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This English translation is for information only. For all legal purposes the original document in Norwegian is the authoritative version.
Adopted by the Board of the University of Oslo on 22 June 2010 pursuant to Act no. 15 of 1 April 2005 relating to universities and university colleges, §§ 3-3 and 3.9.
These regulations apply to the doctoral education culminating in the degree of Philosophiae Doctor (PhD). The regulations pertain to admission to, participation in and completionof the PhD education.
The PhD education is organised in programmes with a stipulated length of three years' full-time study. The programmes include an educational component of at least 30 credits.
The PhD education at the University of Oslo shall educate independent researchers of high international standard, in accordance with recognised scientific and ethical principles. The programmes shall qualify candidates for research and other work requiring high levels of scientific insight and analytical thinking. The PhD degree is conferred on the basis of:
completion of the programme's educational component
the doctoral thesis
the doctoral examination
The doctoral examination consists of the trial lecture and the public defence of the thesis, also known as the disputation.
The PhD education at the University of Oslo falls under the jurisdiction of the University Board. The University Board establishes and discontinues programmes for the PhD education at the individual faculties.
The Rector stipulates rules regarding the supplementary rules and programme plans. The faculty itself stipulates and amends supplementary rules and the programme plan for the individual PhD programme. 'The faculty itself' refers to bodies at the faculty level.
The faculty itself shall notify the University Board of any material changes to its programme plans.
The faculty itself makes decisions regarding admissions to its PhD programmes, whether a submitted thesis is worthy of defence and whether a doctoral examination can be approved.
PhD candidates participating in inter-faculty education must be enrolled in the PhD programme of one host faculty.
The PhD education is regulated by The Quality Assurance System for educational activities at the University of Oslo. The faculties shall ensure the quality of the PhD education in accordance with this system.
To be admitted to the PhD programmes at the University of Oslo, an applicant must have completed at least five years of higher education, i.e. a master's programme or equivalent studies that have been recognised by the faculty as forming a sufficient basis for admission. The faculties may stipulate additional admission requirements in their supplementary rules.
Applications for admission to a PhD programme must be submitted to the faculty on the prescribed form. Admission procedures for the individual faculty is determined in its PhD programme.
The following items must be attached to the application form:
documentation of the educational qualifications that forms the basis for the application
a project proposal, including a project schedule
a funding plan
documentation of major scholarly or material resources that will be required, if applicable
unless the faculty requires otherwise, at least one proposed academic supervisor
The faculty itself may establish additional admission requirements in the programme's supplementary rules.
The decision regarding admission shall specify the admission period and the name of at least one academic supervisor.
Decisions regarding admissions are taken by the faculty itself. The decision will be based on a overall assessment of the application. The faculty may establish admission criteria in its programme plans and supplementary rules and may rank qualified applicants if the number of applicants exceeds the programme capacity.
Admission shall be denied if:
agreements with external third parties will prevent the public release and public defence of the thesis
the applicant will not be able to fulfil the requirement that at least one year of the doctoral programme shall be carried out after admission, cf. § 5.3.
The faculty itself may establish additional admission requirements in the programme's supplementary rules.
The decision regarding admission shall specify the admission period and the name of at least one academic supervisor.
The PhD education has a stipulated length of three years' full-time study. A proposed schedule of more than six years will not be accepted. The faculties may stipulate stricter progress requirements in their supplementary rules.
The maximum time permitted for the completion of a PhD programme is eight years from the starting date, not counting statutory leaves of absence and compulsory duties.
An application for admission to a PhD programme must normally be submitted within three months of the start of the research project that is intended to lead to the PhD degree. If less than one year's full-time work remains until completion of the project, the application shall be rejected, cf. § 5.2.
Where work on the project is interrupted by statutory leaves of absence, the admission period will be extended accordingly.
A candidate may apply for an extension of the admission period on other grounds. The application must include a statement confirming what work has been completed/published so far and what work remains to be undertaken. The application may be approved if the faculty, following a overall assessment, determines that completion of the project is feasible within the extended period. The supervisor and the basic unit must provide confirmation of supervision during the extended period.
The faculty may impose further conditions when approving the extension.
Following expiry of the admission period, the parties' right and duties under the doctoral contract cease to exist, such that the doctoral candidate loses entitlement to supervision, course participation and access to university infrastructure. The candidate may, however, apply to the faculty for permission to submit the thesis for evaluation for the PhD degree.
