The defender agrees with the Communication Services on the information to be disseminated.
The defender submits his or her photograph and possibly images related to the work (not obligatory), and a CV to Communication Services for the press release. A couple of weeks before the public examination takes place, Communication Services prepare the press release based on the abstract and the draft written by the defender and sends it to the selected key representatives of the media.
The library displays the commentary for public viewing at the Theatre Academy premises 10 days prior to the public examination. The address of the doctoral research published in the web is published 10 days prior to the public examination.
The Planning Officer/Coordinator sends out invitations to the official bodies. The defender takes the responsibility for sending an invitation to all guests he or she wishes to invite to the public examination.
The public examination of the doctoral research takes a form of a discussion between the opponent (or the opponents) and the defender. The Custos acts as the chair of the public examination and monitors its course.
The public examination shall not exceed four hours. The public examination can include pauses. The Custos announces the pause to begin and to end.
The public examination follows an academic protocol defining the roles and the responsibilities of the participating persons. Those participating in the public examination are expected to be familiar with them and to respect them.
The defender, the opponent(s) and the Custos wear dark suits, formal dark dresses or academic dresses with possible academic insignia. It is possible to be flexible about the dress code for justified reasons. The matter is to be discussed with the Custos.
There are no special guidelines for the dress code of the audience.
Before the public examination takes place, during the time reserved for preparations, the Custos discusses the practical arrangements of the public examination with the defender and the opponents. It is the responsibility of the Custos to make sure that the defender and the opponents are well informed in advance about the course and the nature of the public examination. Written guidelines will be sent to the opponents and the defender describing the public examination well in advance before the public examination takes place.
The public examination comprises of the opening statement by the Custos, introductory lecture by the defender, general statement by the opponents, examination of the doctoral research (questions and answers), and the final appraisal, or summary, by the opponents. How each phase is conducted depends on the nature of the doctoral research and on the wishes of the defender and the opponents. The opponents agree on their mutual roles together with the Custos. The defender also needs to be made aware of this agreement in advance.
The defender and the opponent are required to ask the Custos for advice in cases where there is a deviation from what has been agreed on in advance.
The public examinations are usually held at the premises of the Theatre Academy of the University of the Arts Helsinki (such as the studios, the Theatre, rehearsal studios when applicable, the Auditorium 1 or the central hall Tori).
The arrangements concerning the space reserved for the public examination take the needs and wishes of the defender into account. The arrangements and the solutions are meant to facilitate the mediation of the contents of the research between the defender, the opponents and the audience. Part of the public examination can be organized in a space other than the examination itself when justifiable. The transitions need to be made short enough and take place in an organized way.
The defender can use assistants, supporting performers or technical devices as agreed in advance with the Custos.
The Custos will oversee the public examination from a spot that is agreed upon, taking the present spatial arrangement into account.
The public examination proceeds as follows: the opening statement, the introductory lecture, general statement by the opponents, examination of the doctoral research, final appraisal by the opponents. What follows is a description and guidelines for these phases. The course of the event is described in Section 4.
The Custos declares the public examination open by presenting the defender, the opponents and by introducing the course of the public examination.
The introductory lecture (lectio praecursoria) follows, i.e., the defender’s statement in which he or she presents the central research questions and the contributions of the doctoral research. The length of the introductory lecture is approximately 20 minutes, or a maximum of 30 minutes in case the defender presents artistic examples. If the lectio includes artistic or practical parts, this is agreed upon with the Custos well in advance.
Tutke publishes the introductory lectures presented by the doctoral researchers graduated at Tutke online in the Acta Scenica series. The lectio praecursoria essays develop and complement themes emerged during the research process. They not only sum up the history and the background of the work but also explain the research inquiry and methodology to audiences less familiar with the field. It is significant for artistic research that these important statements are available as widely as possible also after the public examination of the doctoral research. Send your introductory lecture to Tutke's Planning Officer as a Word file within one month of the public examination.
The general statement is a brief talk prepared by the opponents in advance where they present the central contents of the doctoral research with respect to the field of art and the earlier research conducted within the field. The general statement can be jointly written by the opponents and it can include performative material.
The examination of the doctoral research is based on the questions asked by the opponent and the answers provided by the defender. The realization of the doctoral research is critically evaluated. If they so wish, the opponents can resort to practical demonstrations or to bringing forward additional material contributing to the examination. Taking such actions needs to be agreed upon in advance with both the Custos and the defender.
A spontaneous need for practical demonstrations can also arise during the discussion. The Custos needs to be asked for a permission to proceed with spontaneous demonstrations.
When the Opponents have no more comments or questions, they will present their final appraisal, i.e. summary on the quality and the importance of the doctoral research, taking into account the arguments and the material presented by the defender during the public examination. At the end of the final appraisal the opponents will announce whether they will recommend to the Research Council at the Theatre Academy of the University of the Arts Helsinki that the doctoral research be accepted or rejected.
In order to prepare for their final appraisal, the opponents can, if they so wish, ask the Custos for a 10-minute pause for negotiation. The opponents, or the defender and the audience will move to a separate space for the pause as requested by the Custos.
At the end of the public examination, the audience is offered an opportunity to present questions for the Defender on the contents of the doctoral research. The Custos presides over the discussion giving the floor to the speakers so that the defender can immediately answer each question or respond to each comment. The Custos will oversee the discussion so that it keeps to the topic of the doctoral research. In case the discussion brings out evidence that will influence the evaluation of the research, it will be taken into account at the Research Council on the decision concerning the approval of the doctoral research. After the public examination has ended, the Custos will give instructions to the person having taken the matter up on how to proceed.
The defender lets the Coordinator know how many seats in the auditorium should be reserved for invited guests. The defender provides the Coordinator with a list of people who will receive a copy of the doctoral research from the Info (out of the defender's own copies).