Completing Researcher Training
Information for those handing in, or those who have recently handed in a dissertation for examination.
Dissertation requirements
A ph.d. dissertation is to contribute to developing new scholarly knowledge and should be of such a standard that it could be published as a part of the discipline’s scholarly literature.
More on dissertation requirements
Handing in a dissertation
When the taught component is completed and approved, you may hand in your dissertation to the faculty with an application that it be assessed
Together with the application, you should hand in:
- 4 bound copies of the dissertation
- confirmation of approved taught component
- confirmation that the dissertation has not been handed in for examination at any other institution
- documentation to show you have acquired the necessary permissions to publish (in keeping with research ethical guidelines)
- co-author declaration where this is required
The work of the assessment committee
Trial lecture and disputation
Should the committee consider the dissertation worthy of defending for a doctoral degree, the ph.d. candidate is to immediately prepare themselves for carrying out a trial lecture and a disputation. The faculty will notify the timing for the trial lecture and the disputation.
The trial lecture is to assess the candidate’s ability to acquire knowledge over and above or in extension of the theme of the dissertation and to communicate these in a lecturing situation. There is only to be one trial lecture. The title is set by the assessment committee and the candidate is informed 10 working days before the disputation.
During the disputation, the first ordinary opponent is to explain the purpose and result of the scholarly investigation.
More on preparations and printing of dissertation
Graduation
When the faculty has approved the taught component, the dissertation, trial lecture and disputatio, the doctoral candidate is endowed with the title of doctor by the University Board. This is marked by a ceremony that will usually take place in the University Festival Hall.
Graduation takes place four times a year, normally in March, June, September and December. The central research administration section sees to the invitation of all doctores to the ceremony. For more information, read the central website on doctoral graduation (in Norwegian).