A PhD comprises 240 credits, which corresponds to four years of full-time study. It is possible to transfer credits from certain Master’s courses or the equivalent – this is considered on a case-by-case basis. For a doctorate, you must have passed the courses that form part of the programme and the doctoral thesis. The thesis is defended orally at a public event.

Shortcuts to the content on this page

• Booking a date for a thesis defence
• Submit an application for a thesis defence
• Important dates and periods
• Regulations and forms
• Degree

Booking a date for a thesis defence

Doctoral students are to book a date for their thesis defence. Make the booking as soon as possible after your individual study plan has been followed up and it has been confirmed that it is time for the thesis defence. When you book the date, you also need to add the departmental representative as an administrator of your booking, as this doesn't happen automatically.

Instruction on how to book a date and add the departmental representative as an administrator

1. Log in to the thesis defence system – lth.se
   State your Lucat ID (do not add "@lu.se" to the user name).
2. Fill in all the fields in the booking form and add the departmental representative as an administrator of your booking.
3. Click on "Book and mail".
4. Inform the departmental representative that you have added him or her as an administrator of your booking.

Submit an application for a thesis defence

Applications for a thesis defence are submitted by a departmental representative or head of department at the latest eight weeks before the planned date of the thesis defence. Please note that summer and winter breaks are not counted as part of the eight-week period, read more about this in the section Important dates and periods, further down on this page.

Before completing your application – send the information document to the examining committee members or external reviewers

A brief document (“Information regarding the assignment as a member of an examining committee or external reviewer at the Faculty of Science”) is to be sent to those who are being asked to be examining committee members or external reviewers. As and when they accept the assignment, they are to complete the brief form section of the document (the form does not require signature – it can be completed digitally) and then send it back to you. You are to upload these confirmation forms in the system when you apply for the public defence of the doctoral thesis. The CVs of examining committee members and external reviewers are also to be uploaded in the booking system. Read more about this under point 3 in the instructions below.

The document “Information regarding the assignment as a member of an examining committee or external reviewer at the Faculty of Science” is available in the section Regulations and forms, further down on this page.

Instructions on how to submit an application for a thesis defence

1. Log in

Log in to the thesis defence system – lth.se
State your Lucat ID (do not add "@lu.se" to the user name)

2. Ensure that a date has been booked for the thesis defence

For a thesis defence to be registered, the date needs to have been booked already. The booking is to be made as soon as possible after the student’s individual study plan has been followed up and it has been confirmed that it is time for the thesis defence.

Traditionally, the date of the thesis defence is booked by the doctoral student, but it may also be booked by a departmental secretary, supervisor or departmental representative. To book a date for a doctoral student, search for the doctoral student via the system’s search function (personal identity number or Lucat identity). Fill in all the fields in the booking form and then click on “Book and mail”. It is important that you add the departmental representative as an administrator of the booking (at the Department of Physics, the head of department is also to be added); otherwise, the departmental representative will not be linked to the booking.

3. Fill in the application form

When the date of a thesis defence is booked, the supervisor, departmental representative or administrator can see the doctoral student’s case in their list of thesis defence cases in the thesis defence system.

To apply for a thesis defence, click on the link “Application”. Then fill in all the fields and upload all the required appendices. If you cannot fill in all the details at one time, you can save your form and fill in the rest later.

Important information regarding uploads of documents to the booking system for the public defence of doctoral theses
The following documents are to be uploaded in the thesis defence system:

• Brief CV including list of publications from the external reviewer
• Brief CV including list of publications from the examining committee members (compiled in one PDF file)
• Brief CV including list of publications from the substitute committee member (compiled in one PDF file)
• The five documents confirming the assignments as examining committee members or external reviewers (compiled in one PDF file that you name “Signed instructions for opponent and committee members”). NB! It is important to check that the names of the examining committee members or external reviewers are correct in the compiled PDF file. Unfortunately the names have sometimes been changed in the conversion to a PDF file. If you have access to a printer, you can print out the documents and scan them as a single PDF file, so as to be sure they are correct.

4. Submit the application form

When you have filled in all the details and uploaded all the appendices, click on the button "Applicate and mail” which is on the bottom right of the page. Once you have done this, two documents are automatically generated, each containing the application for the public defence of the doctoral thesis – one in Swedish (Application (sv)) and one in English (Application (en)). These documents can be found under the doctoral student’s name in the list view. Click the Swedish or English application and print it out on single-sided sheets of paper. Send the application for signature (with a blue ink pen) to the departmental representative or the head of department. Then send the application to: Constance Holmbäck, Faculty of Science Administration Office, service point HS 39.

If you want to make changes later on, please contact Constance Holmbäck at the faculty administration office.

Contact information to Constance Holmbäck – staff.lu.se

Important dates and periods

• The application must be handed in at the faculty office (printed, signed and sent to service point HS 39) no later than 56 days before the defence (keep in mind that summer and winter breaks are not counted as part of the 56 days). The system indicates the days in the left field inside the list view.
• The nailing must take place at the faculty office no later than 24 days before the defence (if you are prevented to do this, please send us an email and we will try to find a solution).

No processing takes place during this period:

• Summer time: Friday before midsummer until 15 August.
• Winter time: 22 December - 5 January

Public defences of doctoral theses are to be scheduled during the semester unless special circumstances apply (STYR 2018/562). The Faculty of Science deems special circumstances always to apply with regard to scheduling public defences up to and including the last Friday before Midsummer.

Regulations and forms

• Advice and instructions for doctoral students and departments in connection with the public defence of theses (PDF, 283 kB, new tab)
• Management regulations for the public defence of doctoral theses (PDF, 190 kB, new tab)
• Information regarding the assignment as a member of an examining committee or external reviewer at the Faculty of Science (PDF, 266 kB, opens in a new tab)
• Guidelines for faculty opponents and examination committee members (PDF, 77 kB, new tab)
• Template for examining committee minutes (in Swedish) (PDF, 81 kB, new tab)

Degree

You apply for a degree certificate through an application form.

Download the application form for degree certificate – lunduniversity.lu.se