Dissertation and dissertation party

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Finally, it was time for the defence and the defence party! Yesterday I presented my research and the content of my thesis in front of an audience. After the presentation, it was time for the opponent, Dr Craig Melville from the University of Glasgow, to lead the questioning and discussion. He asked tricky but good questions. I was very, very happy with the opponent, but after two hours of questioning in English, I was still exhausted...

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How does a defence take place?

How does a defence work? Yes, it is different in different countries, and also different at different universities. In Sweden, you defend your thesis in front of an audience (colleagues, other researchers, students, family and friends). Here, at Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm, it goes something like this:

1. The President presents all
2. Opponents make a short presentation of the research area
3. Doctoral students present their research
4. Opponents for a discussion with doctoral student, by asking critical questions about the research
5. Board of examiners (three external researchers) ask questions
6. audiences may ask questions
7. The debate is closed and grading committee goes into a private room to confer
8. Board of examiners comes out and announces whether the doctoral student has been recognised.

Can you fail?

In theory, you can fail here, but hardly in practice. The examining committee receives the research well in advance of the defence and can then recommend or advise against the defence. If it is not up to standard, it should be stopped. before. So why the defence? Well, you have to prove that you are actually the one who wrote the content of the thesis and that you understand and can reflect on it.

Hearing at the Dissertation

When the hearing of the opponent was finished, the examining committee and the audience asked a few more questions about my performance. research and the content of the thesis in front of the audience, and then it was over. All in all, the hearing probably took three hours.

Decision of the Board of examiners

The examining committee conferred for a little while after my defence and then came out and announced that I had passed. Everything was finally complete after four years of research studies ... Time for bubbles and mingling! Of course, it felt great, but it's also a bit hard to understand.

Disputation Festival

In the evening after my defence, we had invited those closest to me (the supervisors, the research group, the opponent, family and the closest friends) to a defence party down here in the marina. We had booked a very nice room with windows facing the water and ordered Lebanese food from the restaurant Libaneza in Sundbyberg.

It was a really, really nice defence party! There were several speeches and lots of fantastic gifts. In addition, my really wonderful colleagues sang a song for me that they had composed ... so much fun! Today I am completely exhausted. Defending a thesis is really a tension from morning to night, I can promise you that. But it is also very fun! And what a lot of food and wine we have left! We will be eating Lebanese food for several days ...

Doctorate - what happens now?

Many people ask what happens now, when my defence and defence party is over and I am no longer a doctoral student - and this is a relevant question! Many doctoral students have a 4-year doctoral position that ends after the defence. That's not really the case for me. I have always had a permanent position in the county council, but on the other hand, we are planning to go on a long trip now ...

I am employed by Stockholm County Council, where I work in public health. I have been on a 60 per cent leave of absence to do a PhD at Karolinska Institutet, but now I will return to my full-time position. Well, for a little while. As of 1 December, I have taken a full-time leave of absence because we are going to travel ...

The reason we want to go on a long trip now is of course because it's something we've been dreaming about for a long time. It's not easy to leave for a year, and you have to find the right opportunity. When I was doing my PhD, it was of course impossible. Now we feel that we can take the opportunity, and we don't want to miss it!

And then what? To be honest, I have no idea, but the primary plan is to go back to my job. I work in a changing organisation where different public health missions land in our lap, so new things can happen all the time. Now that I have completed my PhD, there are also opportunities for better pay and more interesting work. Another possibility is to apply for funding to continue research. But as I said, first we travel, then I think about that ...

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