This guide is designed to support the public defence process of doctoral students admitted under a special agreement on research studies at the Lund University Faculty of Fine and Performing Arts, and

• doctoral students admitted to the national graduate school in the arts, Konstnärliga forskarskolan (KF),
• doctoral students in music education at the Royal College of Music (KMH),
• doctoral students at the Royal institute of Art (KKH),

The higher education institutions with which the Faculty of Fine and Performing Arts has agreements with regard to research studies will hereinafter be referred to as “the Institution”. The doctoral student is assessed at the Faculty of Fine and Performing Arts at Lund University, but is employed by the Institution.

The Faculty of Fine and Performing Arts is responsible for the formal decisions, quality assurance and support in the process. The Institution pays for all costs associated with the public defence, and is also responsible for the practical execution of the defence, as described in this guide.

Applying to publicly defend a doctoral research project

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

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

The form for the application is available on the faculty’s website: Application form (Sw: Framställning)

External reviewer (opponent) and examining committee

• The external reviewer is to be a PhD holder or equivalent (senior lecturer of art or documented professional experience at the equivalent level). Always attach a CV and reasons for the choice to the application form, so that the external reviewer's relevance for the doctoral work is made clear. The external reviewer must not be active at the Faculty of Fine and Performing Arts nor at the Institution, unless there are particular reasons to allow this.
• The public defence of the research project is to be led by a chair, who is often a representative for the Institution, for example a professor.
• The examining committee is specially appointed for each public defence. The Higher Education Ordinance stipulates that at least one person not active at Lund University is to be included in the examining committee. Efforts should be made to ensure an external and impartial assessment. In order to facilitate the Faculty Board's decision the application should always include an attachment with reasons for the choice of examining committee.
• A person who has supervised the doctoral student cannot be part of the examining committee. The external reviewer and the supervisor have the right to attend the meeting of the examining committee and to take part in the deliberations, but not in the decision.
• The composition and qualifications of the examining committee can be regulated further in the respective general syllabi: General syllabi
• In addition to the external reviewer’s CV, a brief statement regarding the choice of external reviewer and members of the examining committee shall be included in the application to the Faculty Board, so that their relevance for the doctoral work is made clear. This is especially important regarding multidisciplinary doctoral works, where the opponent’s and the examining committee members’ competences should be relevant to different aspects of the doctoral work.

ISBN and ISSN

The published doctoral research project must be assigned a so-called ISBN number. The ISBN number is unique to each publication. If the doctoral work consist of several separate publications (printed and/or digital) each one of theses should have its individual ISBN number. The Institution is responsible for obtaining such a number. For information on how to obtain ISBN numbers for a doctoral research project, visit:

http://www.ub.lu.se/en/publish/registering-and-publishing-in-lup/doctoral-theses/isbn-for-a-doctoral-thesis

The publication must include both the Institution’s logo and the Lund University logo. In a printed publication, the Institution may choose to have their logo on the cover, and Lund University’s logo (and perhaps also their own) on the title page. The LU logo can be downloaded here:

http://www.staff.lu.se/support-and-tools/communication-and-graphic-profile/graphic-profile-and-logotype

The title page must also contain the following text:

“This dissertation has been carried out and supervised within the graduate programme in [subject] at [Institution]. The dissertation is presented at Lund University in the framework of the cooperation agreement between the Malmö Faculty of Fine and Performing Arts, Lund University, and [Institution] regarding doctoral  education in the subject [subject] in the context of Konstnärliga forskarskolan.” (Text in italics only applies to certain doctoral students.)

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

The template for the notification sheet/document data sheet  (or contact Annika Westberg at the faculty office: annika [dot] michelsen [at] kanslik [dot] lu [dot] se (annika[dot]westberg[at]kanslik[dot]lu[dot]se)) 

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

”Doktorsarbete [alt. Akademisk avhandling]

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

vid Konstnärliga fakulteten, Lunds universitet.

Framläggs för offentlig granskning den [datum, klockslag]

i [lokal, adress, ort].

Fakultetsopponent

[titel, namn, ev. högskola].”

Please note that the faculty opponent's title and affiliation are requested also in the electronic LUCRIS registration of the doctoral work. If the opponent is not affiliated with a university, please state her or his home residence. Institutions may have reason to establish a publishing series for their doctoral research projects. Each one of these series must be assigned a so-called ISSN number. The Institution is responsible to contact the National Library of Sweden (KB) to establish and administer such a series. 

(Doctoral research projects at the Lund University Faculty of Fine and Performing Arts are published in two series: one for music education and one for research subjects in art. The ISSN numbers are 1404-6539 (music education series) and 1653-8617 (art series). Institutions can establish a special agreement with the Faculty of Fine and Performing Arts to have their research projects published within either of these series. This agreement shall contain a financial agreement as well as regulate the responsibility for distribution and storage. For more information, contact Annika Westberg at the faculty office:: annika [dot] michelsen [at] kanslik [dot] lu [dot] se (annika[dot]westberg[at]kanslik[dot]lu[dot]se)
The publication series can be found here: Publications)

Lund University's printer, Media-Tryck, offers an optional template for the thesis.

Electronic publication in LUCRIS

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

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

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

The compulsory electronic registration entails publishing an abstract in English in LUCRIS. The research project is to be published electronically no later than four weeks before the public defence.

