phd defense finland

Public defence at Aalto University

Table of contents.

Date and time of the defence

The doctoral student agrees the date of the defence with the opponent and the custos. The date and time of the defence are then confirmed by the Doctoral programme committee of the School. This can happen in the same meeting where the permission for defence is granted or later, depending on the School.

Customarily the defence begins at 12 noon sharp and takes approximately 2 hours. The audience must enter the hall by 12 noon, but the repondent, opponent and custos enter at 12:15 sharp.

Place of the defence

The public defence can take place

• at the premises of Aalto University
• remotely over an interactive online platform such as Zoom or Teams
• in hybrid form (both on campus & interactively online)

In case the defence is arranged remotely or in hybrid form, participation from all channels must be interactive (is must be possible for the participants to ask questions at the alloted time).

Language of the defence

Language of the public defence confirmed by the Doctoral Programme Committee and is customarily Finnish, Swedish or English, depending on the language of the thesis and the languages spoken by the doctoral student and the opponent.

Doctoral student generally gives the Lectio Praecursoria (max. 20 minutes) in the language of the public defence.

Defence arrangements and practicalities

The practical arrangements of the defence are the responsibility of the doctoral student. Some departments offer help with the arrangements.

Practical arrangements before the defence (doctoral student)

Venue and invitations

• Make sure that a lecture hall for the defence and a space for preparation before the defence is booked (usually the booking is made for 10:00-16:00, to reserve time for preparations). Ask help from your department or supervising professor.
• In advance, check that the technical details of your presentation work in the hall - if you need help, contact the lobby services of the building. You can also make a service request for IT or AV assistance at [email protected] (several days in advance). 
• Agree in advance with the custos how to proceed if there are any technical problems during the defence. It is recommended to have at hand an appointed person for fetching help, if needed.
• You can invite personal guests to the public defence, such as persons related to the field, pre-examiners, advisors, family etc.
• The School takes care of publishing the public defence announcement at aalto.fi.
• Venue signs: Depending on the building, you can either send an A4-sized notice of the defence (Defence of XX XX, date, place) to the lobby services of the building, who will post it outside the hall where the defence will take place, or send the same information to be placed on the video screens of the building (Ekonominaukio 1).

General arrangements

• Check out your School's defence protocol and dress code, links available in the section Schools' protocols for the public defence and post-doctoral party below
• If you wish to offer refreshments for the audience after the defence as is customary, you need to arrange and pay for it. There are cafeterias in most campus buildings which cater for refreshments.
• It is recommended that you arrange for a person to help out with the practical arrangements at the defence, e.g. sorting our any last-minute practical dilemmas, arranging refreshments and giving out audience etiquette (available for ARTS).
• Take care of the Post-doctoral Party ("Karonkka") arrangements

Online/hybrid defence arrangements (doctoral student)

• Contact IT Services several days in advance to agree on IT support for the remote public examination by writing to  [email protected] .
• Please note that there should be someone from your own team monitoring Zoom during the defence, in addition to custos and yourself. IT services can help mainly before and at the beginning of the defence. You can ask e.g. a student colleague to help.
• Familiarize yourself with Zoom instructions for remote defences and Zoom Quick Guide (Aalto IT Services).
• Submit a Zoom link for your defence to the Doctoral Programme at the latest 15 days prior the public defence.
• Custos is responsible for instructing the participants during the public examination. Custos should inform the participants to keep their microphones on mute and their webcams closed unless they have something to say at the time allocated for comments.

Related expenses

The doctoral student is responsible for arranging and paying for any refreshments they might wish to offer to the audience after the defence. Catering can be ordered from the student restaurant of the building in question.

The department covers the opponent fee and their travelling and accomodation costs, if relevant.

The costs of the Karokka party are the responsibility of the doctoral student.

Schools' protocols for the public defence and post-doctoral party

Each School has also their own specific instructions for the public defence and the post-doctoral party, which are academic events following the traditions of each field. These include e.g. protocol/proceedings of the defence, roles of the opponent and the custos, dress code and traditions related to the "karonkka", ie. post-doctoral party.

• Aalto Doctoral Programme in Arts, Design and Architecture
• Aalto Doctoral Programme in Business, Economics and Finance
• Aalto Doctoral Programme in Chemical Engineering
• Aalto DoctoralProgramme in Electrical Engineering
• Aalto Doctoral Programme in Engineering
• Aalto Doctoral Programme in Science

Related information

Public defence announcement and public display of thesis (aalto.fi) Distribution of thesis (aalto.fi) Graduation (aalto.fi)

Doctoral education services

We support doctoral students, supervising professors, thesis advisors and doctoral programme directors in matters related to doctoral studies.

Doctoral page index

Index of all aalto.fi pages about doctoral education

Next public defences

Public defence in Mechanical Engineering, M.Sc. Nurul Anwar

Public defence in Micro- and nanosciences, M.Sc. Xiaoqi Cui

Public defence in Acoustics and Audio Signal Processing, M.Sc. Nils Meyer-Kahlen

Public defence in electronics integration and reliability, m.sc. ayesha kousar.

• Published: 26.9.2022
• Updated: 26.6.2024

• Scholar's Toolbox

What? Why? How? A list of potential PhD defense questions

In August 2020, I defended my PhD successfully. In the preceding months, I had generated a list of potential defense questions by using various different sources (websites, other defenses I watched, colleagues, and my supervisors). The list ended up helping me a lot. Today I shared this list with a colleague who is soon defending, and I thought: Why not share it publicly?

Note: The questions were compiled with a Finnish PhD defense in mind. In Finland, the defense is at the very end of the research process, and no changes to the PhD will be made after the event. The defense is also a public event.

The list was last edited: November 3rd, 2022

Title and cover.

• Why did you choose this title? Were there any other kinds of titles you were considering?
• Why did you choose this photo/image as your thesis cover? (if there is one)

Topic and contribution to the field

• Why did you choose this research topic?
• Why do you think this topic is important? For whom is it important?
• What do you think your work has added to the discipline/field/study of this topic?
• How is your study original?
• [Your topic] seems to be something that is usually studied discipline X. However, your thesis represents discipline Y. How did you navigate the interdisciplinarity of your work?

Paradigm/theory/concepts

• How did you decide to use this particular conceptual/theoretical framework?
• How did your chosen framework help you to explore your research problem?
• How would someone using another theoretical framework interpret your results?
• What are the shortcomings of this particular theory/conceptual framework?
• How would you describe/define/summarise … [insert a term]
• In your work, you introduce a new concept/theory. Why did you decide to do that instead of using an existing concept/theory?
• Could you describe your theoretical/methodological framework in a way that the audience also understands it? (for public defenses)

Literature review

• Why did your literature review cover these areas but not others?
• The literature review looks very tidy – doesn’t anything challenge it?
• Why did you (not) include the work by X in your study?
• Which scholar(s) have you been influenced by the most?

Research question(s)

• How did you come to formulate this particular research question / these research questions?
• How did your research questions/problem changed during the research process?
• Were there research questions you decided to add/remove during the research process?
• Why don’t you have a research question?
• How did you decide to use these particular methods of data collection/analysis? Were there other options you considered?
• Why did you choose quantitative/qualitative/mixed methods approach?
• What informed your choice of methods?
• What are the advantages/disadvantages of the chosen methods?
• How did you select your participants/this particular data?
• Describe how you generated your data.
• Why did you analyse your data in this way? What other ways were there available? Why didn’t you choose those methods?
• If you could still improve this measure/procedure/etc., how would you do it?
• How would you explain the low/high response rate of your survey?
• How did you triangulate your data?
• If you could do your study all over again with unlimited resources, how would you do it?
• How do you explain the discrepancy between your findings and the findings of previous studies?
• Did you expect these kinds of results? Why (not)?
• What is the most important result of your work?
• Who should care about your work and the results?
• How generalizable are your findings and why?
• Were there any other ways to present your results?
• Based on your findings, how would you develop [your topic]?
• What is common or different to these substudies included in your dissertation?
• What did [your approach] reveal that other approaches could not have reveal?
• What did you not see because you did your work [in this way]?
• How could [x] now be rethought in the light of COVID-19?
• What kinds of implications do your results have for further research/practice/policy?

