Submission of the thesis and finishing your PhD

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Requirements for the dissertation

The supervisors have a responsibility to take the requirement of publishability into account when choosing a research project. During the work on the dissertation, as a general rule, parts of the work must be submitted for publication in international journals and / or presented at international conferences.

• The dissertation must be an independent, scientific work that meets international standards with regard to ethical requirements, academic level and method.
• The dissertation will contribute to the development of new academic knowledge and be at an academic level that indicates that it can be published as part of the subject's scientific literature.
• The dissertation can be a monograph or a compilation of several smaller works. If the dissertation consists of several smaller works, the connection between them must be explained.
• A dissertation can be submitted for assessment by several people together if the individual contributions can be identified.
• If a written work has been created in collaboration with other authors, the PhD candidate must follow the norms for co-authorship that are generally accepted in the academic environment and the University of Oslo's guidelines for co-authorship.
• Dissertations that include work with several authors must be accompanied by a signed statement describing the candidate and the individual co - author's efforts in each individual work.
• When using published works, these can ordinarily not be accepted as part of a doctoral thesis if, at the time of the candidate's admission, they are older than 5 years from the date of publication.
• The faculty decides which languages ​​can be used in a dissertation.

Submitting and finishing the PhD: 

Application to get the thesis assessed must be sent to the Department which the candidate have admission. The educational component must be finished and approved before the candidate can submit the application. 

Together with the application, the following documents must be enclosed: 

• The dissertation
• co-author declarations for articles with more than one author
• documentation that the necessary permits and declarations of impartiality have been obtained
• confirmation that the educational component has been completed and passed
• the main supervisor’s recommendation to members of the adjudication committee
• the declarations of independence for the members of the adjudication committee
• the PhD candidate’s remarks on the composition of the adjudication committee, where applicable

The faculty itself processes the application to have the dissertation assessed. An application that does not meet the requirements is rejected.

It should normally not take more than 4 weeks from the application is approved until the adjudication committee is appointed.

The adjudication committee: 

The main supervisor suggest the adjudication committee. The main supervisor must make sure that the proposed members both wish and can sit the adjudication committee prior to the final approval from the Faculty.

Further on, the proposal must be substantiated and show how the committee as a whole covers the field of the dissertation. The candidate must be notified of the proposal for the composition of the committee, and has the opportunity to submit written comments no later than one week after the basic unit has submitted the proposal to the faculty. The faculty itself makes a decision on whether the comments should be taken into account. The faculty itself may, when required, appoint one sitting member to the assessment committee. Appointed supervisors and others who have contributed to the dissertation may not be a member of the assessment committee or administer it.

The composition of the adjudication committee will normally take the following into account:

• both genders are represented
• at least one of the members is not affiliated with UiO
• at least one of the members is not affiliated with a Norwegian university
• all members hold a doctoral degree or equivalent academic qualification

One member (the third member) of the adjudication committee represents ITS and acts as the administrator of the committee. This member must ensure that deadlines are met, that the adjudication meets the required academic standard and that the external committee members are informed of the entire adjudication process. The administrator of the committee must actively participate in the assessment of the thesis.

The adjudication committee’s recommendation must be submitted on a separate form, and contain the following:

• name of candidate
• final title of the thesis
• full name, title, place of employment and address of all members
• reason for choice of adjudication committee members
• declaration that the proposed committee members have been asked and have agreed to undertake the task
• declaration of impartiality form for each committee member
• the third member must work at the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences/Natural History Museum
• two of the members must not be affiliated with the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences /Natural History Museum

The committee will be assessed and approved by the faculty, which will inform the unit of the outcome of the assessment. The unit will inform the PhD candidate and the adjudication committee members about the appointment. The unit must ensure that the adjudication committee members are sent a copy of the thesis and a copy of the current regulations. The unit is responsible for offering to train the third member in public defence procedures so that these can be communicated to the opponents.

The administrator of the assessment committee is responsible for training in disputation routines for the opponents.

If a previously rejected dissertation is submitted in a revised version for new assessment, at least one member of the original assessment committee should participate in the new committee's work.

All forms associated with the submission of a dissertation can be downloaded from the faculty's PhD website.

Rates for the adjudication committee: 

Reimbursements of travel expenses: 

As member of an evaluation committee please note that:

• Original receipts and/or other documentation must be submitted when claiming reimbursement.
• Payment of fees and reimbursement of expenses are made after the trial lecture and public defence.
• Information about where to submit original receipts and/or other documentation will be given to you in connection with the PhD examination.

As member of a committee you have to make your own travel arrangements, including hotel bookings. Your expenses will be reimbursed.