Voluntary termination
The candidate and the institution may agree to terminate the PhD education before the agreed completion date. In the event of such termination, the parties shall enter into a written agreement regulating issues such as employment, funding, rights to research results etc.
In the case of voluntary termination due to the candidate's desire to change projects or transfer to a different doctoral programme, the candidate must reapply for admission on the basis of the new project. Transfer to the non-organised degree (dr. philos.) shall be considered as constituting voluntary termination. A substantiated application must be sent to the faculty, which will determine the outcome of the case.
Forced termination
The faculty itself may decide to terminate the PhD education before the agreed completion date. Such a decision may be taken if one or more of the following conditions pertain:
significant delay in completion of the educational component due to circumstances over which the candidate has control
repeated or significant failure on the part of the candidate to provide information, meet commitments or report on progress, including failure to submit progress reports, cf. § 9
delay in the progress of the research project of of a kind that gives rise to reasonable doubt about the candidate's ability to complete the project within the agreed time. To form grounds for non-voluntary termination, the delay must be attributable to circumstances over which the candidate has control.
breach of the guidelines for research ethics applicable to the subject area
conduct on the part of the candidate that violates the necessary level of trust between the university and its candidates, including any illegal activities relating to the PhD education
PhD candidates who are employed by the University of Oslo may be dismissed from their employment where reasonable grounds exist that affect the situation of either the institution or the employee, cf. the Act relating to civil servants, §§ 9 and 10, or where dismissal takes place pursuant to § 15 of the Act.
Admission to one of the university's PhD programmes will be formalised in a written contract signed by the PhD candidate, the supervisor, the basic unit and the faculty. The contract governs the parties' rights and obligations during the admission period. An academic supervisor who is appointed subsequent to the candidate's admission must sign the contract immediately after the appointment. At least one supervisor must be appointed at the time admission is granted, cf. § 7.2 below.
PhD candidates employed by the University of Oslo must also sign a separate employment contract with the university.
Where a PhD candidate is receiving financial support from an external party in the form of funding, employment or other contributions, the arrangement must be formalised in a separate contract between the candidate, the university and the external party. The university's Agreement for completion of the PhD programme in cooperation with an external party must be used where the external party is Norwegian.
If the PhD candidate is to be affiliated with foreign institutions, the university's guidelines for such cooperation must be adhered to and separate agreements must be entered into using the appropriate forms. This agreement shall normally be attached to the admission contract.
If the PhD candidate is to be affiliated with more than one faculty, a separate cooperation agreement must be entered into. Special guidelines and agreement forms are available and shall be used for inter-faculty cooperation. This agreement shall normally be attached to the admission contract.
Work on a doctoral thesis shall receive individual supervision.. The faculty, basic organisational unit and supervisors shall ensure that the candidate participates in an active research environment.
The candidate and the supervisors shall maintain regular contact. The frequency of contact must be stated in the annual progress report, cf. § 9.
The supervisors have a duty to keep themselves informed of the progress of the candidate's work and to assess the work in relation to the time frame in the project description, cf. § 5.1.
The supervisors have a duty to follow up conditions of an academic nature that may cause delay in the research training, to ensure that it may be completed within the stipulated time frame.
The supervisors shall advise on the formulation and definition of the topic and problem statements; discuss and assess hypotheses and research methods; discuss results and their interpretation; discuss the form and presentation of the thesis, including its structure, linguistic form, documentation etc.; and guide the candidate towards scientific literature and data in libraries, archives etc. The supervisors shall also advice on matters of research ethics pertaining to the thesis.
As a general rule, a candidate shall have two supervisors. The supervisors are appointed by the faculty itself and at least one of the supervisors must be appointed at the time of admission. All supervisors must posses a doctoral degree or equivalent competence in the relevant field.
The principal supervisor has the main academic responsibility for the candidate. The principal supervisor shall normally be employed at the faculty to which the candidate has been admitted, or at another unit at the university approved by the faculty.
The faculty itself may appoint an external principal supervisor. In such cases, a co-supervisor employed at the University of Oslo shall be appointed.
Co-supervisors are experts who supervise, and share academic responsibility for, the candidate.
Particular provisions pertaining to examinations in the Act relating to universities and university colleges, as well as the relevant provisions of the Regulations governing studies and examinations at the University of Oslo, regulate the examination requirements for the educational component of the university's PhD programmes.
The educational component shall, together with the thesis work, provide an education of a high academic standard and include the completion of an scientific research project; training in the dissemination of academic knowledge; and an introduction to research ethics, the philosophy of science and scientific methods.