Research process

• How did your own position/background/bias affect your research?
• Describe your researcher positionality.
• What were the biggest challenges during the research process?
• Were there any surprises during your research, pleasant or unpleasant?
• What was the most interesting part of your work?
• How did you address research ethics during your research?
• What implications do your findings have for [your topic]?
• What do you see as the problems in your study? What limitations do these impose on what you can say? How would you address these limitations in future studies?
• What could you not study in the end? Why?
• What kind of a dissertation did you want to do originally? Why did your plans change?
• If you could now redo the work, what would you differently?
• Is there anything else that you would like to tell us about your thesis which you have not had the opportunity to tell us during the defense?

Future research

• What do you plan to do next with your data?
• What would be the next logical study to do as a follow-up to this one?
• What will you study next?
• How does gaining a doctorate advance your career plans?

Photo by Vadim Bogulov on Unsplash

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PhD Defenses around the world: a defense in Finland

• June 16, 2016
• evalantsoght_uw8lmy
• Uncategorized

I recently successfully defended my PhD in biomedical science at University of Tampere, Finland. The topic of my dissertation was “Tissue engineering for ocular surface reconstruction”. In a nutshell, the main aim of my study was to investigate differentiation of human pluripotent stem cells towards corneal epithelium.

First off, some background about writing a doctoral dissertation in Finland. In the field of life science and other “hard sciences”, doctoral dissertations are almost exclusively based on scientific publications. Typically three or four publications are needed for a PhD (this varies among universities), and the PhD student should have had a significant contribution to all of them. The actual PhD thesis should tie the publications together by introducing the general background of the study, summing up the results and discussing the main outcomes and limitations of the research. Once it is written and approved by the institute, two external reviewers evaluate the thesis and give feedback to the student to improve its quality. At this point, the reviewers can also reject the thesis if they feel it is not strong enough for a public defense. If that is the case, the PhD student has to make corrections to the thesis and go through the review process again. Once both external reviewers approve the thesis , the PhD student gets a permission to defend the dissertation .

The PhD defense is public from start to finish, and usually friends and family are invited in addition to colleagues and collaborators. There are also many formalities involved, most of which are somewhat old-fashioned. The dress code is strict and there are set phrases that have to be said at the beginning and at the end. The disputant, opponent and custos (a professor at the institute and preferably but not necessarily the supervisor) enter the auditorium at exactly 12:15 , and the audience stands while they walk to the front of the room. The custos begins the defense by briefly introducing the disputant and opponent.

Then the disputant gives an introductory lecture (officially called Lectio praecursoria ), for the public to get a general overview of the study background and aims. This tends to be the part where most disputants are noticeably nervous – my legs were feeling a little shaky for the entire 15 minutes of talking. Then the opponent gives a few general remarks which he/she thinks may be relevant. Usually this part is very short, maybe 5 minutes. However, at my defense, the opponent gave a fairly long presentation, to make sure the audience understood the aims of my study. After that, the actual discussion of the doctoral dissertation begins, and it takes 1-2 hours .

I’ve been to several PhD defenses before my own, and this part is very different every time, so you never really know what to expect. Some opponents ask very specific questions, while others choose to be broader. My opponent basically asked me to explain each of my three publications, and asked various questions related to them all throughout. Overall, I think I answered fairly well, although of course some questions were more difficult than others. It is somewhat common for the opponents to ask what are the main strengths and weaknesses of the PhD study , so I think it’s good to prepare an answer just in case. My opponent didn’t ask anything like that (although I had an answer ready!), but he did ask how I would choose to proceed in the project if money wasn’t an issue. Also a vague question, but I personally prefer those to the more technical ones, because it gives more room for discussion.

Finally, once the opponent is finished with the questions, he/she stands up to give a brief statement about the overall quality of the dissertation and defense . The disputant then thanks the opponent for the discussion and asks the audience if anyone has additional questions or comments. This is more of a formality, as it is very rare that someone from the audience asks anything.

The custos then announces that the defense is finished, and everyone is free to leave the auditorium after the disputant and opponent exit. Coffee and cake is served immediately after, and there is usually a party later in the evening in honor of the opponent. If they want to, PhD recipients in Finland can get a doctoral hat (looks somewhat like a top hat) and a doctoral sword for future academic occasions . But that’s basically all there is to it – several years of work and then one day it’s over and new challenges await!

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Guidelines for Dissertation Defence

In the Finnish universities, the evaluation of the doctoral dissertation has two stages: the preliminary examination process and the public defence of the doctoral dissertation. In the preliminary examination, two outside experts evaluate the manuscript and both examiners have declare that the manuscript meets the qualifications set for dissertations with a written statement. Thus the preliminary examiners recommend the dissertation proceeds to the second part of the evaluation process, the public defence of the doctoral dissertation. The preliminary examination is done in a set time period, in 2–3 months (depending on the faculty).

After the preliminary examination, the dissertation is evaluated in the public defence where the 1–2 opponent(s) appointed by the faculty are responsible for the final examination. In the defence, the opponent leads the critical and evaluative examination and discussion. In the Finnish universities, the defence of doctoral dissertation is a public event and open to all. Furthermore, the dissertation needs to be published and made available at least 10 days before the dissertation defence.

In addition to the preliminary examiners, an evaluation committee is appointed in some faculties. The committee participates in the evaluation of both the dissertation and the dissertation defence.

• To initiate the preliminary examination process, a doctoral researcher delivers their doctoral thesis manuscript according to the instructions of their Faculty.
• When the statements of the preliminary examiners arrive to the faculty, they are delivered to the doctoral researcher. According to Chapter 44, Section 2 of the Universities Act (2009/558), the doctoral researcher has to have an opportunity to give a written response to the examiners’ statement before the handling of the permission to defend the doctoral dissertation.
• Depending on the faculty, the doctoral researcher delivers the dissertation manuscript edited during the preliminary examination process or a written account of the changes made to the manuscript according to the preliminary examiners’ statements to the faculty (see the instructions of your faculty).
• The faculty decides on granting the permission to defend the doctoral dissertation on the basis of the preliminary examiners’ statements. An opponent, Custos and the possible evaluation committee are appointed to the dissertation defence. In some faculties, the permission to defend the doctoral dissertation and/or the appointment of the opponent and Custos have to be applied for with a separate form (see the instructions of your faculty).
• The doctoral researcher drafts a press release of their dissertation according to the University’s instructions.
• The doctoral researcher takes care of the publication, possible printing, and release of the dissertation, as well as the distribution of printed copies and arrangements for the dissertation defence.

When the thesis manuscript is ready for pre-examination, it is delivered to the faculty at the same time as the proposal for pre-examiners is made.

The faculty makes the decision on commencing the pre-examination. During the pre-examination process, faculty’s guidelines on the procedures and correspondence with the pre-examiners must be followed.

There are faculty-specific differences in the pre-examination process. There are no instructions that apply to all the faculties, so the doctoral researchers have to check the procedures on the website of the faculty in question. The process described below is an outline of the pre-examination at the University of Turku.

Outline of the pre-examination process

1. Commencing the pre-examination process

• The doctoral researcher delivers the dissertation manuscript to the faculty as well as all appendices required by the faculty.
• Proposal for pre-examiners and possibly already for the Opponent is made. In addition, the doctoral researcher provides the certificate of the Turnitin plagiarism check and other possible appendices required by the faculty.

2. Appointing pre-examiners

The doctoral/doctoral training committee or another expert body appointed by the faculty ensures that the contents and structure of the manuscript are such that the dissertation is ready for pre-examination and that the pre-examiners are impartial and qualified.

The dean or faculty council appoints the pre-examiners.

3. Pre-examination (2-3 months depending on the faculty)

• The faculty informs the doctoral researcher about the appointment of the pre-examiners and gives instructions to the pre-examiners.
• According to the faculty's instructions, either the faculty or the doctoral researcher sends the manuscript to the pre-examiners.
• The faculty defines the procedures for communication between the doctoral researcher and the pre-examiners, and for working on the doctoral dissertation during the pre-examination process.

4. Pre-examiners deliver their statements to the faculty.

In order to print, publish, release, and defend a dissertation, a permission for the defence of dissertation is needed from the faculty.

The faculty (the Dean, Vice Dean or Council) gives the permission for the defence of dissertation and appoints the opponent and Custos for the defence. Turku School of Economics, the Faculty of Humanities, Faculty of Education, and Faculty of Social Sciences also appoint an evaluation committee/evaluation group.

