Guide to public defence

The general rule is that departments are responsible for all practical matters and the office of the Faculty of Fine and Performing Arts for formal decisions, overall coordination and process support. For details, please see the Appendix and, where relevant, detailed information at the department concerned.

Applying to publicly defend a doctoral research project

The public defence will take place during the Lund University semester. After having consulted with the potential external reviewer and the examining committee, the head of department, after consultation with the principal supervisor, will apply for the public defence of a doctoral research project, at least two months before the expected date of the event. Applications are to be submitted in writing to the faculty office. The application is to include the name and personal details of the candidate (doctoral student), the title of the project and the details concerning the supervisors, the date and the venue for the event, the external reviewer, the examining committee and the chair for the public defence. See further instructions under the heading ‘External reviewer and examining committee’ below.

The application is to be signed by the head of department and submitted to the faculty office for a decision by the board of the Faculty of Fine and Performing Arts. (Please note when the faculty board will convene and submit the application well in advance, so it can be included in the documentation sent to the board members prior to the meeting.)

The form for the application is available here: Public Defence and Degree (LU-box)
It is the subject director's responsibility that the application is filled in and submitted to the faculty office for decision by the faculty board.

External reviewer and examining committee

• The external reviewer is to be a PhD holder or equivalent (senior lecturer of art or documented professional experience at the equivalent level). Always attach a CV and reasons for the choice to the application form. The external reviewer must not be active at the Faculty of Fine and Performing Arts, unless there are particular reasons to allow this.
• The public defence of the research project is to be led by a chair, who is often a representative for the department, for example a professor.
• The examining committee is specially appointed for each public defence. The Higher Education Ordinance stipulates that at least one person not active at Lund University is to be included in the examining committee. Efforts should be made to ensure an external and impartial assessment. In order to facilitate the Faculty Board's decision the application should always include an attachment with reasons for the choice of examining committee.
• A person who has supervised the doctoral student cannot be part of the examining committee. The external reviewer and the supervisor have the right to attend the meeting of the examining committee and to take part in the deliberations, but not in the decision.
• The composition and qualifications of the examining committee can be regulated further in the respective general syllabi: General syllabi
• Note that in the composition of the proposal in the application there must be a gender balance in the examining committee, according to Lund University's regulations.

Funds for documentation

When the doctoral defence has been decided by the faculty, the doctoral student may apply for funds for documentation (printing). The production of no less than 150 copies of the documentation of the doctoral work (termed “documented artistic research project” in the Higher Education Ordinance), including language editing, is to be financed through the faculty’s funds for documentation, maximum SEK 40,000, regardless of media choice. Any excess costs are to be paid by the doctoral student.

The doctoral student is to sends the application for funds for documentation to the department. The department then requests the funds for documentation, sending the application form to the faculty office. Invoices for printing, language editing etc. are to be sent to the department. Any excess funds may be kept by the department. The application form for funds for documentationcan be found here: Public Defence and Degree (LU-box)

Lund University's printer, Media-Tryck, offers an optional template for the thesis. The invoice from Media-Tryck (or other printing house) is to be sent to the department and should be paid by the funds for documentation.

ISBN and ISSN

The published doctoral research project must be assigned a so-called ISBN number. The ISBN number is unique to each publication. If the doctoral work consist of several separate publications (printed and/or digital) each one of theses should have its individual ISBN number. The library is responsible for acquiring one. Contact madeleine [dot] bergquist [at] konstnarliga [dot] lu [dot] se (madeleine[dot]bergquist[at]konstnarliga[dot]lu[dot]se) 

For information on how to obtain an ISBN number for a doctoral research project, visit:
http://www.ub.lu.se/en/publish/registering-and-publishing-in-lup/doctoral-theses/isbn-for-a-doctoral-thesis

The publication must include the Lund University logo. The logo can be downloaded here:
http://www.staff.lu.se/support-and-tools/communication-and-graphic-profile/graphic-profile-and-logotype

At the front of every copy of the book (or in a prominent position in an electronic publication) is to be inserted a notification sheet including the title of the thesis, the doctoral student’s name, the Lund University logo, time and place of the public defence, and the name of the external reviewer, title and affiliation. Its back page, which is always in English, is called a document data sheet, on which the doctoral student will fill in more information about the research project in the pre-printed template and then sign. Normally the abstract is 150 - 200 words. The number of keywords should not be to large. Please note that the size of the notification sheet must be adapted to the book format, in consultation with the printers.

