The examination of a Doctoral Dissertation takes place in two stages: (1) pre-examination, and, (2) the Public Examination indicating a public discussion about the dissertation.
The purpose of the examination is to establish that the manuscript submitted as the Doctoral Dissertation fulfills the scholarly and formal requirements and that the quality is sufficient. The examination process cannot begin until the manuscript of a Doctoral Dissertation has been corrected and improved according to suggestions given in pre-examination statements.
The number of opponents is usually one, but there can be up to three opponents. A pre-examiner can act as an opponent. The opponent examines the dissertation in a Public Examination, focusing on the scholarly content, internal logic and structure of the dissertation; the choice and justification of methods, research data and source materials; the results; and other issues affecting the scholarly quality of the dissertation. The examination can also take into account the knowledge about and use of relevant literature, mastery of the chosen methods, and the
candidate’s understanding about the applicability of the results. Yet another focus of the
examination is on the candidate’s ability to defend his/her dissertation in the Public Examination.
The opponent (each opponent) delivers the signed examination statement to the Academy Board´s Division for Doctoral Education and Research. The statement should clearly state if the examiner(s) suggest(s) the manuscript to be accepted as a Doctoral Dissertation and the grade, or if they suggest it to be rejected. If there are two opponents, they can also give a joint statement. For legal protection of the doctoral candidate, the opponent(s) cannot give any new critique in the statement; instead, the doctoral candidate must have had an opportunity to respond to all critique in the Public Examination. The signed statement(s) are addressed to the Academy Board´s Division for Doctoral Education and Research and delivered to the presenting official into the office of the doctoral school within a week from the Public Examination.
When evaluating the Doctoral Dissertation, the opponent(s) should pay particular attention to the following aspects:
An article-based dissertation can include joint publications, but the contribution of the doctoral candidate must be unanimously distinguishable. It is acceptable that there is some overlap or reiteration in the article-based dissertation. Otherwise, same evaluation criteria are used for both a monograph and an article-based dissertation, and also the article-based dissertation must form a coherent whole. The opponent(s) of an article-based dissertation evaluate(s) the scholarly quality of the whole regardless of whether all of the articles are published.
The grades used for a Doctoral Dissertation are “not approved”, approved” or “passed with distinction”. Only a truly high-standard Doctoral Dissertation can be passed with distinction; if there are two opponents, they both must suggest the highest grade.
The grade “passed with distinction” provides that the Doctoral Dissertation is creditable with regard to all evaluation criteria. This indicates that