The educational component shall correspond to at least 30 credits, of which at least 20 must be obtained after admission. Credits that are to be recognized as part of the educational component may not have been completed more than two years prior to the date of admission.
The educational component shall normally be carried out at the University of Oslo. The faculty itself may recognize courses and other academic activities undertaken outside the University of Oslo as part of the educational component.
The faculty itself decides which elements may be included in the educational component, documentation requirements and priority rules for admission to courses at the PhD level offered by the faculty.
PhD candidates on a legally regulated parental leave from the doctoral programme may continue to follow tuition and sit examinations in courses that shall form part of the educational component, in accordance with the Act concerning national insurance (the National Insurance Act), chapter 14, § 14-10 fourth paragraph and the circular of the Norwegian Labour and Welfare Administration (NAV) concerning § 14-10 fourth paragraph, dated 18 December 2006 and last revised on 30 June 2009.
During the admission period, the PhD candidate and appointed supervisors shall annually submit separate, written progress reports. The reports shall be submitted to and approved by the faculty.
Standardised forms and guidelines for reporting are drawn up by the individual faculty itself.
Failure to submit or inadequately submitted progress reports by a candidate may result in the premature and involuntary termination of his/her participation in the doctoral programme, cf. section 5.4 above.
Supervisors who neglect to comply with their reporting duties may be relieved of their supervisory responsibilities.
The faculty may require supplementary reports where this is considered necessary.
The thesis shall be an independent, scientific work that fulfils international standards with regard to ethical requirements, academic standards and methodology.
The thesis shall contribute to the development of new scientific knowledge and must be of sufficiently high quality to merit publication as part of the scientific literature in the field.
A compilation of several shorter papers may be approved as a thesis provided that the papers are related and the relationship between them is clearly explained.
One thesis may be submitted by several contributers for evaluation provided that their individual contributions can be identified.
If a written work is the product of a collaborative effort with other authors, the PhD candidate shall adhere to those norms for co-authorship that are commonly accepted in the scientific field and the University of Oslo's guidelines for co-authorship.
Theses that include works by several authors shall be accompanied by a signed declaration describing the contributions made to each work by the candidate and each individual co-author.
Published papers cannot be accepted as part of a doctoral thesis if the publication date precedes the candidate's date of admission by more than five years. The Rector may grant dispensation from this requirement in wholly extraordinary circumstances.
The faculty decides what languages may be used in a doctoral thesis.
A work or a part of a work that has been approved as the basis for previous examinations or degrees is not eligible for evaluation. However, data, analyses or methods used in previous degrees may be used as a basis for the doctoral project.
If, after submission to the University of Oslo, the thesis is also submitted for evaluation to another educational institution, the University's evaluation procedures will be suspended.
PhD candidates who are employed by the University of Oslo are obliged to report research results with potential for commercial exploitation that are obtained during the course of employment, pursuant to Act no. 21 of 17 April 1970 relating to the right to inventions made by employees, Act no. 2 of 12 May 1961 relating to copyright in literary, scientific and artistic works etc. and Act no. 27 of 15 June 1990 relating to the protection of layout-designs for integrated circuits, as well as other work results covered by the University of Oslo's policy on rights. In connection with the signing of an employment contract, a separate agreement shall also be entered into between the University and the employee regarding the acquisition of rights to work results. This agreement shall stipulate the obligations of both the employee and the employer in relation to exploitation, division of royalties, etc.
Where a PhD candidate has an external employer, an equivalent reporting duty shall be stipulated in an agreement between the University of Oslo, the PhD candidate and the external employer.
Where a PhD candidate does not have an employer, an equivalent reporting duty shall be in the admission contract between the University of Oslo and the PhD candidate.
The application for evaluation of the thesis must be submitted to the faculty. The application can only be submitted after the educational component has been approved.
The following items must be attached to the application:
the thesis, in as many copies as the faculty requires
verification of approvalof the educational component
documentation that the necessary permissions have been obtained
declarations by co-authors, when required in accordance with §10.1
a declaration as to whether the doctoral thesis is being submitted for evaluation for the first or second time
a declaration that the doctoral thesis is not being submitted for evaluation to any other institution
The faculty itself shall assess the application for evaluation of the thesis. Applications that do not comply with the requirements of § 12.1 will be rejected.