Permission for the defence of dissertation can be given, when

• preliminary examination statements in favour of the permissions have arrived
• studies required for the doctoral degree have been fully completed

The process leading to the permission for the defence of dissertation as well as the pre-examination process have faculty-specific differences. There are no instructions that apply to all the faculties, so the doctoral researchers have to check their faculty’s instructions on the web pages. The process described below is an outline of the preliminary examination in the University of Turku.

The general outline of the process leading to the permission for the defence of dissertation

• When the statements of the preliminary examiners arrive to the faculty, they are delivered to the doctoral researcher. According to Chapter 44, Section 2 of the Universities Act (2009/558), the doctoral researcher has to have an opportunity to give a written response to the examiners’ statement before the handling of the permission to defend the doctoral dissertation

The doctoral researcher decides how they publish their dissertation. Most often, the dissertation is published both electronically and as a printed version. Usually, the dissertation is published in the University of Turku Annales Universitatis Turkuensis publication series, but the doctoral researcher may also publish their dissertation in some other way.

Online publishing promotes open science and access to scientific information and it is therefore recommended. The dissertation does not have to be printed as a book if the doctoral researcher publishes it electronically. The electronic version of an article-based dissertation does not include the articles. However, the dissertation does not have to be published electronically if the doctoral researcher does not want to do so for a specific reason. In these cases, the dissertation has to be printed.

> Instructions for both forms of publication and for electronic publication only (on the utuguides.fi website)

> Download the Word template of the Annales Universitatis Turkuensis publication series from the utuguides.fi website

Read the Graphic Standards of the University of Turku Annales Universitatis Turkuensis publication series for good advice for e.g. grammatical correctness and typographic notation: > Graphic Standards of the Annales Universitatis Turkuensis series

If the dissertation is printed, the doctoral researcher has to take care that, after getting the permission to defend the doctoral dissertation, the printed dissertation is released publicly at least 10 days before the dissertation defence. Doctoral researchers have to contact the printing house well in advance. It is recommended to contact the printing houses and ask about the schedule already before getting the permission to defend the doctoral degree. This is especially advisable when the schedule is tight.

Approximately, 10 weekdays should be reserved for the printing process. If the layout of the content pages is done at the printing house, 21 weekdays should be reserved for the layout and printing process.

The University has tendered the dissertation layout and printing services.

In case the doctoral researcher receives support for dissertation publishing from the University, the tendered supplier must be used for carrying out the (layout and) printing of the dissertation.

On the basis of tendering, the suppliers have been selected in the following order of priority:

1. Painosalama Oy contact person: Tero Kylä-Junnila, [email protected], t. +358 2 241 0105

2. Punamusta Oy contact person: Timo Peltoniemi, [email protected], t. +358 40 774 1277

3. Grano Oy contact person: Joakim Sjöström, [email protected], t. +358 50 421 0918

The doctoral researcher must follow the order of priority when procuring the service by first contacting Painosalama Oy that is ranked first. If the supplier ranked first cannot accept the commission or does not respond to the enquiry, the second supplier on the list must be contacted.

> Guidelines for Printing Doctoral Dissertation (PDF including the information for the request for quotation and order)

The doctoral researcher is responsible for the proofreading of the dissertation and permission to print (approving the manuscript for printing). The doctoral researcher is also responsible for the outward appearance of the printed dissertation. Doctoral researchers have to take care that the dissertation corresponds to the formal requirements of the University and their faculty and that the work includes the abstract both in Finnish and English.

Print run (number of copies)

> The University's guidelines on the minimum printing requirements for and distribution of dissertations from 1 October 2019 onwards (PDF)

• For more detailed instructions, the faculties should be contacted (contact information below).

Publishing support

The amount of and prerequisites for publishing support for dissertations have changed since 1 October 2019: > Rector’s decision on publishing support for dissertations from 1 October 2019 onwards (PDF) > Appendix 1 to the Rector's decision: The University's guidelines on the minimum printing requirements for and distribution of dissertations from 1 October 2019 onwards (PDF)

For the printing of the doctoral dissertation, every doctoral researcher at the University of Turku receives publishing support. The publishing support is paid on the basis of actual and verified costs, however, no more than €600 (+ VAT 24%). In printing, the contract printing houses of the dissertations of the University of Turku must be used. If the doctoral researcher publishes their dissertation in electronic form only, the publishing support can be used for purchasing the layout service solely.

The printing house delivers the electronic invoice directly to the University. The instructions for invoicing are found in the file Guidelines for Printing Doctoral Dissertation (above). For invoicing, the doctoral researcher must state the faculty-specific internal order (cost centre number):

Faculty of Humanities: 26003181 Faculty of Medicine: 26002330 Faculty of Education: 26003160 Faculty of Science: 2606000 Faculty of Law: 26001563 Faculty of Social Sciences: 2603000 Faculty of Technology: 2610000

In Turku School of Economics, the printing house can be chosen freely, and the doctoral researchers are responsible for paying for the invoice themselves. Publication funding for dissertations can be applied from the Turku School of Economics Association (Coordinator of the Doctoral Programme of Turku School of Economics can be contacted for the application), and it is paid after graduation.

> Instructions of Turku School of Economics

Additionally, some foundations and organisations award grants to cover the costs caused by the publication of a dissertation. Further information is available in the Aurora grant database .

Releasing the dissertation means submitting it to the University.

The electronically published dissertations have to be delivered as a publishable file (PDF) to the Library Publication Services ([email protected]) 15 days before the public defence of the doctoral dissertation. The dissertation is published in the publication archive no later than 10 days before the defence. If the dissertation is published only in print or both in print and electronically, the printed version has to be submitted to the University no later than 10 days before the dissertation defence by 12pm.

The Dean can grant continuation to the release deadline. The decision on the continuation has to be delivered by the deadline to the Library Publication Services to [email protected].

> The University's guidelines on the minimum printing requirements for and distribution of dissertations from 1 October 2019 onwards (PDF) Dissertations are distributed according to the PDF guidelines with the following additional instructions:

• 2 copies of a printed dissertation (or if the dissertation is only published electronically: a stapled paper copy with a paperboard or a transparent plastic cover) are delivered to the Info desk of the Feeniks Library. The library is located at the University Hill (previously known as the Main Library). Alternatively, the copies can be mailed to address: "Feeniks Library, 20014 UNIVERSITY OF TURKU". Library copies must contain the loose leaf. The dissertation must be delivered to the University 10 days before the dissertation defence. Similarly, the publicly available copies (20 pcs) of those dissertations which are not published electronically at all are delivered to the same Info desk. This applies to the dissertations of all other faculties than the Turku School of Economics.
• Rector 1 copy: 1 copy is sent to the Rector by mail. The address: "Rector Jukka Kola, 20014 University of Turku"
• Optional copy intended for sale on UTUShop (1 copy) is delivered to the Main Building of the University (University Hill).
• At some units, the doctoral researcher has to deliver the dissertation to some other parties as well. The Custos can be contacted for more information.

Write a popularised summary of your dissertation

Please draft a popularised summary of your dissertation and send it to the University Communications in connection to the announcement of the public defence of a doctoral dissertation. The purpose of the popularised summary is to introduce the contents of you dissertation to the general public. Write the summary before you fill in the announcement of the public defence of a doctoral dissertation. The summary will be added to the University’s events calendar with the dissertation defence information and it will be used when information about the defence is shared in the University's channels. 

Answer the following questions in your text: 

• What are the key findings of your dissertation research? 
• What kind of new information has your research revealed? 
• What is the impact of your research on the surrounding world? 

Tips for writing the text: 

• Please write the text so that it is easy to understand, use standard language, and try to avoid scientific terminology 
• Write clear sentences and short paragraphs. 
• Imagine you are writing to a friend who is not familiar with the topic. 
• If you use the abstract of your dissertation as the base, please note that it is not suitable as such but needs to be popularised to make the contents understandable to those unfamiliar with the topic as well.

The text should be a maximum of 2,000 characters long. You can write it in English or Finnish. 

> See the summaries others have written of their dissertations

Make an announcement of the public defence of a doctoral dissertation 

The faculty gives you the permission for the dissertation defence and appoints the opponent and Custos. Please make the announcement of the public defence of a doctoral dissertation once you have received the permission and know the date of your defence.

