REGULATIONS CONCERNING THE DOCTOR PHILOSOPHIAE DEGREE (DR.PHILOS.) AT THE UNIVERSITY OF NORDLAND (UiN)

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1 REGULATIONS CONCERNING THE DOCTOR PHILOSOPHIAE DEGREE (DR.PHILOS.) AT THE UNIVERSITY OF NORDLAND (UiN) Legal authority: Passed by the board of UiN on October 31 st 2012 under the provisions of the Act of 1 April 2005 no. 15 relating to Universities and University Colleges sections 3-2, 3-3 and 3-9 no. 7. Section 1 Objectives Dr.Philos. is a non-supervised degree. The doctoral degree programme is to qualify the candidate for research activities and other types of work where a high level of scientific insight and methodology is required. Section 2 The right to apply Anyone who has passed a higher degree examination may apply for admission to the Dr.Philos. degree examination. Applicants who can prove equivalent qualifications in a discipline may be granted permission by the faculty to apply for permission to submit a thesis for the degree. The doctoral thesis will be evaluated until such permission is granted. The faculty will evaluate the applicant s qualifications and reach a decision on the basis of documentation of previous studies and scientific work, cf. section 5. The faculty may require the applicant to follow a special course and/or pass a special test before being granted admission. The application will be submitted together with the doctoral thesis. Candidates who are not citizens of Norway or any other Nordic country may apply for admission to the Dr.Philos. examination, provided their application is supported by the relevant faculty. Admission may be given if the thesis: covers topics or makes use of material directly related to Norway; is closely related to Norwegian research within the discipline; has been carried out at a Norwegian university or research institute, or in close contact with Norwegian researchers, or if the applicant holds a permanent residency in Norway. Candidates with doctoral degrees in the same discipline, from Norway or any other Nordic country, do not have the right to apply for a Dr.Philos. examination at UiN. Section 3 Thesis

2 The thesis must be an independent scientific piece of work of a high academic standard with respect to the formulation of the issues raised, precision of concepts, methodological, theoretical and empirical basis, documentation and form of presentation. The thesis must hence contribute to the development of new knowledge and be of an academic standard appropriate for publication as part of the literature in the relevant field. The thesis may be a self-contained piece of work or the continuation of a thesis previously submitted towards a higher degree in the field. The thesis may also be a continuation of previous academic work towards a higher degree. Work previously accepted as a thesis towards a higher degree or towards the 'magister' or 'licenciate' degree, or work previously awarded a medal in a University Award competition, is not admissible for assessment as an independent piece of work towards the doctoral degree, unless it constitutes a minor part of a thesis consisting of several conjoined pieces of work. Several minor pieces of work may be accepted as part of a doctoral thesis provided that the content of these works forms a whole. In such cases, the individual parts are to be accompanied by an introduction ( kappe ), giving a detailed account of their interrelationship. Part of a joint publication may be approved for evaluation (also one of several works, cf. section 5), provided that the candidate s contribution represents an independent and identifiable contribution. In case of a thesis, containing pieces of work written by more than one author, a signed declaration that describes the contribution by the candidate and the co-author(s) of each piece of work, and the consent of the co-author(s), must be included. It must be possible to identify the candidate s independent contribution in the work A piece of work or parts of a piece of work that are being evaluated for a doctoral degree at one Norwegian university or university college cannot be submitted for simultaneous evaluation at another Norwegian university or university college. A piece of work or part of a piece of work previously assessed for a doctoral degree at a Norwegian or foreign institution cannot be submitted for evaluation, even if the work is submitted in a revised version. The thesis must be written in Norwegian, Swedish, Danish, English, German or French. If the candidate wishes to use another language, an application for permission must be submitted together with the thesis. The faculty responsible for evaluation will make the decision. The thesis must be made available to the public. A doctoral thesis that has previously been rejected after assessment may be re-evaluated in a revised version, either as a single piece of work or as one of several conjoined works, at least six months after the faculty s decision to reject the thesis. Re-assessment may only take place once. Section 4 Award of the doctoral degree

3 The doctoral degree is awarded on the basis of: a) an approved scientific thesis and its satisfactory defence in a public disputation, and b) two approved trial lectures. Section 5 Submission of the thesis The thesis and an application for assessment of the thesis must be submitted to the faculty together with certified copies of examination and degree certificates. If special admission is required in accordance with section 2, the applicant must provide documentation of studies completed and enclose copies of previous scientific work. The application is submitted together with the thesis. At the time of submission, non-nordic citizens must state the grounds for applying for admission to be evaluated for the degree in Norway. Should the applicant wish to submit a thesis in a language other than one of those stated in section 3, an application to this effect must be submitted together with the thesis. The doctoral candidate must also enclose a written declaration that neither the whole nor any parts of the thesis have been submitted for evaluation for a doctoral degree at any other Norwegian or foreign institution. The thesis must be submitted in bound or stitched copies,in the number required by the faculty. If the thesis is approved for public defence, additional copies must be submitted (in the number required by the faculty). The thesis must be accompanied by an abstract in English, which may serve as a press release. The thesis must be made available to the public at least one month prior to the public defence. Once submitted, a thesis cannot be withdrawn until a final decision has been reached as to whether it may be approved for defence for the doctoral degree. After submission, the doctoral candidate may make corrections of a formal nature only, and an errata sheet detailing all such corrections must be submitted no later than one month before the disputation. Secton 6 Appointment of an assessment committee To evaluate the trial lectures, the thesis and the public defence thereof, the faculty appoints an assessment committee consisting of at least three members, based on the proposal of the relevant academic staff. The faculty appoints a coordinator of the committee. The composition of the assessment committee is normally to be such that: both genders are represented at least two of the members are external to UiN

