STV9060 – Trial public defense
Course content
The PhD candidate must complete a trial defense in the last semester before the planned submission of the thesis. In the trial defense there will be two opponents, one external and one internal.
The candidate can decide the time for the trial defense themself, provided that the time suits the opponents, but it makes sense to set aside enough time between the trial debate and submission, so that the comments from the trial debate can be incorporated in the thesis a good way.
The candidate must hand in a complete draft of the thesis no later than 2 weeks before the trial defense. The first opponent reads and comments on the entire thesis within a time frame of 60-75 minutes. The second opponent only reads and comments on the cover, within a time frame of 30 minutes. Supervisors are invited to the trial debate. They have no real role, but will be given the word at the end, if they want to say something.
The candidate can find and contact the first opponent themselves. If, on the other hand, the candidate wishes the department to do so, the candidate must send a list of relevant persons to the administrative coordinator. The opponents of the trial debate cannot participate in the assessment committee.
Learning outcome
The trial public defense is intended to:
- give you specified feedback on the dissertation prior to your submission
- provide you with experience in presenting and substantiating central findings and results from your own research, also for a non-expert audience in your field of research
- provide you with experience in assessing other candidates scientific presentations and giving constructive feedback
Admission to the course
Enrollment is done in StudentWeb.
Trial debates are reserved for students on the PhD program at the Department of Political Science
Examination
A draft of the entire thesis must be submitted to the department no later than 14 days before the trial defense.
After the trial defense, you must submit a short reflection note in which you summarize insights from the feedback. The note must be sent to the course manager, the supervisors and the administrative coordinator.
Language of examination
Norwegian or English
Grading scale
Grades are awarded on a pass/fail scale. Read more about?the grading system.
More about examinations at UiO
- Use of sources and citations
- Special exam arrangements due to individual needs
- Withdrawal from an exam
- Illness at exams / postponed exams
- Explanation of grades and appeals
- Resitting an exam
- Cheating/attempted cheating
You will find further guides and resources at the web page on examinations at UiO.