> Make an announcement of the public defence of a doctoral dissertation

University Communications communicates your public defence 

The University Communications will add the dissertation defence information and the popularised summary text in the University’s events calendar based on the announcement you have made. The University Communications will share the information concerning your public defence on the University’s Twitter account and the social media channels of your faculty. Therefore, we request that you send your portrait to the University Communications: [email protected]  (high resolution photo, minimum of 2,000px on the longer side). Please send the photo during the week before your defence at the latest.  

The University Communications may compile a broader press release on some of the dissertations together with the doctoral researchers. In these cases, the University contacts the doctoral researcher and asks them to prepare a press release draft (see instructions on the Intranet ). You can also suggest a press release on your doctoral dissertation by contacting the University Communications: [email protected] . 

Please share information about your doctoral dissertation defence also in your own networks. 

Any questions about communications?

[email protected]

The doctoral researcher takes care of organizing the dissertation defence and possible festivities afterwards (a coffee service after the defence, the traditional post-doctoral party). The day of the defence is agreed on well beforehand so that the schedule is viable for the doctoral researcher, the Opponent, the Custos, and the possible review committee. However, note that the schedule can only be fixed once the pre-examination process is complete and the permission for the dissertation defence has been granted.

> Practical arrangements for the dissertation defence  

These guidelines are for the Doctoral Researcher, Opponent and Custos, who follow the rules of a dignified dress code that is appropriate for the event. The guidelines are traditional and do not have to be followed to the letter. In principle, the university does not reimburse the cost of dressing for the dissertation defence, but foreign opponents may be reimbursed for the cost of dressing, if necessary, by decision of the unit. Possible tax considerations must be taken into account.

Dissertation outfits:

A black tailcoat, a black vest, a white shirt with a stiff front and collar. A white bow tie is always worn with a tailcoat. Dress shoes and black socks are always worn with a black vest, no pocket square or wristwatch. A white vest and patent-leather shoes are worn at dinner and in the evening. A pocket square is also worn with the white vest, unless there are decorations. Outer garments consist of a black coat or cloak and a white scarf and white gloves.

A black full-length dress with long sleeves or an elegant black or dark dress (the neckline of the dress should not be open) or a light jacket suit or a trouser suit, light court shoes (pumps) and, for example, stockings that match the shoes.

A black, dark grey, or dark blue suit with a single or double-breasted jacket. The material can have faint stripes and the suit can include a vest of the same fabric or in similar colours. A white shirt and a restrained colour tie or bow tie that matches the suit (but not white), dark socks and dress shoes.

The opponent/custos may wear a doctoral gown of their university and foreign opponents may wear their academic uniforms.

There is no special dress code for the audience.

How the defence of a doctoral dissertation proceeds

Beginning of the event.

The first one to enter the hall is the doctoral researcher, the second the Custos and the last the opponent.

If the Custos and the opponent have a doctoral degree from a Finnish university, they hold their doctoral hat in their hands when entering the hall.

When everyone is in place, the Custos opens the proceedings with the words: “As the Custos appointed by the Faculty of …, I declare the beginning of this public defence of a doctoral dissertation.” After the opening the doctoral researcher gives their lectio praecursoria.

Lectio praecursoria

The doctoral dissertation defense is a public event, open to the audience, and the speech or lecture held at the beginning of the dissertation ceremony, known as the lectio praecursoria , is aimed at a broad audience. The doctoral researcher delivers the lectio praecursoria standing and in the Finnish language. If the doctoral researcher doesn't speak Finnish, they may deliver the lecture in English. The lectio praecursoria should last no longer than 20 minutes. A translation is provided for opponent(s) when needed.

A good lectio praecursoria is clear and understandable even to those who are not familiar with the doctoral dissertation. The doctoral researcher discusses their research and its findings and often also highlights the societal significance of the dissertation research and its connections to current or practical issues. The lectio praecursoria provides the doctoral researcher with an opportunity to engage the audience with the dissertation topic.

During the lectio praecursoria , the focus is on the background and the most significant and interesting findings of the dissertation research. There is no need to go into detail about theoretical concepts or research methods. These will be discussed under the guidance of the opponent after the lectio praecursoria.

Usually, the lectio praecursoria is read directly from a paper, but it is speech-like in nature. Therefore, it's advisable to practice the presentation in advance and modify the text to suit one's own speaking style and pace. Practicing audience engagement and eye contact is also recommended. While slides or images can be incorporated into the lecture to illustrate the topic, it's not necessary, as the lectio should be understandable on its own. It's advisable to discuss the presentation and its content in advance with the custos, as different faculties and majors may have their own guidelines or traditions.

The doctoral researcher begins with the greetings: “Learned custos, my esteemed opponent, honorable members of the audience…”

After the lectio praecursoria , the doctoral researcher states: “I respectfully ask you, esteemed Professor (Doctor, etc.) … as the opponent appointed by the Faculty of … for the public defense of my doctoral dissertation, to present your criticisms of my doctoral dissertation.”

After this the opponent, stands up and delivers a short statement concerning the scientific status and significance of the topic and other general questions. After this statement, both the doctoral researcher and the opponent resume their seats.

Examination of the dissertation

The opponent should begin the examination of the dissertation by handling methodological and general questions and then proceed to a detailed scrutiny of the text.

The opponent may not spend more than four hours on the examination of the dissertation, so that enough time remains for other speakers to present questions or criticisms. If the examination takes a long time, the Custos may announce a break. The total duration of the public defence may not exceed six hours.

The correction of misprints is not part of the proceedings at the public defence. The doctoral researcher may submit to the opponent a written list of errors which they have found, and this list may be appended to the opponent's statement submitted to the Faculty.

Conclusion of the public defence

When the opponent has concluded the examination of the dissertation, the opponent and the doctoral researcher stand, and the opponent delivers a final statement. At the end of the final statement, the opponent will state whether they will propose for the faculty, the dissertation to be approved.

The doctoral researcher, still standing, then thanks the opponent.

Next, the doctoral researcher turns to the audience and invites their contributions as follows: "I now respectfully invite any members of the honoured audience who wish to offer criticisms of my dissertation to request the Custos for a permission to speak."

The Custos may then grant permission for members of the audience to speak and is responsible for ensuring that the doctoral researcher is able to reply immediately to the offered criticism and that the discussion does not stray from the matter at hand.

Finally, the Custos stands up and terminates the proceedings as follows: "This public defence of the doctoral dissertation is now concluded."

The event may be followed by a coffee/toast in the front of the lecture hall organised by the doctoral researcher.

The post-doctoral party "karonkka" which takes place the same evening after the dissertation, is a voluntary private event outside the university and an old academic tradition. The Finnish name for the party, “karonkka”, comes from the Russian word “korona” (diminutive form “koronka”) meaning crown, i.e. the post-doctoral party crowns the long dissertation process. The doctoral researcher organises the party in the honour of the Opponent.

Post-doctoral party in short

The post-doctoral party is a festive event, usually held as a private function in a restaurant, but it can also be held in another venue or at home. The doctoral researcher pays for the party and selects the location. The party normally starts between 6 and 8pm.

The doctoral researcher decides how large a party they want to organise, but it should be discussed beforehand with the guest of honour. One possibility is to organise only a small dinner for the key persons at the beginning of the evening and a second celebration for family and friends. Many also throw the party in two parts: first a dinner for the key persons and a more informal after-party for a wider group of people.

The doctoral researcher has to make sure that the Opponent is picked up for the party. Often, the Custos picks the Opponent up from a hotel.

At the post-doctoral dinner party, it is customary to serve a starter, a main course, dessert, and coffee or tea. In addition to alcoholic beverages, make sure there are non-alcoholic drinks available as well. It is recommended that the course of the evening is discussed with the restaurant, preferably in writing, so that the personnel is aware of the different stages.

Invitations to the post-doctoral party

Whether or not the dissertation passes is finally discovered at the end of the public defence when the Opponent announces that they will propose to the faculty that the dissertation is approved. Therefore, it used to be customary to hand out invitations to the post-doctoral party only after the public dissertation defence had ended. Nowadays, however, the doctoral researcher sends the invitations beforehand. Nevertheless, it is good manners for the doctoral researcher to ask the Opponent before the defence whether they can start the preparations for the post-doctoral party.

