The last phase of the doctoral education

Approval of the training component 

6 months before the defence, the candidate must submit a written application for approval of the training component to the Board for Doctoral Education. The application must contain documentation of all the completed parts of the training component. If some parts remain incomplete, the candidate must present a time schedule for completion of the training component.

You can find a template for the application below. Submit the application to your PhD coordinator. 

Thesis submission

At least 12 weeks before the defence, the candidate must submit his doctoral thesis to the Department of Mathematics. The thesis must be accompanied by an Application to submit PhD thesis. More information about the submission of the PhD thesis here.

After the thesis is found eligible for public defence, the candidate will receive an information package from the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences containing regulations for the doctoral degreee philosophiae doctor (PhD) at the University of Bergen and information about the press release and the defence.

All candidates have to hand in a press release in Norwegian before the defense. More information and template here.

Trial lecture

The trial lecture is part of the requirements of the doctoral education. The trial lecture is held after thesis submission and (at least 3 weeks) before the doctoral defence and will be evaluated by a three-member committee lead by the head of the doctoral evaluation committee. The remaining two members are chosen from the departmental scientific staff.

The duration of the trial lecture is 45 minutes. The title will be announced to the candidate 2 weeks (10 workdays) in advance by the PhD coordinator. The topic of the given subject must not be obtained from the key issues in the PhD thesis. The trial lecture must be successfully completed before the defence. You can find more information about the trial lecture here.

Public defence

The final stage of the doctoral training is the public defence of the thesis. If approved, the thesis will be defended by discussing the research findings with the opponents at a public defence. After a successful defence the PhD degree is granted and the diploma is issued and presented at the formal graduation ceremony.

The leader of the doctoral evaluation committee is a member of the departmental scientific staff. The leader will coordinate the defence in collaboration with the administrative contact person at the department. The candidate must be in close contact with both parties for detailed information. 

For detailed information, please see this page.

Good to know: If you are working towards a PhD, you will be entitled to a deduction for your expenses in connection with printing and travel and your PhD dinner:

Deduction for PhD expenses - The Norwegian Tax Administration (skatteetaten.no)