Immediately after the assessment committee has received your PhD thesis, the chairperson of the committee is encouraged to begin preparing a time frame for the assessment work and plan for a preliminary defence date. The defence date must planned in agreement with you, the members of the assessment committee, the principal supervisor and the Head of Department. The date is announced to the PhD School Secretariat when the thesis is recommended suitable for defence.
The chair of the assessment committee is responsible for involving the principal supervisor – i.e.:
- summon to any meetings of the assessment committee
- inform about email correspondence
- inform about the preliminary assessment of the thesis with regard to clarification of any misunderstandings and the opportunity to comment on the preliminary assessment before it is sent to the PhD School.
The preliminary assessment of the PhD thesis
The assessment committee must, within two months (in the calculation of the two months, the month of July is not included) after you have submitted your thesis, prepare a preliminary recommendation. The recommendation is aimed at you and the Academic Council.
The recommendation must be substantiated and in the case of disagreement will be decided by a majority of votes. It must conclude whether your dissertation in the present form is suitable for defence. It must be stated whether the recommendation is submitted in agreement or whether it is a split recommendation. The committee also informs the date and time of the defence as well as any subject for the lecture.
The Dean can decide if you may submit your thesis again in case the committee assesses that it is not suitable for defence. The thesis can be submitted again in a revised form within a period of at least three months. The committee recommends how many months of revision are deemed necessary.
If the committee recommends your thesis for defence, the PhD School will immediately forward the assessment to you, your principal supervisor and the Academic Council.
If the committee does not recommend your thesis for defence, the PhD School will submit the assessment for consultative procedure consultation with you and your principal supervisor before a final decision is made.
The final assessment of the PhD thesis
Immediately after the oral defence, the assessment committee prepares the final recommendation. The committee must, on the basis of your dissertation and your defence, assess whether the requirements for the defence have been met.
The committee’s recommendation can be stated orally immediately after the defence and the written recommendation must be sent to the PhD School as soon as possible.
After a satisfactorily completed defence, the final recommendation may take the form of an addition to the preliminary assessment.
The final recommendation is addressed to you and the Academic Council, which awards the PhD degree. You can then attach the final recommendation to future job applications.
The final recommendation will be signed by all members of the committee.
If the committee’s recommendation is negative, you must be given the opportunity to comment within two weeks of receiving the final recommendation.
The Head of the PhD School may decide that the thesis must be taken under the assessment by a new assessment committee, if you request this.
You have the opportunity to appeal the head of the PhD School’s ruling to the Dean within two weeks of receiving it. The complaint must be in writing and substantiated.