Everyone can frame the invitation in their own way but it is recommended that it is mentioned that the event is held in honour of the Opponent and include the dress code. The traditional dress code is described below. Remember to also express whether the guests are allowed to bring a partner. Traditionally, post-doctoral parties do not include plus ones. The Opponent must be able to understand the invitation, so if they do not speak Finnish, the invitation can be both in Finnish and English or only in English.

The Opponent is the guest of honour at the post-doctoral party. Only the key academic people were invited to the traditional post-doctoral party: Opponent(s), Custos, preliminary examiners, supervisors and other people who supported the dissertation research. With article-based dissertation, also the co-authors were invited to the party. Today, a larger group of people can be invited to the post-doctoral party. However, it is good to keep in mind that the post-doctoral party is not a family occasion. According to tradition, the “additional opponents”, i.e. people who ask questions or make comments at the end of the dissertation defence, are also invited to the party. According to the same unwritten law, they politely refuse the invitation.

>> Invitation templates of University of Turku

The dress code to the post-doctoral party is evening dress: a white tie or business suit or an evening gown. A white vest is worn with the tailcoat, but, if there are participants wearing only tailcoats, they can traditionally agree to wear a black vest. Black is the traditional colour for academic celebration attire.

The doctoral researcher decides on the dress code of the post-doctoral party after consultation with the Custos. It is therefore advisable to indicate in the post-doctoral party invitation what kind of dress code will be followed at the event.

Bringing doctoral hats to the post-doctoral party can be agreed upon with the Custos and Opponent. According to academic tradition, a separate table should be reserved for the doctoral hats. Other guests should also be informed beforehand whether or not they should bring doctoral hats to the party.

Seating order

The doctoral researcher hosts the party and the Opponent as the guest of honour sits on the doctoral researcher’s right side which is the most prestigious seat. If there are two Opponents, they are placed on either side of the doctoral researcher. Next in the seating order is the Custos who is placed on the left side of the doctoral researcher. When there are two Opponents, the Custos sits next to the Opponent on the left side. The rest of the guests are seated after the Custos and the members of academia are placed in an order of rank. If the doctoral researcher's partner is invited, they can be seated next to the Opponent. Plenty of information on parties’ seating order is available online.

Drafting a seating order and place cards for everyone makes it easier for the guests to find their seats.

Programme at the post-doctoral party

In addition to the dinner, post-doctoral parties include several speeches. The speeches should be rather short and not read from a paper.

At the beginning of the event and before the dinner, the doctoral researcher welcomes the guests with a short speech such as a toast.

Traditionally, speeches are given after the main course, but nowadays all the speeches are often held after the dessert. The doctoral researcher starts the actual speeches. First, the doctoral researcher thanks the Opponent, then the Custos, and after that all the persons who have helped and supported the dissertation research, roughly in the academic order. Relatives and other close persons are thanked last and, traditionally, only the partner is named. The speech progresses in the order of academic importance to the dissertation research, not personal closeness.

Speeches given in reply are held in the same order as the people are mentioned in the doctoral researcher’s speech. The Opponent starts, next is the Custos, and then the other attendees. Speeches can contain tasteful humour, i.e. they do not have to be too solemn. The Custos can also express general thanks for the dinner on behalf of all the guests. Time is usually reserved at the end for additional speeches and this is when those who were not mentioned in the doctoral researcher’s speech can say a few words. Relatives do not traditionally give a speech at the post-doctoral party.

In addition, other programme, such as music, can be planned towards the end of the party.

Additional things to consider

The doctoral researcher should thank all who have congratulated them with flowers or a gift. Thanks can be expressed with a traditional or an electronic thank-you card. Futhermore, an old tradition is to send flowers to the Opponent’s partner as a thank you for the time that was spent examining the dissertation and preparing for the defence which otherwise would have been spent with family. Many units have given up this practice and therefore you should check with the Custos whether this tradition is still followed.

Approving the dissertation

After the dissertation defence, the dissertation is approved and the doctoral degree is granted by the faculty. The opponent(s) writes a statement on the dissertation and delivers it to the faculty according to its instructions. In the statement, the opponent proposes either a fail or a pass for the dissertation. In some faculties, the opponent can also make a suggestion for the grade. In other faculties, the suggestion on the grade is made by an evaluation committee. The doctoral researcher's defence in the dissertation defence is also taken into consideration in the assessment.

The faculty delivers a copy of the statement to the doctoral researcher and in some faculties also to the supervisor. According to Chapter 44, Section 2 of the Universities Act (2009/558), the doctoral researcher has to have an opportunity to give a written response to the opponent’s statement. The possible response has to be delivered to the faculty within the time frame stated in the faculty’s instructions.

The faculty council or dean decides on the approval of the dissertation as well as on its grade.

The dissertation is evaluated with different grades in different faculties:

•     Faculty of Humanities: Fail - Pass - Pass with Distinction
•     Faculty of Education:  Fail - Pass- Approved with honours.
•     Faculty of Medicine: Fail - Pass - Pass with Distinction
•     Faculty of Science: Fail - Accepted - Accepted with honours
•     Faculty of Law: Fail - Pass
•     Turku School of Economics: Fail - Pass with a grade approbatur – laudatur
•     Faculty of Social Sciences: Fail - Pass with a grade approbatur – laudatur
•     Faculty of Technology: Fail - Accepted - Accepted with honours

Degree certificate

Once the faculty has approved the dissertation, the degree is completed and the degree certificate is drafted according to the approval date of the dissertation without a separate application. It might take a few weeks to receive the certificate. The doctoral degree certificate is provided in two copies, one in Finnish and the other in English. In addition, the certificate includes a Diploma Supplement which is an appendix to the degree certificate and meant for international use. The Diploma Supplement gives more information about the University, the studies and study attainments included in the certificate, and expertise provided by the degree as well as about the level and position of the degree in the international education system.

Ceremonial Conferment of Doctoral Degrees

All those who have completed the doctoral training receive the doctoral degree. The right use the symbols of a doctoral degree, the hat and the sword, is traditionally granted in the Ceremonial Conferment of Doctoral Degrees. However, nowadays it is possible to buy the doctoral hat right after graduation. The Ceremonial Conferment of Doctoral Degrees is organised approximately every second year.

> More information on the ceremonial conferment tradition

The alumni of the University of Turku include all the graduates, students and employees of the University of Turku and Turku School of Economics. Participating in the alumni activities is voluntary and you can decide what kind of activities best suit you.

By registering as an alumni, you receive information of different alumni activities and the University’s latest news. Registration and membership are free-of-charge.

> More information on alumni activities

Contact persons in the faculties

• Faculty of Humanities: Meri Heinonen, humpostgraduate(a)utu.fi
• Faculty of Education: Anne Niemimäki, edupostgraduate(a)utu.fi
• Faculty of Medicine: Outi Irjala, med-doctoral(a)utu.fi
• Faculty of Science: Sanna Ranto, sci-docstudies(a)utu.fi
• Faculty of Law: Kirsi Tuohela, lawpostgraduate(a)utu.fi
• Turku School of Economics: Jenni Heervä, tsedoctoralprogramme(a)utu.fi
• Faculty of Social Sciences: Kirsi Tammi, socpostgraduate(a)utu.fi
• Faculty of Technology: Sanna Ranto, [email protected]

• PhD Stories

Doing a PhD in Finland

• Posted by by Nicholas Rowe
• 5. November 2019
• 7 minute read

From writing your own PhD research proposal to receiving your own doctoral sword (yes, really!), doing a PhD in Finland offers many challenges and surprising turns. Find out all about them in this overview article.

Doing your PhD in Finland: How to get in

The Finnish PhD system is fairly simple, but steeped in tradition. You need a master’s degree or equivalent to be accepted for study. If you choose your own PhD topic, you submit a research proposal to a university that specialises in your area, and once your application has been reviewed they accept or reject you.

Of course, there are PhD positions available on established research projects that are advertised on media sites and educational platforms, and these would entail a formal application +/- interview.

Your application should convince the university of the need for study in your area, and of your own suitability to carry out the research. So, having a ‘track record’ is very important when proposing new lines of independent research, whereas showing potential in your field of study is perhaps more important if you are going to join an established research team.