The template for the notification sheet/document data sheet is available here: Public Defence and Degree (LU-box)

Use the existing text formats of the template. If necessary, the English text under the University logo on the notification sheet can be replaced with the following Swedish text:

”Doktorsarbete [alt. Akademisk avhandling]

för avläggande av konstnärlig [alt. filosofie] doktorsexamen i [ämne]

vid Konstnärliga fakulteten, Lunds universitet.

Framläggs för offentlig granskning den [datum, klockslag]

i [lokal, adress, ort].

Fakultetsopponent

[titel, namn, ev. högskola].”

Please note that the faculty opponent's title and affiliation are requested also in the electronic LUCRIS registration of the doctoral work. If the opponent is not affiliated with a university, please state her or his home residence.

ISSN

Doctoral research projects at the Lund University Faculty of Fine and Performing Arts are published in two series: one for music education and one for research subjects in art. Every series has an ISSN number. The ISSN numbers are 1404-6539 (music education series) and 1653-8617 (art series). Every publication in a series has an individual number assigned by faculty administrator Annika Westberg, annika [dot] michelsen [at] kanslik [dot] lu [dot] se (annika[dot]westberg[at]konstarliga[dot]lu[dot]se)
The publication series can be found here: Publications

Electronic publication in LUCRIS

The doctoral research project is to be published electronically in the University’s database, Lund University Current Research Information System (LUCRIS).  There are two types of electronic publications in LUCRIS:

1. Compulsory electronic publication of an abstract in English (“notification”).
2. Electronic publication of the doctoral research project in full. This is regulated by the Lund University Policy on Open Access Publication

Compulsory publication of an abstract in English (“notification”, “spikning”)

The compulsory electronic registration entails publishing an abstract in English in LUCRIS. The research project is to be published electronically no later than four weeks before the public defence, via http://lucris.lub.lu.se/

Original files or full-text versions of works included in dissertations must be archived in Lucris, with the possibility of restricted access. This also applies to the expositions published via Research Catalogue.

The supervisor and/or subject director must approve the material before the notification.

The doctoral student is responsible for the notification. Logging into the system requires a working Lucat identity. If the doctoral student has forgotten their user name and password for Lucat, they can contact the person responsible for the directory at the department. If the doctoral student needs help with registration in LUCRIS, they can contact, first, the librarian Madeleine Bergquist, madeleine [dot] bergquist [at] khm [dot] lu [dot] se (madeleine[dot]bergquist[at]khm[dot]lu[dot]se), telephone 040 325722 or 040 325569, or, second,  Åse Lugnér, ase [dot] lugner [at] mhm [dot] lu [dot] se (ase[dot]lugner[at]mhm[dot]lu[dot]se), telephone 040 325463. Please check that the information on the time and place for the public defence of the doctoral research project, its title and other details is correct and complete before publication. If the doctoral research project was written in Swedish or a language other than English, please note that the title is to be entered as it appears in the project, and is not to be translated into English. 

Electronic publication of the doctoral research project

According to the Lund University Policy on Open Access Publication, it is advantageous to publish research publications in full. The doctoral research project is to be published in its entirety in LUCRIS four weeks before the public defence, unless there are particular reasons that prevent this, such as production or copyright issues. It is also possible to upload attachments in the form of sound files, films, images, etc. in LUCRIS.

N.B! The original files of the doctoral thesis must always be archived in their entirety in LUCRIS, even if they are not published openly or if they are part of an exposition in the Research Catalogue.

If not all parts of the project can be published on the publication date, for various reasons, it must be completed no later than a month after the public defence date. The dean can approve deferment in special circumstances.

Instructions for LUCRIS

Instructions on how to publish in LUCRIS are available as a manual in both Swedish and English versions. 

Research output

Information about publishing the thesis available in section 3 in the guide "Register the thesis in LUCRIS".

Here are a number of clarifications, in accordance with the faculty’s guidelines, to complement the manuals:

• Select Doctoral Thesis (monograph) or Doctoral Thesis (composite).
• Fill in all compulsory details, but in the case of artistic doctoral research projects, add under Artistic Work the type of artistic output concerned (you can choose one or more categories).

Also fill in the Subject Classification in accordance with the Swedish Higher Education Authority (UKÄ.) In this case, you can choose the classification from the list provided.

