Trial lecture and public defense at the of Education and International Studies (LUI)

Trial Lecture

10–11: The chair of the defence welcomes everyone to the trial lecture and introduces the doctoral candidate and the evaluation committee. The trial lecture is scheduled for 45 minutes.

After the candidate’s presentation, the chair informs the audience that the committee will leave the room to assess the trial lecture. The chair announces the time and place for the defence after lunch.

Lunch Break

11–12: Lunch break – The chair ensures that they, together with the evaluation committee, the candidate, and the supervisors, go to a joint lunch at Fyrhuset in P52 as soon as the committee’s assessment of the trial lecture is ready. If the defence is held at Campus Kjeller, the lunch will take place at Hannas Spiseri on the first floor.
A table has been reserved and you may choose your own meal. The PhD programme will be billed. Inform the staff at Fyrhuset/Hannas Spiseri that the lunch should be charged to the PhD programme.

Public Defence

12:00: If the trial lecture has been approved, the defence will be held after the lunch break.

The order of the procession is: the chair of the defence (in gown), the first opponent, the second opponent, the committee administrator, and the doctoral candidate. The audience stands for the procession and may be seated when the chair begins the introduction.

The doctoral candidate and the evaluation committee sit in the front row, while the chair proceeds directly to the lectern.

The chair will ask the candidate and the first opponent to take their places at the lecterns. The first opponent accounts for the purpose and results of the scholarly thesis and places the thesis within a broader academic context. The presentation must not exceed 15–20 minutes.

The first opponent then opens the discussion on specific points of critique in the thesis, to which the candidate must respond. The time frame is up to 1.5 hours, including the presentation of the thesis. The opponent concludes their opposition by thanking the candidate for the discussion. Both remain at their lecterns until the chair has concluded this part of the defence and announces a 15-minute break.

The chair also reminds the audience that anyone wishing to comment ex auditorio must notify the chair during the break.

After the Break

After the break, the candidate and the committee take their seats. The chair takes their seat at the table and opens the second part of the defence. The chair asks the candidate and the second opponent to take their places at the lecterns.
The second opponent may proceed directly to a discussion with the candidate on specific topics and issues related to the content and structure of the thesis.

The time frame is up to one (1) hour.

The second opponent concludes their opposition by thanking the candidate for the discussion. If anyone has requested to comment ex auditorio, the chair asks the candidate to remain standing and the second opponent to sit, and the opponent ex auditorio is asked to take the lectern. Comments ex auditorio may not exceed 5 minutes.

If no one has requested to comment ex auditorio, the candidate remains at the lectern. The chair congratulates the candidate on their work, thanks the candidate and the opponents for the discussion during the defence, thanks the committee members for their work, and thanks the audience for their attention.

The candidate is given the opportunity to say a few closing words.

The chair announces that the evaluation committee will leave the room to decide whether the candidate’s defence of the thesis can be approved. If the defence is approved, the committee members must sign the minutes. The committee chair submits the signed minutes to the chair of the defence.

When the evaluation committee returns to the room, the chair asks the committee chair whether the defence has been approved.

The chair concludes by inviting the audience to the reception held for the candidate and hosted by the candidate’s department.

Reception

Approx. 15:00. Note that the end time is indicative and depends on how much time the opponents use.