The first steps towards my PhD

I based my research proposal on my previous research and publications. Ideally, you will contact a professor in your field who will help direct the proposal, but in my case there were no specialists in the country. I am a trans-disciplinary educationalist and specify in ‘scientific communication’ (how we as scientists, academics and professionals share our work with each other) as opposed to ‘science communication’ (how we share our results with more public audiences). So, I pressed on alone and selected my institution based on the published interests and research groups of the university. The basic application form was 5 pages, and was sent with a motivation letter, an 8 page research plan, CV and certificates.

Supervision and funding

The university appoints a supervisor based on their closeness to your field, so it is more difficult to forward new ideas and research themes if they do not align with existing expertise or interests. Funding for a PhD in Finland may be provided for established research projects in terms of scholarships. If you propose your own topic, it is normally self-funded or will require you to find external funding. Finland does not charge tuition fees for EU applicants.

My PhD journey

Between starting your PhD programme and handing in your dissertation, the PhD journey is different for everyone. As a confession, I did my PhD not for the award, but rather as a means to conduct the research.

Various military strategists have viewed that ‘the first casualty of war is the battle plan’, and this was certainly true in my case. My initial research showed that a bigger issue existed than that which I had outlined in my proposal, so my research direction changed to answer more fundamental questions and to fill important gaps in our knowledge. Overall, I think this allowed me to develop as an independent researcher and to produce a more novel knowledge contribution. However, it also showed me that when we undertake unique research, we often become solo researchers in our PhD journey. Seeing the work through to the end requires perseverance, but it also makes us experts in our field, moving our discipline forward.

While many are aware of ‘ science communication ’, there was very little attention being paid to how we communicate science among ourselves, and especially the role that conferences play in knowledge dissemination. I had rapidly become accustomed to the raised eyebrows people gave when I said I was researching conference posters, but as I explored and developed the evidence, it became clear that my initial feelings as to their neglected role and significance were well-founded .

Challenging popular opinions and the academic status quo on this topic was not easy, and I had to undertake a range of activities to get my message ‘out there’. On reflection, whilst my original topic would have served to earn me a PhD, I think the final thesis made a far more meaningful contribution and provided a baseline for promoting cultural change in my area. Importantly, I feel that it underlined the need for scientific communication to be seen as a focal area of study across disciplines, and to develop our conference activities into forming a new ‘academic currency’ beyond the ubiquitous staple of journal publication.

Dissertation and coursework for a PhD in Finland

In Finland (and many other countries), a dissertation may be a monograph thesis or a thesis based on publications (3-4 published articles plus a summary thesis of around 100 pages). The PhD or doctoral degree is the equivalent of 240 ECTS points (1 ECTS point is equal to 25-30 hours of study in the EU). Of those, the dissertation accounts for 180 ECTS and the remaining 60 ECTS are awarded for general and advanced studies. My dissertation consisted of 4 published papers plus the summary thesis, but many universities accept 3 published papers. Normally, conference proceedings papers will not count towards your dissertation, although this will depend on your discipline and institution. It is obligatory to meet the full ECTS requirements to receive a PhD.

From dissertation to defence

When your thesis is ready, it is pre-examined internally during a ‘Grand Seminar’ and evaluated by a faculty thesis panel. If approved, it is sent out for external review, usually to one national expert and one international expert. Students can suggest reviewers, but must not have contact with them. External examiners pass comments, suggest revisions, and make a recommendation as to whether the thesis should proceed to a public defence.

A digital copy of the PhD is made available to the public online 10 days before the defence date, and the event is publicized in local and national media. A printed copy of the thesis is placed in the University foyer for anyone to read (I think some Scandinavian countries still physically nail a copy to the noticeboard!).

Defending your thesis: Bring extra stamina!

The defence proceedings are run by the ‘Custos’, who is usually the candidate’s supervisor. The thesis is examined by an external ‘Opponent’ who is considered an expert in the field and selected in agreement between the candidate and their supervisor. Anyone can attend the public defence.

Usually, the Custos opens proceedings. The candidate presents their thesis in a ‘Lectio praecursoria’, then the Opponent offers their critical evaluation. In principle, it is an academic exchange and discussion of the work that has been done, but it can become quite heated, so the role of the Custos is to moderate proceedings and protect their candidate. The minimum duration of a defence is two hours, with up to four hours the norm, but up to 6 hours is permitted. At the end, the floor is opened to the public and they are free to ask questions.

Finnish PhDs are graded. The grading panel (Opponent and usually the academic who led the internal pre-examination) retires to recommend whether the defence has been successful and to grade the thesis from 1 (sufficient: performance meets the minimum criteria) to 5 (excellent: outstanding performance with only minor errors).

Celebrating with a traditional ‘karonkka’ dinner

In the evening, the new Doctor is obliged to host a formal dinner (karonkka) for their Opponent and Custos, and any number of further guests. The karonkka takes place in a private dining area or specially rented ‘kabinet’. Seating protocols, a prescribed order of speeches, individual dietary requirements … it is quite nerve-wracking to arrange, regardless of the number of invited guests! Dress is formal evening wear.

For my own karonkka, guests were given a champagne welcome, followed by an appetizer of King Crab Salad with fennel, apple & spring onion, and a hot crab broth. The main course consisted of Chicken Milanesa with horseradish, capers & grilled lime, served with Lappish potatoes in dill butter, oven-roasted root vegetables & green salad. White and red wines were served with the meal, and it is a requirement that as guests of honour, the Opponent and supervisor’s glasses are never allowed to be empty!

After the formal part of the dinner, it is custom for the guests of honour to retire. The host then entertains the remainder of the guests until the evening is done.

Becoming a REAL PhD in Finland: Getting your hat and doctoral sword at Conferment

Although you have been awarded your PhD, you are not considered a fully-fledged doctor until you have undergone the official ceremony of Conferment. How do you tell if someone is conferred? Well, on university occasions such as thesis defences or awards ceremonies, those who have not undergone conferment are not entitled to actually wear their PhD hats, and must carry them instead (a sort of ‘hat-shaming’!).

As well as their doctoral hat, new PhDs are awarded their doctoral sword at conferment. In preparation for this special distinction, a sword-whetting ceremony takes place on the evening before conferment. New doctors dress in formal dinner suits, bringing with them the sword that they will be awarded the next day. After a formal dinner, each doctor is invoked to sharpen his sword on a large grindstone turned by the Rector and the sword-whetting party. The graduates offer a short speech of what the sword means to them as a symbol of defending knowledge and pledge for their future as a new doctor.

Hats in all colors

On conferment day, new doctors dress in formal tailcoats and are presented with their sword, hat and diploma of conferment. The basic hat colour is black, but may vary for specific fields. Doctors of Fine Arts use dark blue, Doctors of Law use crimson, Doctors of Medicine and Dentistry use dark green, Doctors of Military Science use grey, Doctors of Music use sky blue, and Doctors of Theology use purple.

The Conferment ceremony is only held every few years, so it can be quite a gathering. As well as the newly conferred doctors, the assembly will include those who have been conferred with honorary doctorates by the university, and may well include well-known personages. In my case, we even had to adopt certain elements of royal protocol, and I remember thinking what sort of challenges this must pose for the bodyguards when their charge is surrounded by over a hundred well-armed ‘classmates’!

After Conferment: Church, Dinner and Dancing

After the formal conferment ceremony (which in my case lasted over 3 hours), the assembly processes through the streets of the city to a church service. On this occasion, it is quite amusing to see people ‘breaking ranks’ at the church door if this is not their thing. In the evening, you change your waistcoat from black to white, and it’s off to dinner and dancing!

For our conferment dinner, we were served an appetizer of Lappish delicacies, followed by reindeer shank with pepper sauce, a cloudberry parfait, and again, a plentiful supply of wines and champagne. As the evening died down, people slipped away to finish of the evening.

It is quite funny that in this day and age, Finland is a place where you can leave the festivities, head into town in a taxi for a nightcap, still wearing a top hat and tails and sporting a meter-long dueling sword … and nobody bats an eyelid!