After the public defence you will also get your fees.

Flights:

Flights on 1st class/business class are only reimbursed when other ticket options are unavailable.

Accomodation:

We recommend that you stay at a hotel in Lillestrøm, or the centre of Oslo. The public defence is normally held in our Department at Kjeller, and the hotels in the Lillestrøm city offer the best transportation options to both ITS and the airport. The Department covers the expenses of a single room for two nights; maximum cost per night is NOK 1800. Additional costs of travelling with a companion are not covered.

Car, taxi and airport express train

Expenses in connection with the use of private cars are only reimbursed upon prior approval. Approval is only granted on condition that the use of public transportation is a considerable inconvenience.

When possible we ask visiting opponents to use public transportation. Taxi should only be used when public transportation complicates travel. The Oslo Airport Express Train is the best means of transportation to/from Oslo Airport Gardermoen. The Oslo Airport Express Train takes approx. 25 minutes to Oslo and 15 minutes to Lillestrøm. There is a departure from/to the Airport and Oslo Central Station every 10 minutes.

Hotels

The University has an agreement with Rica/Scandic and Choice hotels. When ordering a hotel room please refer to agreement between the hotel and the University of Oslo. Booking can be sent by email, online, or by phone. Payment must be made either by credit card or cash. Keep all original receipts.

Scandic hotel

Web: www.scandichotels.no,

Email: norge@scandichotels.com, lillestrom@scandichotels.com

Tel.: +47 23 15 50 00

Choice hotels

Web: www.nordicchoicehotels.no/

Email: booking@choice.no

Tel.: +47 22 33 42 00

Recommended hotels, with agreements with the University:

• Scandic Lillestrøm, lillestrom@scandichotels.com
• Thon Hotels Lillestrøm 

Air port hotels:

• Radisson Blu airport Hotel
• Parkinn

Trial lecture: 

The adjudication committee sets the topic for the trial lecture, and the administrator announces the topic to the candidate ten days prior to the lecture. The trial lecture aims to test the candidate's academic maturity. The assigned topic must therefore be outside the specialist field of the thesis. The lecture will further test the candidate's ability to organize material and time, and should last for 45 minutes. The title of the trial lecture and information about where and when the trial lecture and public defence will take place are sent to the PhD contact at the department. The adjudication committee will tell the faculty whether the candidate has failed or passed the trial lecture. The recommendation must be substantiated in the event of a fail. The trial lecture must be passed before the public defence can be held.

Disputation: 

• All ITS disputations are held at the ITS building at Kjeller. If anyone has a desire to complete a dissertation at Blindern, the PhD committee at ITS must approve this.
• ITS covers the expenses of travel and hotel for the opponents. The department covers the committee dinner, often held the evening before the disputation date.
• ITS covers the expense of a flower and two bottles of bubbles for the candidate after completing the disputation. Mostly, it is the supervision group who presents the flower.
• The candidate he/herself is responsible for any celebration / gala dinner after completing the disputation.
• The candidate will be summoned to get doctoral degree and diploma at the Faculty after completing the degree.

The process: 

The Head of Department is authorised by the Dean to chair the public defence. If the Head of Department is unavailable, the vice head or a senior researcher at the department can chair the public defence. The defence cannot be chaired by the candidate’s supervisor or the administrator of the adjudication committee. The committee will decide the order of the opponents and the committee’s administrator will inform the chair of the public defence about this.

The chair of the public defence will briefly explain the submission and assessment of the thesis, and give a brief introduction of the candidate. The candidate will then spend a maximum of 30 minutes explaining the purpose and findings of the scientific investigation.

Two of the committee members serve as opponents. The first opponent will put the candidate's work into an international academic context, for a maximum of ten minutes. When both opponents have concluded their arguments, the chair of the public defence will invite others present to participate in the discussions.

Finally, the candidate will take the floor to extend his/her thanks, before the chair of the public defence declares the public defence concluded.

Following a brief meeting of the adjudication committee after the conclusion of the public defence, the chair will announce the committee’s decision on the candidate’s public defence.

After the public defence, the adjudication committee will submit a report to the faculty on special forms (public defence and trial lecture) explaining how it has assessed the thesis and its defence. The conclusion of the report must specify whether the candidate has passed or failed the public defence. Using the form provided, the committee member without an affiliation with a Norwegian university will submit a separate statement comparing the standard of the thesis in question with the general level of PhD theses in similar subject areas at his/her own institution.

In the event that any ex auditorio opponents present significant objections, this must be mentioned in the assessment.

For forms, regulations and information please see the follwing webpage: https://www.mn.uio.no/english/research/phd/thesis-adjudication/adjudication-committee.html