Thesis defence /Doctoral or Licentiate degree MMK

How to defend your thesis is regulated in Higher Education Ordinance, see

The application should be sent or delivered to Susanne Forsberg at least one week before planned submission to the Dissertation Committee.

Important to think about before submitting the application for a thesis defence:

  • Submit the application to the Dissertation Committee 11-12 weeks before the planned defence.
  • All members of the Examination Board must be associate professors or professors.
  • Pages D1-D7 must be submitted as a separate file as these are signed by the director of doctoral studies and the head of department. Do not include the pages before D1. Wrote their names at the box "name" on the form 9.
  • The doctoral student and supervisors must all sign the application before it is handed in.
  • The file must not be larger than 10 Mb.
  • In case of using digital signatures (EduSign) these must appear after page D7.
  • Copies of the included articles/manuscripts should also be submitted as separate pdf files.

The Dissertation Committee will disregard applications that do not contain sufficiently detailed information. Follow the instructions for the application form carefully.

Information to be included in the application:

  • Confirmation that the doctoral student's research activity corresponds to four years of full-time studies. If this is not documented in LADOK, a supplementary statement of the doctoral student's research activity must be attached to the application.
  • Planned venue for the thesis defence, including specified building/room
  • A detailed description of the field of expertise of the opponent as well as each member of the Examination Board. For each member, describe which thesis study/studies that his/her expertise covers, and why. State if the member was part of the halftime committee or not.   
  • Special justification if the research work has not undergone ethical review.

Printing of thesis

A thesis presented at KI has the right to use KI's trademark, but must state Karolinska Institutet as the publishing university. Furthermore, a thesis that carries KI's logotype must follow the rules for use of Karolinska Institutet's graphic profile (handling of logo, color and typeface). The links below will provide you with the information needed to print your thesis:

Reimbursement for dissertation costs

Valid from 1 July 2013.

Departmental funds will to a certain extent cover:

  • compensation to the opponent in the form of remuneration, social security fees and surcharges for indirect costs
  • costs for thesis printing, up to SEK 10,000
  • This applies to doctoral students who are registered at our department at the time of the dissertation and for dissertations that take place from 2013.

If you have questions regarding dissertation costs, contact your group's contact person at MMK's finance department directly.

Licentiate seminar

The licentiate degree can be obtained after the corresponding two years of full-time doctoral studies (120 higher education credits). For assessment of licentiate dissertation and licentiate seminar, an Examination Board is appointed, but no opponent.

After graduating with a licentiate degree, the doctoral studies at Karolinska Institutet are defined as completed. However, it is possible at a later date to apply for admission to the later part of the doctoral program with the intention of obtaining a doctoral degree.

Hybrid thesis defences

If you want a hybrid thesis defence you can use Zoom-webinar. Please contact MMK-IT for help with the license to Zoom-webinar (around 600 Swedish crowns for each license). Please contact fixit@ki.se for help with the technique.

Read more about Hybrid thesis defences at KI here

CL
Content reviewer:
02-02-2024