About the Author

Nicholas Rowe recently completed a PhD in Adult Education at the University of Lapland in Northern Finland. As a trans-disciplinary educationalist, he specifies in ‘scientific communication’. He moved to Finland from the UK in 2010 for family reasons, having taught healthcare-related programs for 5 years before. Nicholas has a special interest in conferences as sites of learning, and doing a PhD allowed him to continue his research. His article-based PhD, titled ‘Poster, poster, on the wall; were you even there at all?’ , formed a mixed method research into the efficacy and perceptions of conference poster presentations.

Loved reading about this… thank you Nicholas. Makes me want to do a PhD there (after I finish the one I’m doing here in the UK!)… Rob Tootell

Thank you Nicholas, such an interesting article. Your say the swords are fencing swords, are they epees? How different is the formal clothing for women? When did Finland confer PhDs on women?Does everyone need to defend their thesis in Finnish?

I have started reading your work and I hope that it will offer insights for me and others in the fields of Librarianship and other faculties who are offered the opportunity of poster presentation yet those posters are lost in the noise of the conference. In fact, after my second conference when I went looking for the poster presentations I decided that there should be a morning or afternoon tea break held in the vicinity of the posters so that the delegates who wanted to eat/drink had to do so whilst in very close proximity to the posters and their presenters.

Congratulations on your achievements and thank you for your work. Dr Nadine Gibbons PhD

The swords are what they call ‘small swords’. In the 1800s people thought that carrying a full rapier in public was uncivilized so a slightly smaller sword was introduced. It was still about a metre in length, but as clothes had changed to be open at the front, these swords were easier to wear. There sole purpose was for duelling and ‘defending your honour’. I am not sure when the first one was used in academic dress, but men & women have worn them equally for a long time.

The first female PhD in Finland was in 1901.

Hi Nicholas, I have enjoyed reading about your PhD journey, Congratulations! I am looking into the possibility of doing a PhD in Finland, and wonder how intense the course work is? Also, does the system include exams like the USA qualifying exams before starting the dissertation?

Of course, regulations and processes differ between faculties and universities. Most of the time you can choose your study units from what’s on offer, and just have to have a certain amount of credits for each mandatory section. If you already have qualifications or evidence of having attained a certain level in a subject (published papers, certification, etc.), you can apply for substitution or consideration of prior learning/experience. I did a fair number of units like this. There are uni entrance exams here (but they are being phased out). Some units might have an exam assessment, but generally you have to have a Master’s or equiv. to get in, then your progress is assessed by your supervisor. People often start building their dissertation quite early for monographs, but later on for PhD by publication (at the thesis is generally later in emerging).

Thank you for any other wonderful post. The place else may anybody get that type of information in such an ideal way of writing? I’ve a presentation next week, and I am at the look for such info.

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Privacy Overview

Finland: PhD Doctoral Sword and Top Hat Graduation Outfit

Welcome to our exploration of one of the most unique traditions of academic achievement – Finland’s PhD Sword and Top Hat Graduation Outfit.

This distinctive Finnish tradition embodies a scholar’s quest for truth and knowledge, setting it apart from common academic ceremonies worldwide.

We dive into the deep significance of the doctoral sword and hat, the specific dress code, and other formalities involved in the graduation ceremony.

In this intriguing journey, we also shed light on how these practices reflect the Finnish dedication to higher education and academia, culminating in the doctoral hat, sword, and much more. Join us as we delve into the splendid world of Finnish PhD traditions.

Finland’s Doctoral Sword and Hat

Finland’s Doctoral Sword and Hat are unique symbols of academic achievement, representing a researcher’s dedication to the pursuit of truth and knowledge.

The sword, along with its scabbard, carried traditionally on the left side, becomes a precious possession, often engraved with the name and the date.

The sword, designed by Akseli Gallén-Kallela, is the only official civilian sword in Finland, reflecting a scientist’s fight for what they’ve discovered through rigorous research to be good, right, and true.

The doctor’s hat represents liberty, scholarship, and freedom of research, showcasing a clear and natural dedication to answering questions in their field.

With hat colors and emblems varying according to university and discipline, these powerful symbols mark one’s accomplishments and commitment to higher education at Finnish conferment ceremonies.

The Dress Code for a Finnish PhD

The dress code for a Finnish PhD conferment ceremony includes wearing a doctoral hat and sword, with the hat color representing the specific degree and its emblem denoting the university.

They are also often required to wear white gloves and other formal attire.

Other formal events within the festivities may require different attire, such as evening gowns and suits or cocktail dresses for men and women, but the distinctive doctoral hat and sword stand for the dress code at the core of a Finnish PhD ceremony.

Other formalities at Finish universities for a PhD graduation

It is not just about the PhD Sword and hat, there are other formalities that need to happen for the graduation. 

The events are shown below in the table:

The Hat and the Emblem Colours

It’s very important to wear the right colours and hat for the degree into which you are graduating. 

Here is a list of hat colors and emblems for various degrees at the University of Oulu:

• Doctor of Philosophy: Black Hat
• Doctor of Education: Black Hat
• Doctor of Medicine: Green Hat
• Doctor of Dentistry: Green Hat
• Doctor of Health Sciences: Black Hat
• Doctor of Science in Technology (D.Sc. (Tech.)): Specific Hat for D.Sc. (Tech.)
• Doctor of Science in Economics and Business Administration: Black Hat

Note that the exact appearance of each hat and emblem may vary depending on the university and discipline. 

Interesting side note: The Transportation of the PhD Sword in an Airplane

Because this is the ONLY cilivilian (non military) sword allowed in finland there are some special precautions you need to take if you are flying to another city. 

To transport a PhD sword on an airplane, follow these actionable steps:

• Pack the sword properly in its own transport box or package, ensuring it is secure and well-protected.
• Arrive at the airport with enough time to complete the necessary check-in procedures.
• Inform the airline staff at the check-in counter about the sword, as it must be registered and documented.
• The sword will be transported as registered luggage in the cargo hold, so make sure it adheres to the airline’s weight and size limitations.
• In the case of Finnair flights, there is no surcharge for sword transportation unless it exceeds the weight limit.
• For further information on sword transportation, consult the check-in counter at Helsinki-Vantaa airport or the representative of promovendi at your faculty if necessary.

Remember that sharp-edged items like swords must always be placed in checked luggage and are not allowed in the cabin.

Wrapping up – Finlands PhD sword and Hat

We’ve journeyed through Finland’s exceptional doctoral graduation customs, exploring the profound symbolism of the doctoral sword and hat, the stringent dress code, and the multitude of other traditions involved in the ceremony.

The doctoral sword, Finland’s only officially certified civilian sword, is an enduring symbol of a scientist’s relentless fight for truth and goodness, born of rigorous research. The doctoral hat, varying in color and emblem according to university and faculty, signifies liberty, scholarship, and the freedom of research.

These customs, unique to Finland, have their roots in the country’s commitment to academia and higher education, manifesting most prominently in conferment ceremonies at universities like Helsinki and Oulu.

Graduation becomes a transformative process, involving meticulous preparation, from ensuring the correct emblem on your hat to the safe transportation of your sword.

All these intricate customs and traditions symbolise the doctoral journey’s depth, contributing to an unforgettable ceremony, a testament to the rigorous research and determination of Finland’s academic fraternity. Through this journey, we hope you’ve gained a unique insight into the world of Finnish PhD graduations, their customs, and the profound symbolism they carry.

Dr Andrew Stapleton has a Masters and PhD in Chemistry from the UK and Australia. He has many years of research experience and has worked as a Postdoctoral Fellow and Associate at a number of Universities. Although having secured funding for his own research, he left academia to help others with his YouTube channel all about the inner workings of academia and how to make it work for you.

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The Doctoral School and doctoral education at Tampere University

The scientific and artistic doctoral degrees are organised at Tampere University in the form of doctoral programmes. The university has 2,700 doctoral researchers and approximately 200 doctoral dissertations are defended yearly. When you want to start your doctorate at Tampere University, you submit your application to one of the 21 different doctoral programmes. Your chosen faculty and doctoral programme enables you to pursue diverse opportunities for learning and development and to develop your research skills.

After you have been accepted to Tampere University as doctoral researcher, you can make use of The Doctoral School's courses. In collaboration with the doctoral programmes, the Tampere University’s joint Doctoral School provides systematic, up-to-date and high-quality education to all researchers across faculty borders. The Doctoral School supports the development of diverse, multidisciplinary and international expertise among doctoral researchers and works to promote employability of our doctoral graduates.

