Preliminary examination and permission to defend at the Faculty of Health Sciences

This guide describes the steps of the preliminary examination process for doctoral dissertations at the Faculty of Health Sciences and helps you prepare for them.

If you have any questions about the preliminary examination and assessment process, contact Academic Affairs Specialist Annika Koistinen: [email protected].

Examination and assessment of the dissertation

Your dissertation is examined in two stages:

• Preliminary examination – two external experts evaluate your manuscript.
• Public defence – your dissertation is examined publicly.

After the preliminary examination, the process proceeds through the following steps:

1. Granting the permission to defend
2. Publication of the dissertation
3. Announcing the defence
4. Arrangements for the public defence
5. Public defence
6. Grading of the dissertation

Preparing your manuscript for preliminary examination

Finalising the content
Once you and your supervisors agree that your dissertation is ready for examination, you can apply for permission to defend and submit your dissertation for preliminary examination. Before submitting, check the originality of your dissertation in accordance with the university’s and faculty’s guidelines.

Plagiarism detection
Your dissertation manuscript must be checked using a plagiarism detection tool before it is sent to the examiners for review. If your dissertation is article-based, only previously unpublished texts are checked, that is, the summary section and any unpublished articles.
The check is carried out using the Turnitin tool, which is integrated into the eLearn Moodle environment.

How the plagiarism detection process works

1. Your supervisor sends you the Moodle course name and enrolment key.
2. You upload your manuscript as a single file (.doc or .docx) to the Turnitin assignment submission box on the course.
3. You notify your supervisor once the report is ready.
4. Your supervisor reviews the plagiarism detection report and discusses the results with you if necessary.

Self-check at different stages of your work
You can also check your dissertation texts independently using the student Turnitin tool at earlier stages of your work. For example, you can use the tool to check earlier versions of your manuscript or drafts of your articles.

• Instructions for students
• Instructions for supervisors

Submitting your application for permission to defend

Once your dissertation manuscript has passed the plagiarism check, you can submit it for preliminary examination and apply for a permission to defend from the faculty using a dedicated form.
Complete the following information in your application:

• your contact details
• your doctoral programme, department/institute/unit, and subject (if applicable)
• the title of your dissertation
• the date on which your main supervisor reviewed the plagiarism detection report
• the composition of your dissertation (number of publications and other details if your dissertation is article-based)

Attach the following documents to your application:

1. The final manuscript of your dissertation including sub-publications (PDF). Also include any unpublished manuscripts. Your dissertation must be prepared using the Faculty of Health Sciences layout template. It is recommended that you combine the dissertation and sub-publications/manuscripts into a single PDF using PDF-XChange, which is available at UEF.
2. A statement on your own work and contribution to the publications (PDF). Define in writing and estimate as a percentage (0–100%) your own contribution in predefined areas for each publication. Use the faculty’s template (template for the statement on the doctoral researcher’s work and contribution to publications, Word file). If your preliminary examiners or opponent are from outside Finland, write the statement in English.
   Additional clarification is required on the same form if:
   • your dissertation includes a manuscript that has not yet been published or accepted for publication
   • the number of original articles is small (1–2).
3. Consent of the first author of a sub-publication (PDF). This is required if the first author is someone other than you or if there is shared authorship. A written, signed consent from the first author must be attached.
4. Statement from the main supervisor (PDF). This is required if a sub-publication in your dissertation has been or will be used in another dissertation. The main supervisor’s free-form statement describes the independent and separate roles of the doctoral researchers in the sub-publication in question and explains how your dissertation’s perspective differs from the other dissertation. The statement must make clear that two dissertations with the same content have not been and are not being produced from the same article.
5. A copy of the acceptance letter (PDF). This is required if your dissertation includes peer-reviewed articles that have been accepted for publication.