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

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

The doctoral student is to send a copy of the notification sheet to the reviewer for publications output at the Faculty of Fine and Performing Arts, Madeleine Bergquist,  madeleine [dot] bergquist [at] khm [dot] lu [dot] se (madeleine[dot]bergquist[at]khm[dot]lu[dot]se)

Note: Under the heading Classification system and/or index terms in the notification sheet, you are to state the category, or categories, that your work belongs to according to Swedish Higher Education Authority (UKÄ). 

• Doctoral students of music education are to state two classifications:
  - Social Science ► Educational Science ►Pedagogy 
  - Humanities ►Arts ► Music
• Doctoral students of arts subjects are to state:
  - Humanities ► Arts ► (the main category the work belongs to)
  - Note: you can state more than one category if the project lies between different subject classifications. Add the next category as a new entry under Humanities ► Arts ► (new category)

Please check that the information on the time and place for the public defence of the research project, its title and other details is correct and complete in the notification sheet. If the research project was written in Swedish or other language than English, please note that the title is to be entered as it appears on the project, and not translated into English.

Electronic publication of the doctoral research project/documentation

According to the Lund University Policy on Open Access Publication, it is advantageous to publish research publications in full. The doctoral research project/documentation is to be published in its entirety in LUCRIS four weeks before its public defence, unless there are particular reasons that prevent this, such as production or copyright issues. It is also possible to upload attachments in the form of sound files, films, images, etc. in LUCRIS. In conjunction with sending the notification sheet to Madeleine Bergquist, also send the files that the doctoral student wants to publish in LUCRIS. NB! Name the files using the same title/name that the material has, so that it is visible in the public LUCRIS portal.

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

Distribution of the doctoral research project

If the doctoral research project includes text with ISBN numbers, legal deposits and an additional number of copies deemed reasonable by the Institution shall be printed.

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

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

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

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

• The doctoral student is responsible for ensuring that the external reviewer and the members of the examining committee each receive the thesis/research project at the latest four weeks before the date of its public defence. The doctoral thesis is to be submitted in its existing form, if the printed work is not yet available, four weeks before the public defence.
• Four copies of the thesis text with an ISBN number – the so-called legal deposits – are to be submitted to Lund University Library. The original receipt for delivered legal deposits shall be submitted to the Institution’s administration and a copy of the receipt shall be submitted to the office of the Faculty of Fine and Performing Arts.
• The act (1993:1392) on legal deposits prescribes that the printing office is to deliver legal deposits to the seven legal deposit libraries in Sweden: the national Library of sweden and the university libraries of Stockholm, Uppsala, Linköping, Örebro, Göteborg and Lund. If the doctoral student and supervisor turn to another printing office than Media-Tryck at Lund University, then they should ensure that the printing office fulfils this legal obligation. The National Library of Sweden (boel [dot] larsson [at] kb [dot] se (boel[dot]larsson[at]kb[dot]se), phone: 010-709 33 04) can provide contact information for the legal depostit libraries.
• Each copy of the thesis shall contain a document data sheet. A template is available here: Document data sheet (or contact Annika Westberg at the faculty office: annika [dot] westberg [at] kanslik [dot] lu [dot] se).
• The Institution and doctoral student can come to an agreement on any additional distribution.
• The Institution is responsible for ensuring that a digital version of the research project (for example a link to LUCRIS) is disseminated according to the Institution’s own mailing list, and for ensuring that the project is accessible via relevant web pages. A link to the research project shall be emailed to the Faculty of Fine and Performing Arts at Lund University for publication on the faculty website.
• The Institution’s remaining copies are to be kept for at least five years. If the Institution subsequently wishes to dispose of the remaining copies, they are first to be offered to the graduate.

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

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

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

Public defence

The Institution is responsible for the administration in connection with the public defence, for example making sure that invitations to the public defence are disseminated via appropriate channels. The Faculty Office will also send out a formal announcement of the time and place for the public defence.

A traditional form of public defence can briefly be described as follows (although different arrangements can occur):

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

Detailed descriptions of what the public defence structure might look like for doctoral research projects in fine and performing art as well as in music education are available in English on the faculty website. Agenda for dissertation in Music Education or Agenda for dissertation in Artistic Research. We encourage you to send this description to the external reviewer and examining committee so that they can prepare for the process. Any othe practical issues regarding the public defence are handled primarily by the department.

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

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

Degree certificate

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

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

In addition, the doctoral student must submit an application to the Degree Office at Lund University. Information on the application procedure and the relevant form are available on the website of the Degree Office: https://www.lunduniversity.lu.se/current-students/academic-matters-support/apply-for-your-degree-certificate

Please note that all course results, the title of the doctoral research project and the outcome of its public defence are to be recorded in Ladok before the application for the degree certificate can be processed. The supervisor and/or subject representative is responsible for ensuring that documentation on completed courses is submitted to the Ladok officer and for certifying that the courses meet the requirements of the general syllabus. It can take some time to process the application for a degree certificate; 8–10 weeks is not unusual.

Doctoral degree conferment ceremony

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

During the doctoral degree conferment ceremony, the graduand is to have access to a doctor’s ceremonial hat and ring. Graduands wishing to purchase the hat and ring are to order these items well in advance from the suppliers approved by the Chief of Protocol. If the graduand does not wish to purchase the hat and ring, they will need to look into possibilities of borrowing such items through personal contacts. Read more about the doctoral degree conferment ceremony on the LU website: https://www.lunduniversity.lu.se/about-university/university-glance/academic-traditions

Checklist for public defence and degree certificate