• Doctoral students of music education are to state two classifications:
  - Social Science ► Educational Science ►Pedagogy 
  - Humanities ►Arts ► Music
• Doctoral students of arts subjects are to state:
  - Humanities ► Arts ► (the main category the work belongs to)
  - Note: you can state more than one category if the project lies between different subject classifications. Add the next category as a new entry under Humanities ► Arts ► (new category)
• Please note that you can also then choose Key words to specify your subject’s affiliation.
• NB! Under Files and links there is an option to upload various types of file (sound, images, video, text etc.). It is also possible to choose whether the material is to be: 1) open and accessible for everyone, (2) open only for LUCRIS users, (3) open only within LU or (4) open only for doctoral students and reviewers of output.
• Under Visibility, select Public – No restriction.

Informal notification (“spikning”)

The traditional notification (“spikning” with hammer and nail in the University building) has been replaced at Lund University by the electronic notification in LUCRIS (see above). An optional, informal traditional “spikning” may take place at the department if the doctoral student and the department wish to do so.

Distribution of the doctoral research project

The documentation of a doctoral project in printed form is to be printed or copied in no less than 150 copies. The production, including language editing, is financed through the faculty funds for documentation, maximum SEK 40,000. For instructions regarding application for this grant, please see the section Funds for documentation above.

If the doctoral research project consists of other types of media, the doctoral student and supervisor must must obtain an assessment by the National Library of Sweden (boel [dot] larsson [at] kb [dot] se (boel[dot]larsson[at]kb[dot]se), phone: 010-709 33 04) of how the project should preferably be published/made available.

For parts of the doctoral research project that consist of text, see option A below. For parts of the project that consist of other production formats, see option B.

A. Doctoral research projects or parts of such projects consisting of text

The doctoral student is to distribute a certain number of copies of the research project according to the list below, no later than four weeks before the public defence.

• The doctoral student is responsible for ensuring that the external reviewer and the members of the examining committee each receive the thesis/research project at the latest four weeks before the date of its public defence. The doctoral thesis is to be submitted in its existing form, if the printed work is not yet available, four weeks before the public defence.
• Four copies of the thesis text with an ISBN number – the so-called legal deposits – are to be submitted to Lund University Library. The following link provides information about legal deposits: https://www.kb.se/in-english/about-us/how-we-collect-material/legal-dep…. The original receipt for delivered legal deposits shall be submitted to the University’s administration and a copy of the receipt shall be submitted to the office of the Faculty of Fine and Performing Arts.
• The act (1993:1392) on legal deposits prescribes that the printing office is to deliver legal deposits to the seven legal deposit libraries in Sweden: the national Library of sweden and the university libraries of Stockholm, Uppsala, Linköping, Örebro, Göteborg and Lund. If the doctoral student and supervisor turn to another printing office than Media-Tryck at Lund University, then they should ensure that the printing office fulfils this legal obligation. The National Library of Sweden (boel [dot] larsson [at] kb [dot] se (boel[dot]larsson[at]kb[dot]se)) can provide contact information for the legal depostit libraries.
• Each copy of the thesis shall contain a notification sheet. Please see the above section Printed publications, ISBN and ISSN.
• The department and doctoral student can come to an agreement on any additional distribution.
• The doctoral student is responsible for providing no less than 20 copies to be available at the public defence.
• The department is responsible for ensuring that a digital version of the research project (for example a link to LUCRIS) is disseminated according to the institution’s own mailing list, and for ensuring that the project is accessible via relevant web pages. A link to the research project shall be emailed to the Faculty of Fine and Performing Arts at Lund University for publication on the faculty website.
• The department’s remaining copies are to be kept for at least five years. If the department subsequently wishes to dispose of the remaining copies, they are first to be offered to the graduate.

B. Doctoral research projects or parts of such projects consisting of other production formats

The doctoral student is to distribute a certain number of copies of the research project according to the list below, no later than four weeks before the public defence.

