Public defence of doctoral thesis (disputation)

Public defence of doctoral theses

To receive a doctoral degree, the doctoral student must receive a pass grade on a scientific thesis (doctoral thesis). Writing the thesis must be equivalent to studies worth at least 120 credits (equivalent to two years of full-time study). More specific requirements for the thesis' scope in credits are described in the general syllabus for each subject. 

The thesis must be defended at a public defence (Sw: disputation). At the public defence, there must be an external reviewer who has reviewed the thesis in advance and who holds a scientific discussion with the doctoral student about the content of the thesis. Decisions on grades are made by a specially appointed examining committee and the public defence is led by a chairperson.

Rules for the public defence of doctoral theses

Public defences at Örebro University are regulated by the Higher Education Ordinance and by local regulations and guidelines. These rules are compiled in the document Information about proposals and decisions on public defence (pdf).

Links to regulations and guidelines can be found at the bottom of this page.

Proposals and decisions on the public defence

Proposals for the public defence are prepared at the school. The proposal, which is submitted by the head of school, includes, among other things, the date of the public defence and the details of the external reviewer, members of the examining committee and the chairperson of the public defence. The proposal for the public defence is then processed at the Faculty Office and approved by the chair of the respective faculty board (dean).

What the process for this looks like at each faculty is described below.

For questions regarding proposals for a public defence and more, contact the Faculty Office at disputation@oru.se.

The Faculty of Business, Science and Engineering (ENT) and the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences (HS)

The doctoral student and/or principal supervisor informs the school's study and research administration that they wish to submit a proposal for the public defence, whereupon the administration sends a link to an online form, which the doctoral student and principal supervisor must complete. The head of school then makes a digital decision regarding the submission of the proposal for the public defence. Thereafter, the Faculty Office must be notified by the study and research administration, no later than two months before the planned date of the public defence, that a digital proposal is ready for further processing. Before the application can be approved by the head of school, it is processed at the school. The administration accounts for the processing time when setting the deadline for submission.

If a public defence is planned to be held in September, the proposal must be submitted to the Faculty Office no later than the first week of June. During the summer and Christmas/New Year holidays, no applications will be processed.

Faculty of Medicine and Health (MH)

The doctoral student and/or principal supervisor informs the school's study and research administration that they wish to submit a proposal for the public defence, whereupon the administration sends a link to an online form, which the doctoral student and principal supervisor must complete. Please note that the school's study and research administration ask that this be done no later than 15 weeks prior to the proposed date for the defence of the thesis. The head of school then makes a digital decision regarding the submission of the proposal for the public defence. If a public defence is planned for September, the online form must be submitted to later than by week 20. During the summer and Christmas/New Year holidays, no applications will be processed. 

All dissertations within the MH Faculty must also undergo an ethics review prior to a decision being made in regard to the proposal for the public defence of a doctoral thesis. The documentation must be submitted in accordance with the template developed within Rutin för etikgranskningsfunktion inom Fakulteten för medicin och hälsa (Appendix 1). This process should begin no later than 15 weeks prior to the date for the public defence of the thesis. The ethics review function is closed during the summer and opens week 32. 

Information for external reviewers, members of the examining committee and chairpersons

The following website provides general information about the public defence and the duties of the external reviewer, the examining committee and the chairperson:

Information for external reviewers, members of the examining committee and chairpersons at the public defence

Examining committee minutes

The examining committee's decision is documented in minutes. The template for these minutes, which also contains information about the rules for the examining committee's meeting, can be accessed via the following link:

Minutes of the examining committee, template and information (Word)

Thesis production

As soon as a preliminary date for the public defence has been decided, the planning for printing the thesis needs to begin. For more information, please visit:

Thesis production