In Finland, doctoral dissertations are published manuscripts, and they are publicly examined. You can participate in the public defences of our doctoral researchers also online. Read more about new findings from the press releases. Forthcoming public defences of doctoral dissertations (announcement in Finnish) Forthcoming public defences of doctoral dissertations (announcement in English) Past public defences of doctoral dissertations (announcement in English) Past public defences of doctoral dissertations (announcement in Finnish)

Doctoral education pilot opens at Tampere University

Tampere University will recruit 106 fully funded PhD candidates for a three-year term in calls that open in spring and autumn 2024. The posts are part of the national doctoral education pilot programme.

Learn more about our Doctoral Programmes

The Doctoral Programmes of Tampere University offer doctoral education in accordance with the research and education strategies of Tampere University, and the focus areas and guidelines of each faculty. More information about the profiles of our doctoral programmes and how to apply is available on the programme-specific webpages.

Get to know our doctoral programmes and find their contact information

Read about the admission to doctoral studies

Find out more on specialty training in medicine

Get to know The Doctoral School's courses and events

The courses and resources offered by The Doctoral School will help you identify and develop essential skills related to research, research methodologies and research ethics. You can select courses from over 50 offered each year. We also host many events, which support our doctoral researchers goals and networking.

Study Guide for the Doctoral School's joint courses for all doctoral researchers

Find out more about our events at The Doctoral School

What is The Doctoral School?

The Doctoral School offers English- and Finnish-taught courses both online and in classroom. Our courses and events help you gain experience on multidisciplinary and international teamwork while making effective progress towards your degree. The Doctoral School is an active participant in national and international doctoral education networks. We monitor the feedback and employment rate of our graduates to develop our doctoral education further.

Doctorate holders are multifaceted experts

Collaboration between the Doctoral School and faculty-based doctoral programmes provides an excellent basis for you and our 2,700 doctoral researchers to develop their academic expertise and excellence. Tampere University focuses both on theoretical and applied sciences. We can offer you education that is readily transferable also to working life outside the academia.

Watch our doctoral researchers tell you about their experiences

All courses and support for doctoral research

The doctoral school staff.

Pirjo Nikander

Research Director

tutkijakoulu

Doctoral School

Jenni Hokka

tutkijakoulutus

Henna Luoma-Halkola

Ira Virtanen

Senior Specialist

Science Communication; Researchers' Communication Competence

Liisa Ahlava

Doctoral Education

Contact information and the Doctoral School in social media

doctoralschool [at] tuni.fi

Twitter/X  @DocSchool_TAU

Give us feedback!

We continue to build our site and welcome all feedback. Please also let us know if you spot any mistakes on our site. If you wish to get a reply, remember to include your email address in your feedback message.

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Tampere University and Tampere University of Applied Sciences (TAMK) constitute the Tampere Universities community. Our areas of priority in research and education are technology, health and society. Tampere University: +358 (0)294 5211 Tampere University of Applied Sciences : +358 (0)294 5222

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Was presented a genuine Finnish PhD sword at my defense

Was a wonderful way to have my PhD recognized. My advisor presented it to me after I passed closed questioning.

Finnish PhD Defense

Team Finland Knowledge Programme supports UEF collaboration in environmental collaboration, forestry, border studies and physical education

Unite researchers awarded at the iufro world congress, reforming researcher training: quality and impact through cooperation, kuopio health insights 2024, 43rd nordic health economists’ study group meeting, share baltic sea conference.

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Doctoral dissertations

Dissertation news releases, doctoral defence of yasemin kontkanen, m.soc.sc, 28 june 2024: legitimate peripheral entrepreneuring: somali immigrant entrepreneuring in finland and in the united states, doctoral defence of mette heiskanen, msc, 14 june 2024: blood micrornas could be useful in the diagnostics of traumatic brain injury, doctoral defence of nadine huber, msc, 14 june 2024: synaptic dysfunction correlates with frontotemporal dementia symptoms, doctoral defence of suvi-tuuli puharinen, m.sc. (admin.) , 12 june 2024: eu environmental law obligations based on the state of waters and the marine environment challenge existing legal structures, doctoral defence of muhammad ali shahbaz, msc, 12 june 2024: air pollution and alzheimer’s disease could worsen covid-19 outcomes, doctoral defence of alexander paz carvajal,  bsc, 7.6.2024: novel methodologies for generation and simulation of knee joint finite element models, doctoral defence of matti tweshiningilwa nghikembua, msc, 31.5.2024: wildlife activity patterns and encroaching woody vegetation response to bush thinning on farmlands in north-central namibia, doctoral defence of kaisa-mari launonen, msc, 7 june 2024: androgen receptor-associated proteins could offer new approaches to prostate cancer treatment, doctoral defence of petri kesti, msc, 24.5.2024: the role of environmental variables on the community structure and fatty acid composition and content of freshwater macroinvertebrates, doctoral defence of huizhong zhang-turpeinen, msc, 24.5.2024: biogenic volatile organic compound emissions from the boreal forest floor after wildfire, doctoral defence of vandad imani, msc, 24 may 2024: new machine learning applications combine multimodal data for early diagnosis of brain disorders, doctoral defense of evangelos thiani, mdiv, 18 may 2024: diakonia is a fundamental part of traditional orthodox theology that has been ignored – the study of transformative philanthropic-diakonia of the african orthodox church of kenya, doctoral defence of pierre moreau, msc, 8 may 2024: new insight into the role of non-coding rnas in atherosclerosis-related cell types, doctoral defence of vanesa tomas bosch, msc, 8 may 2024: study uncovers the impact of non-coding rnas on blood vessel health, doctoral defence of valeria iannone, msc, 8 may 2024: microbiome treatment could alleviate metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (masld), doctoral defence of hasan sohail, msc, 6.5.2024: epidemiological studies on the adverse health effects of non-optimum ambient temperatures, doctoral defence of xudan zhu, msc, 10.5.2024: the mechanisms behind aquatic browning in boreal catchments, doctoral defence of gulraiz iqbal choudhary, msc, 4.6.2024: practical solutions for early detection and management of chronic diseases, doctoral defence of blair rajamaki, msc, 26 april 2024: attention to comorbidities in the care of alzheimer’s disease, doctoral defence of augustine-​moses gaavwase gbagir, msc, 23 april: using long-term global remote-sensing datasets to assess environmental changes at a local and regional scale, public examinations of doctoral dissertations, taufiqurrohman, m. hum., doctoral defence in english language and culture, joensuu.

All dissertation events

Dissertation books on eRepo Service

UEF eRepo, the open access materials repository of the University of Eastern Finland, contains theses and publications of the University of Eastern Finland, self-archived versions of articles and metadata of research data made available by our researchers.

You can find the online dissertations books on eRepo Service .

Doctoral programmes

Tampere Peace Research Institute

Doctoral Programme

TAPRI is the only higher education institute in Finland that offers a Doctoral Degree in Peace and Conflict Research.

All doctoral students of Peace and Conflict Research are members of the Doctoral Programme in Social Sciences that includes the following disciplines: Social Anthropology; Social Policy; Social Psychology; Social Work; Sociology; Gender Studies; and Peace and Conflict Studies.

The Doctoral Degree takes approximately four years and is worth 240 ECTS credits. Doctoral studies require independent research and a Doctoral dissertation. The aim of the programme is to offer education in research that provides diversified skills for working in demanding specialist and research duties.

Postgraduate studies enhance general theoretical and methodological skills, train students to work in multidisciplinary research groups and develop their ethical and practical working life skills. A graduate of the doctoral programme knows the theories and the methods of his or her own discipline exceedingly well, has a broad knowledge of social research and its issues, and can evaluate the significance of the various research approaches and methods.

TAPRI organizes supervision and its own research seminar. Doctoral students in Peace and Conflict Research become a member of TAPRI community with senior researchers and MA students. In the selection process of potential applicants we are emphasizing convenience of suggested research topic to focal points of research at TAPRI and availability of appropriate supervisors. The priority areas of research are: Feminist Peace Research, Peace Mediation and Peacebuilding, Everyday Peace and Global Mobility.

Application period twice a year (application periods in April and October)

If you are interested apply for the Doctoral Programme in Social Sciences. You can find our admission requirements at Tampere University’s Admissions page and explore the curriculum .