On this page, you will find instructions for preparing for the day of your defence, the procedure of the defence, and practical arrangements at the Faculty of Health Sciences. Please familiarise yourself with these instructions well in advance — they will help you focus on the essentials as the day of your defence approaches.
Preparing for the public defence
As the defence approaches
Make sure your dissertation is available at least seven days before the public defence. You will find more information in the section “Checklist for doctoral candidates”.
Lectio praecursoria
Prepare a short introductory presentation – the lectio praecursoria – lasting no more than 20 minutes. In your lectio, you explain the background of your research and its connections to scientific or practical questions. A more detailed description of the lectio praecursoria can be found in the section “Procedure of the public defence” below.
Dress code
Decide on the dress code for your public defence and inform the custos and opponent well in advance. The dress code for the public defence is either a tailcoat or a dark suit, or a dark dress or a long-sleeved suit. The opponent may also choose to wear the academic dress of their own university. Note: there is no dress code for the audience.
Preparing the defence venue
The Facilities Management Officers prepare the defence venue for the event. A table and chairs are set up at the front of the venue for the custos, opponent, and you. The tables are equipped with the necessary stationery and AV controls.
Check your department’s practice regarding drinks at the public defence. The facilities management staff do not arrange drinks in the venue (e.g. mineral water).
Coffee reception
Order a coffee reception from the campus restaurant nearest to the defence venue to be served after the public defence. The reception takes place in the restaurant premises or the lobby — remember to also reserve the lobby space if the coffee reception is held there. If you prefer, you may replace the coffee reception with, for example, a celebratory toast. As a rule, you pay for the reception yourself.
Meeting the opponent
Check whether it is customary at your department to take the opponent to dinner the evening before the defence. Also agree with the custos and opponent on where and when to meet before the public defence begins.
Checklist for doctoral candidates
After receiving the permission to defend from the faculty
- Contact the series editor.
- Agree on and reserve the date and venue for the defence together with the opponent, custos, and your principal supervisor. The venue is reserved using an online form for facilities reservation on the Kuopio campus.
1–3 months before the day of your defence
- Submit your material to the series editor.
- Prepare your dissertation material so that it is ready for publication.
- Agree with the printing house on how the dissertation material will be delivered.
- Arrange the coffee reception, which is ordered from the campus restaurant. Instead of coffee, you may also arrange other refreshments (e.g. a celebratory toast).
- Make arrangements for the post-doctoral party (in Finnish: karonkka):
- Plan the guest list and send out invitations.
- Reserve a venue for the dinner.
- Request quotes for dinner catering, etc.
- Obtain your attire for the public defence and the post-doctoral party.
- Make use of the Support for communication in public defence material bank when preparing, for example, your news release, lectio praecursoria, and post-doctoral party speech. Talk to colleagues and supervisors at your department about the traditions and practices in your field (e.g. dinner cards vs. gifts, who is customarily invited, etc.).
Approximately one month before the day of your defence
- The manuscript must be formatted and ready for printing.
- The series editor must have given written approval for printing the dissertation.
- Agree on the proofing schedule.
- Check and correct the layout proof.
- Having a professional photograph taken is optional. Instructions for the photograph can be found on the Kamu page.
- Submit the details of your public defence and news release to UEF Communications and Media Relations using the online form.
One week before the public defence
- Your dissertation must be publicly available seven (7) days before the public defence. Deliver or ensure that the printing house delivers the printed version of your dissertation to your campus library and the electronic version to the library for online publication.
- Distribute your dissertation to members of the university community in accordance with the faculty’s guidelines.
- Send a link to your dissertation to the Dean.
- Reflect on your research journey, trust in your expertise, and take time to relax before your public defence. This is a day to celebrate you and your contribution to scientific knowledge. Warmest congratulations!
Note: The timelines above are indicative and intended to help you plan your own schedule.
Procedure of the public defence
The public defence begins at a quarter past the hour, by which time the audience is already seated. When you, the custos, and the opponent enter the venue, the audience rises. In most cases, you enter first, followed by the custos, and the opponent enters last.
Opening of the defence
Once everyone has taken their places and you are standing to the left of the custos, the custos opens the public defence by stating: “As custos appointed by the Faculty of Health Sciences of the University of Eastern Finland, I declare the public defence of [candidate’s title and name] open.” The custos and opponent then take their seats.
Lectio praecursoria
After the opening, you deliver a brief introductory presentation – the lectio praecursoria – while standing. In the lectio, you explain the background of your research and its connections to scientific or practical questions. The lectio may last no more than 20 minutes and is usually delivered in the same language as the defence. Begin with the words: “Honoured custos, honoured opponent, ladies and gentlemen.” At the end of the lectio, you state: “I now ask you, honoured Professor/Docent [name], as the opponent appointed by the faculty, to present the comments that you consider my dissertation warrants.”
Opponent’s introductory review
The opponent delivers a brief introductory review of the research under examination while standing, and concludes by announcing that they will proceed to a detailed examination of the work. After the introductory review, both the opponent and you take your seats. If there are multiple opponents, they agree on the division of responsibilities and announce this during their introductory review.
Examination of the dissertation
The opponent examines your dissertation, first addressing general questions such as the choice of research topic, methods, and data, and then proceeding to a detailed examination. At the end of the examination, the opponent presents a summary of the significance of the results presented in the dissertation for the field. The opponent may spend a maximum of approximately four hours on the examination, so that any additional opponents have sufficient time. If the examination takes a considerable amount of time, a break may be taken, which the custos announces.
Opponent’s closing statement
Having concluded the examination, the opponent delivers their closing statement while standing, which you listen to while standing. The opponent then takes their seat.
Your closing words
Thank the opponent and turn to the audience, stating: “I now ask any members of the audience who wish to pose questions or raise comments concerning my dissertation to request the floor from the honoured custos.”
Closing of the defence
The custos concludes the public defence by rising and stating: “The public defence is concluded.” The custos and opponent hold the doctoral hat in their hand as they leave the venue. Typically, you leave first, followed by the custos and opponent. The audience does not applaud or otherwise show appreciation during the event. Congratulations are reserved for the moment when you have had the opportunity to thank the opponent and custos outside the venue.
Coffee reception after the defence
After the congratulations, you invite the audience for coffee.