Details of supervisors, preliminary examiners and the opponent
Enter the details of all your supervisors on the application and provide your proposals for preliminary examiners and, if possible, the opponent and custos. The proposal for the opponent and custos can also be submitted separately at a later date. For each person, please provide:

• name
• academic title
• affiliation
• email address
• mobile phone number (this is particularly important for persons outside UEF, as the number is needed for the application signing process).

Make sure the contact details are correct before submitting your application.
You have the opportunity to give your statement on the proposed preliminary examiners before they are appointed.
The Dean appoints two preliminary examiners for your dissertation based on the proposal of your principal supervisor. The preliminary examiners must be persons outside the University of Eastern Finland who hold at least a doctoral degree. Your dissertation supervisor cannot be appointed as a preliminary examiner.

The Dean’s decision on the appointment of the preliminary examiners is sent for information to you, your principal supervisor, and the preliminary examiners. The faculty also sends the preliminary examiners your dissertation, the assessment guidelines, and your statement on your own contribution to the sub-publications.

Timeline and progress of the preliminary examination

• From 1 August 2025, preliminary examiners must submit their statements to the faculty within 30 days of receiving the dissertation. The Dean may grant an extension if needed.
• Do not make any changes or improvements to your dissertation that the preliminary examiners may suggest until the preliminary examination is complete. The preliminary examiner’s statement is based on the manuscript sent by the faculty.
• The preliminary examiners send their statements to the faculty, and the Academic Affairs Specialist forwards them to you by email. Read the statements carefully and inform the Academic Affairs Specialist whether you have any comments on them.

If a preliminary examiner does not recommend granting permission to defend
If a preliminary examiner does not recommend granting permission to defend in their statement, you may discontinue the examination of your dissertation once. Submit a written request to discontinue (UEF Education Regulations, Section 37). The Dean makes the decision on the discontinuation.

How to proceed after discontinuation

1. Revise your manuscript based on the preliminary examiner’s comments.
2. Ask your supervisors to review the revised version. The supervisors will verify that the shortcomings described in the first statement have been addressed.
3. When you resubmit your work for preliminary examination, attach to the defence permit application a statement on the changes made to the manuscript, signed by your principal supervisor.

You also have the opportunity to write a response to the statement and submit it to the Dean for consideration alongside the preliminary examination statement.

Evaluation instructions for preliminary examiners of doctoral dissertations (PDF)

Appointing the opponent and custos

Once your dissertation has been granted permission to defend, the Dean appoints an opponent (or opponents) and a custos for you based on your earlier application and the preliminary examiners’ statements.

The opponent must be a professor at another university or a person with scholarly merits equivalent
to those required for a docentship. The opponent must not be employed by the University of Eastern Finland.

The custos oversees the public defence and represents the university. The custos must hold the qualifications of a docent. The faculty recommends that the custos be a UEF professor or associate professor, but a principal supervisor who holds docent-level qualifications may also serve as custos.

Evaluation instructions for opponents of doctoral dissertations (PDF)

Disqualification of preliminary examiners and opponents
When appointing preliminary examiners and opponents, the grounds for disqualification defined in the Administrative Procedure Act (434/2003, Sections 27–28) are taken into account. In addition, the following restrictions apply:

• A preliminary examiner or opponent must not be a co-author of any sub-publication included in the dissertation.
• A preliminary examiner or opponent must not have had close research collaboration, joint scientific publications, or joint research projects with the supervisors or the doctoral researcher within the past three years that are related to the research topic.

Under Section 28 of the Administrative Procedure Act, an official is also disqualified if there is any other special reason that may jeopardise confidence in their impartiality. If there is room for interpretation, the Dean assesses the matter separately.
Detailed disqualification guidelines can be found on the Intranet.

Opponent’s statement after the public defence
After the public defence, the opponent submits a statement to the faculty within two weeks of the defence. In their statement, the opponent assesses whether the dissertation can be accepted and also proposes a grade. The grading scale is fail – pass – pass with distinction.
The Faculty gives you the opportunity to submit a response to the opponent’s statement before the matter is considered by the Faculty Council.