• The doctoral student is responsible for ensuring that the external reviewer and the members of the examining committee each receive the doctoral work no later than four weeks before the defence. The doctoral work can be distributed in preliminary form if its definite form is not completed four weeks before the public defence.
• If no parts of the research project, apart from the abstract, are available four weeks before the public defence, special agreements on how to proceed must be made with the external reviewer in very good time.
• The department and doctoral student can come to an agreement on any additional distribution.
• The department is responsible for ensuring that a digital version of the research project (for example a link to LUCRIS) is disseminated according to the institution’s own mailing list, and for ensuring that the project is accessible via relevant web pages. A link to the research project shall be emailed to Faculty of Fine and Performing Arts at Lund University for publication on the faculty website.
• The department’s remaining copies are to be kept for at least five years. If the department subsequently wishes to dispose of the remaining copies, they are first to be offered to the graduate.

Public defence

The department’s administrative office together with the supervisors is responsible for making sure that invitations to the public defence are disseminated via appropriate channels. The Faculty Office will also send out a formal announcement of the time and place for the public defence. A traditional form of public defence can briefly be described as follows (although different arrangements can occur):

1. The chair opens the public defence and presents the doctoral student, the external reviewer and the examining committee and explains how the public defence will proceed.
2. The external reviewer makes a summarising presentation of the content of the project and the doctoral student comments on the summary and accounts for any errata. A discussion led by the external reviewer follows. If the doctoral project contains artistic expression of any kind, the doctoral student can start by presenting his or her work as a whole, after which the external reviewer makes a summary followed by a discussion led by the external reviewer.
3. The members of the examining committee address their questions to the doctoral student.
4. The audience is given an opportunity to ask questions.
5. The examining committee meets in private to determine whether or not the research project is to be awarded a passing grade. The committee’s decision is to be recorded in a report. A template for the report is available here: Public Defence and Degree (LU-box)

Detailed descriptions of what the public defence structure might look like for doctoral research projects in fine and performing art as well as in music education are available in English. They can be found here: Public Defence and Degree (LU-box)  It is recommended that this description is sent to the external reviewer and examining committee so that they can prepare for the process. Any othe practical issues regarding the public defence are handled primarily by the department.

In accordance with the Higher Education Ordinance and Lund University’s regulations on third cycle education, the following rules apply:

• The examining committee is quorate only when all members are present. Decisions are to be made by majority rule. A single member has the right to have their dissenting opinion noted (according to Section 19 of the Administrative Procedure Act).
• The external examiner and the supervisor have the right to be present at the meetings of the examining committee and participate in discussions, but not in decisions.
• The doctoral thesis will be assessed and given either a ‘Pass’ or ‘Fail’ grade. The contents of the thesis and the public defence of it shall be taken into account when grading. If the thesis is awarded a ‘Fail’ grade, this must be justified in writing.

Degree certificate

In order for doctoral students to receive their doctoral degree certificate, it will require first that all courses listed in the general syllabus have been completed, and that all documentation of the doctoral research project has been made available in the manner prescribed by Lund University, the National Library of Sweden, and the legal deposits act. The principal supervisor is to certify whether these conditions are met. The certificate is to be sent to the faculty’s research studies officer.

Second, it will require that the result of the public defence, in the form of the examining committee report, has been submitted to the faculty’s research studies officer. Following the public defence, the chair of the defence is to send the original examining committee report to the research studies officer at the faculty, who will enter the result in Ladok.

In addition, the doctoral student must submit an application to the Degree Office at Lund University. Information on the application procedure is available on the website of the Degree Office: https://www.lunduniversity.lu.se/current-students/student-services-and-support/grades-credits-and-certificates/apply-your-degree-certificate

Please note that all course results, the title of the doctoral research project and the outcome of its public defence are to be recorded in Ladok before the application for the degree certificate can be processed. The supervisor and/or subject representative is responsible for ensuring that documentation on completed courses is submitted to the Ladok officer and for certifying that the courses meet the requirements of the general syllabus.

Doctoral degree conferment ceremony

The faculty office submits information on successfully defended doctoral theses to the degree conferment ceremony office, which handles all matters concerning the doctoral degree conferment ceremony. The doctoral graduand is invited to the doctoral degree conferment ceremony by the Chief of Protocol at the University. The degree conferment ceremony office can be contacted via overmarskalk [at] rektor [dot] lu [dot] se (overmarskalk[at]rektor[dot]lu[dot]se) 

During the doctoral degree conferment ceremony, the graduand is to have access to a doctor’s ceremonial hat and ring. Graduands wishing to purchase the hat and ring are to order these items well in advance from the suppliers approved by the Chief of Protocol. If the graduand does not wish to purchase the hat and ring, they will need to look into possibilities of borrowing such items through personal contacts.