Submission, Assessment, and Public Defence at HV

Read the requirements for doctoral thesis carefully, preferably early in your studies. These can be found in the regulations for PhD Candidates.

It is also recommended that you read the Supplementary guidelines for the PhD in Health Sciences or Supplementary guidelines for the PhD in Behavioural Analysis. When the time for submission approaches there are many things you need to follow up, both in terms of preparing the thesis for submission and the formalities that need to be taken care of before submission.

The PhD administration will forward the file for editing to the person responsible for publications at the University library. OsloMet has a description of mandatory layout.

Details regarding formal requirements and the composition of the thesis can be found under Completion of your PhD - The thesis.

The time of submission is something you should discuss with your supervisors. When this is done, you inform the PhD administration when you are planning to submit.

The application must contain the following (see also PhD Regulations, §6-1):

• English application form (.docx) or Norwegian application form (.docx).
• The thesis (as one document)
• Documentation of all necessary permits (.docx), please attach the approvals and write in the reference number from the appropriate authority in the form. Beware that if there are any uncertainties about approvals or lack of such, the Faculty will examine this further and the submission process will be delayed.
• Co-author statement (.docx) for all parts of the thesis where there are co-authors in addition to the PhD candidate (e.g. papers with co-author(s))
• A brief summary of your thesis, written for a general audience. The summary shall be in both Norwegian and English, each maximum 1 page long. The summary will be published with the announcement of your public defence. Here you will find advice on how to write a popular scientific summary (forskningsradet.no).

The application including all attachments should be submitted electronically to the PhD administration at the Faculty of Health Sciences. Please use post@oslomet.no and send a copy to phd-hv@oslomet.no.

If you fulfill the requirements to have your thesis assessed, the appointed evaluation committee has 3 months, not including holidays, to evaluate your thesis. Minimum four and a half month, and normally six months, will pass before a possible public defense can take place. The committee decides the date of the public defense. When the committee has evaluated the thesis, and submitted their report, you will be notified by the PhD administration at the Faculty of health sciences, and will have 10 working days to propose written remarks on the evaluation. If you do not have any remarks on the evaluation, you are kindly asked to inform the PhD administration at the Faculty of Health Sciences as soon as possible.

What result can the assessment have?

The assessment commission can

• find the submitted thesis worthy of defense in a public defense
• require supplementary information and recommend that the faculty may allow minor revisions to the thesis before the final recommendation is made. The deadline should normally be no more than three months.
• find the submitted thesis not worthy of public defense. Re-submission for reassessment is possible six months after the original decision was made. The thesis can only be resubmitted once.

Correction of formal errors in the thesis

Applications to correct formal errors must be submitted no later than four weeks before the committee's deadline for submitting its recommendation and must be sent to the PhD administration at the faculty. Permission to correct errors may be granted only once. The application shall be accompanied by a complete list of the errors (an errata list) the candidate wishes to correct.

You cannot make substantive changes to the thesis once the thesis has been submitted. This includes article(s) that are approved or published after your submission of the thesis, which means that you do not have the opportunity to replace the published article with the one included in your thesis. The reason for this, is that the committee cannot assess work and/or changes that is/are carried out after the thesis has been submitted. You may, however, refer to the printed version of the article in the preface to the thesis.

Printing of the thesis before public defense

If your thesis is approved worthy of public defense by the appointed evaluation committee, you must contact the contact the PhD administration. The final printing of the thesis with a preface and, if applicable, an errata list will be conducted when the recommendation has been finalised and the faculty/centre has made the formal approval. It is also important that you are available at this time to approve the final version of your thesis before it is printed

The thesis shall be printed in 35 copies (up to 70 if many participants are expected at the public defence), and be public available at the University library no later than 14 days prior to the public defense. The cost is covered by the faculty/department, as long as you keep to the agreed format and do not wish to print additional copies. The cost for additional copies of the thesis (over 70) must be covered by the candidate himself/herself.

The Public Defense (Trial Lecture included) is both the formal and the academic high point of the doctorate. The Trial Lecture and Public Defense are normally held on the same day. The PhD-administration is responsible for the practicalities, e.g. room-bookings.

PhD candidates shall hold a trial lecture on a subject allocated to them. The topic of the trial lecture is decided by the Evaluation Committee. The topic will be given to the candidate 10 working days before the Public Defense is planned to take place.

The trial lecture and public defense shall be held in the same language as the thesis is written, unless the evaluation committee suggest another language.

Plan for the day of the public defense

Trial lecture

• Normally starts at 10 o'clock.
• Trial Lecture (45 min, including possible questions raised at the end of the lecture. Please note that it is not common to ask questions during the Trial Lecture. If this is opened for, it is normal that only one or two questions are raised).
• Break (approximately 1 hour).

Public defense

• Normally starts at 12.00.
• The candidate presents his/her thesis (20 minutes).
• Discussion between the first opponent and the candidate.
• Break (approximately 15 minutes).
• Discussion between the second opponent and the candidate.
• Small reception outside the Auditorium where the Defense has taken place. This usually lasts approximately 40 minutes.

The PhD-candidate does not eat lunch with the committee. The candidate can expect to get a simple breakfast/lunch package. 

Please contact KK-senter kk-senter@oslomet.no if you should have need for a room nearby disputation location. (Applies only if any rooms available).

For more information about submission and assessment of the thesis, trial lecture, and public defense etc., please see the Regulations relating to the PhD degree at OsloMet and the section conclusion of the doctoral degree programme (PhD).

If you are considering to stream the trial lecture and/or public defense, please find more information at the Media department (oslomet.no) at the University library.

The doctoral dinner

You can choose whether you would like to arrange a doctoral dinner (or late lunch), but you will have to cover the cost of the event yourself. The doctoral dinner or late lunch normally takes place on the same day as the public defense.

Who to invite

If you choose to have a doctoral dinner or lunch, we recommend that you invite the following; the leader of the public defense, the members of your public defense committee and your supervisors(s). You may also choose to invite the head of the PhD programme and the head of the department/your leader. 

How to invite

You are allowed to send invitations to the committee directly. Ask your supervisor for the contact details, or contact the PhD administration at the faculty.

Speeches at the dinner/late lunch

Usually, speeches are held in the following order: the candidate, the leader of the public defence, the third member of the evaluation committee and the supervisor(s).

After your public defense you will be invited to the OsloMet's conferral ceremony where new doctorates receive their diploma.