4 the main position of at least one member should be at an foreign institution all the members hold doctoral degrees or equivalent qualifications If these criteria are not met, an explanation stating the grounds for this must be provided. The provisions pertaining to legal competence in the Norwegian Public Administration Act, section 6 ff., apply to the members of the committee, cf. section 10 of the same Act. The candidate shall be notified of the proposal for the composition of the committee, and he or she may submit written comments no later than one week after the proposal has been made known to the candidate. 7 The faculty s procedures related to the assessment committee s report Within a deadline determined by the faculty, the committee must submit a detailed report recommending whether or not the thesis is worthy of being defended for the doctoral degree. The report may be accompanied by individual statements. Details must be given of any dissent among the members of the committee. The committee may require the candidate to submit source material as well as supplementary and clarifying information. The report of the assessment committee, complete with any individual statements and/or statements of dissent, must be submitted to the faculty and forwarded to the doctoral candidate as soon as possible. The candidate may submit written comments no later than 14 days after receipt of the report. Should the comments from the doctoral candidate be of significance as to whether the thesis can be approved, these comments must be considered by the assessment committee before the faculty reaches a formal decision in the matter. The faculty deals with the assessment committee s report, together with any additional comments. If the committee s decision is unanimous and the faculty finds that the report should be used as the basis for its final decision, the faculty makes the final decision in accordance with the committee s report. If the faculty decides that there exists reasonable doubt as to whether the committee s unanimous decision is to be used as the basis, the faculty itself is to request more detailed clarification from the assessment committee or appoint two new reviewers to provide individual statements regarding the thesis. The candidate s comments shall be enclosed. If the committee submits a non-unanimous proposal and the faculty decides to base its final decision on the majority s recommendation, the faculty takes the final decision in accordance with the majority s recommendation. The faculty may seek more detailed clarification from the assessment committee and appoint two additional reviewers who are then to submit individual assessments concerning the thesis. The candidate s comments shall be enclosed. The faculty makes a decision, in such a case, based on the committee s report and the collected statements. The candidate is to be informed of the result once the assessment is complete.

5 Section 8 Trial lectures and public defence If the thesis is found worthy of being defended for the doctoral degree, the doctoral candidate must hold two public trial lectures, one on a prescribed topic and one on a topic of his/her own choice. The candidate must submit the title of the lecture of his/her own choice no later than one month before the public defence. The assessment committee determines the topic for the trial lecture on a prescribed topic and the candidate shall be notified of the topic ten working days prior to the lecture. The public defence should be held within six months of submission of the thesis. The trial lectures must be approved before the public defence is held. The trial lectures and the public defence must be conducted in the same language as the thesis, or in one of the languages stated in this regulation s section 3. The assessment committee evaluates the trial lectures and the lectures must be found satisfactory in order for the candidate to defend his/her doctoral thesis in a public defence. If the assessment committee deems the trial lectures satisfactory, the candidate will subsequently be called upon to defend his/her doctoral thesis in a public defence (disputation). The disputation is to be open to the public. There are normally two opponents. The opponents are members of the assessment committee, appointed by the faculty. In special cases, opponents who have not been members of the committee may be appointed. The disputation is chaired by the Dean of the faculty or by the person to whom this task has been delegated. The chair of the defence gives an account of the submitted thesis, the trial lectures and their evaluation. Thereafter, the first opponent reviews the objective and the results of the scientific research. The faculty may decide that the doctoral candidate give this review. The discussion is opened by the first opponent and concluded by the second opponent. Other persons present, who wish to participate in the discussion ex auditorio, must give notice to the chair of the defence within the time limit the chair specifies, as announced at the start of the proceedings. After the public defence, the assessment committee submits a report to the faculty, in which it accounts for the assessment of the trial lectures and the defence of the thesis. The report must provide a determination of whether the tests have been deemed satisfactory/unsatisfactory. If the trial lectures and/or the public defence are deemed unsatisfactory, a new trial lecture/public defence may not be held until six months have elapsed since the original public defence. If possible, the original committee should assess any such second attempt. Section 9 Conferment and diploma When the faculty has approved that the trial lectures and the public defence are deemed satisfactory, the board of UiN confers the doctoral degree on the candidate.

6 University of Nordland issues a doctoral degree diploma. The diploma is to state the title of the thesis and the titles of the trial lectures. Section 10 Appeal Rejection of an application for assessment or a decision not to approve a thesis, trial lectures or public defence of a thesis may be appealed under the provisions of sections 28 and following of the Norwegian Public Administration Act. In such cases, an appeal with grounds must be sent to the faculty. The faculty may annul or amend its decision if it finds that the appeal is to have sufficient merit. If not, the appeal will be forwarded to the UiN s Complaints Board for determination. If the university board made the decision subject to appeal, and no reason can be found for setting aside or altering the decision, the appeal is to be sent to the Ministry of Education. All aspects of the appealed decision may be tried. Should the body dealing with the appeal see fit, it may appoint individuals or a committee to undertake an evaluation of the decision made and the criteria underlying it, as well as determine whether a new or supplementary expert assessment should be undertaken. Section 11 Entry into force These regulations enter into force immediately.