to submit a press release in English.
In the thesis portal, you will submit your press release (requires login) to the UiB website's section on new doctoral degrees, as well as provide data for the calendar entry on the uib.no website regarding the defense. The press release should be distributed to newspapers, journals, organizations, and collaborators, as well as to individuals who have signed up on a list.
This process ensures that the public defense is properly announced and that relevant stakeholders are informed about the Ph.D. research and its upcoming defense.
Research Catalogue
The Ph.D. result should normally be published and archived as a complete entity through the faculty's research portal on researchcatalogue.net no later than two weeks after the defense. The candidate may request permission from the faculty to use other systems for publication and long-term archiving if it enhances the dissemination of the Ph.D. result. It is essential that such systems can be managed by the University of Bergen. Typically, this application should be submitted together with the application for final assessment.
This process ensures that the Ph.D. research is properly documented, accessible, and preserved for future reference and scholarly use, in accordance with institutional guidelines and standards for academic dissemination and archiving.
Regulations:
Public Defence
The candidate shall provide a public defence of the Ph.D. result in the form of a doctoral defense. The defence should normally take place within two (2) months after the faculty has deemed the work worthy of defence. The faculty itself decides on approval for the public defence based on the recommendation of the evaluation committee.
Timeline public defence
Procedure and manuscript for public defence
Regulations:
Archiving of the Entire PhD Result
The PhD result should normally be published and archived collectively through the faculty's research portal at researchcatalogue.net no later than two weeks after the defence.
The candidate may apply to the faculty to use other systems for publication and permanent archiving if it serves the communication of the PhD result. It is a prerequisite that such systems can be managed by the University of Bergen. Such an application should normally be submitted together with the application for final assessment to phd.kmd@uib.no.
Once the candidate's PhD result and defence have been approved, the exposition in researchcatalogue.net will be downloaded as a zip file and sent to the National Library. The zip file will also be stored in the candidate's student folder.
The Department
The department processes the candidate's application for assessment and checks that all requirements are met, that the necessary attachments are included, and that the main supervisor has signed the application. The application is signed by the head of the department before it is sent to the faculty.
Once the faculty has processed the candidate's application for assessment, the departement will receive a request from the faculty for a committee proposal. The department submits a reasoned proposal for the assessment committee in the form for the appointment of the assessment committee. The regulations provide provisions on the composition of the committee, cf. § 11.2 in the regulations. Normally, no more than four weeks should pass from the time the candidate's application for assessment is approved by the faculty until the assessment committee is appointed.
The deparment participates in a one-hour digital information meeting with the assessment committee and the Ph.D. coordinator well in advance of the committee's work starting (which is when the candidate presents the public presentation of the artistic result). In the meeting, the committee will be informed about the PhD programme's objectives and profile, as well as the assessment committee's responsibilities and tasks.
The department is available for questions and welcomes the committee when they are being presented for the candidate's public artistic result.
Regulations:
§ 11-2 Appointment of an assessment committee
Programme description section 4.4 Work of the Assessment Committee
The Faculty
The assessment committee is appointed by the dean, ideally within one month after the assessment application is approved by the faculty. Appointment letters for committee members are sent by the faculty along with a statement outlining the basis for assessement. This includes a plan detailing where, when, and how the artistic outcome will be publicly presented, as well as specifications for the submission of the reflection section.
The recommendation of the assessment committee is sent to the faculty once all members have signed it, and it should be forwarded to the candidate as soon as possible thereafter. The candidate is given a deadline of ten (10) working days to submit written comments on the recommendation.
If the committee's recommendation is unanimously positive, it is handled by the dean. If the recommendation is not unanimous, or if the committee does not find the result worthy of a doctoral defense, it shall be handled by the faculty board.
The faculty prints the diploma certificates, which are awarded to the new doctors during the doctoral graduation ceremony.
Regulations:
Chairperson of the Public Defence
The public defence is chaired by the dean, vice dean, or deputy dean. The chairperson of the defence ensures that it proceeds in a dignified manner. The specific procedures for the defence are described further in the section on the public defence. The gown that the chairperson wears during the defence should be available at the faculty.
Assessment committee
The assessment committee evaluates the PhD result and provides a written, reasoned recommendation to the faculty on whether the result is deemed worthy of defending for a doctoral degree at the University of Bergen. If the Ph.D. result is approved for defence, the defence itself must also be approved by the committee. It is the committee chair who announces whether the defence is approved or not.
The recommendation of the assessment committee is sent to the faculty once all members have signed it.
The duties of the committee chair are detailed in the Guide for PhD Assessment
The committee communicates with the faculty through the committee chair. Practical matters such as hotel bookings, fees, etc., are handled directly with the PhD-coordinator.
Regulations:
Doctoral Ceremony
After receiving recommendations from the committee and the defence chairperson, the faculty confers the candidate the degree of philosophiae doctor (PhD).
The University of Bergen holds doctoral graduation ceremonies in the University's Aula three times a year: normally at the end of January, the end of April, and the end of August. During the ceremony, the faculty dean presents diplomas to the new doctores who were conferred by the University Board in the previous semester. Family and friends are welcome to attend the ceremony, and invitations to the doctoral ceremony are sent out from the university director's office. Travel to the doctoral ceremony is at the candidate's own expense.
Salary policy UiB – criteria for bonuses
According to the Salary Policy for UiB, point 3.4, PhD candidates who submit their doctoral thesis before the end of the scholarship period may be granted a salary increase of NOK 25,000 (per year), effective from 6 months prior to the submission date. The promotion is conditional upon the successful completion of the defense.
For PhD candidates in artistic research, it is when they submit the entire PhD result (reflection + artistic presentation) before the end of the financing period.