When the faculty itself has approved the application for thesis evaluation, the faculty itself shall appoint an expert adjudication committee of at least three members which shall evaluate the thesis, the trial lecture and the public defence. The rules on impartiality contained in § 6 of the Public Administration Act apply to the members of the committee.
Normally the committee should be appointed no more than four weeks after approval of the candidate's application for thesis evaluation.
The adjudication committee shall normally be composed such that:
both genders are represented
at least one of the members has no association with the University of Oslo
at least one of the members has no association with Norwegian institutions
all members have a doctoral degree or equivalent academic qualifications
Specific reasons must be supplied if these criteria are not complied with.
The basic academic unit shall propose the composition of the adjudication committee. The proposal must be substantiated and indicate how the committee as a whole covers the subject area(s) dealt with in the thesis. The candidate shall be informed of the proposed composition of the committee and is entitled to submit written comments no later than one week after the basic academic unit has forwarded the proposal to the faculty. The faculty itself decides whether such comments shall be taken into account.
The faculty itself appoints the secretary to the committee.
The faculty itself may, if required, appoint one substitute member to the adjudication committee. The appointed academic supervisors, as well as others who have contributed to the thesis, may not serve as members of the adjudication committee or as its secretary.
The adjudication committee may require access to the PhD candidate's source material and additional information for the purposes of elaboration or clarification.
The academic supervisors may be summoned to meetings with the adjudication committee to give an account of their supervision and the thesis work.
Before producing its final recommendation, and based on the submitted thesis and any additional materials it has required, cf. § 14.1, the adjudication committee may recommend that the faculty permits a minor revision of the thesis. The committee shall specify which aspects of the thesis require such revision by the candidate.
The faculty itself decides whether the candidate shall be given the opportunity to revise the thesis.
If the faculty permits a minor revision of the thesis, a deadline shall be set that shall not exceed six months. A new deadline shall also be set for submission of the committee's final recommendation. The faculty's decision pursuant to this paragraph cannot be appealed by the PhD candidate.
If the committee finds that fundamental changes regarding the theories, hypotheses, material or methods employed in the thesis are necessary before the work can be recommended as meriting a public defence, it shall not recommend minor revisions, but shall reject the thesis.
The adjudication committee delivers its recommendation as to whether the thesis is worthy of being defended for the PhD degree. The recommendation and any dissenting opinions must be substantiated.
Unless the faculty has set a different deadline pursuant to § 14.2, the adjudication committee shall deliver its recommendation within three months of receiving the thesis.
The adjudication committee's recommendation shall be delivered to the faculty. The faculty presents the recommendation to the PhD candidate, who is given a deadline of 10 working days to present written comments to the recommendation. If the PhD candidate does not wish to comment, the PhD candidate must inform the faculty of this as soon as possible in writing.
Any comments by the candidate shall be submitted to the faculty. The faculty itself makes the decision in the case in accordance with the provisions of § 15.
A submitted thesis may not be withdrawn before a final decision has been reached as to whether it merits a public defence.
The PhD candidate may apply for permission to correct formal errors in the thesis after submission. The application must be accompanied by a complete overview of the relevant errors. An application to correct formal errors must be submitted no later than six weeks before the date of the public defence.
The faculty itself decides, on the basis of the adjudication committee's recommendation, whether a doctoral thesis is worthy of a public defence.
If the committee delivers a unanimous recommendation, and the faculty itself endorses the unanimous recommendation, the faculty itself shall decide in accordance with the unanimous recommendation.
If the faculty itself finds that there are reasonable doubts as to whether the committee's unanimous recommendation should be endorsed, the faculty itself shall seek further clarification from the adjudication committee and/or appoint two new experts to give individual statements on the thesis. Such clarifications or individual reports must be presented to the PhD candidate, who is given an opportunity to comment.
The faculty itself makes a decision on the case, on the basis of the committee's recommendation and the additional clarifications/reports.
If the committee delivers a split recommendation, and the faculty itself decides to endorse the majority's recommendation, the faculty itself shall decide in accordance with the majority of the adjudication committee. If the committee delivers a split recommendation and the faculty itself is considering the endorsement of the minority's recommendation, the faculty concerned may seek further clarification from the adjudication committee and/or appoint two new experts to give individual statements on the thesis. Such clarification or individual reports must be presented to the PhD candidate, who is given an opportunity to comment.
The faculty itself makes a decision on the case on the basis of the committee's recommendation and the additional clarifications/reports.
A thesis that has not been found worthy of defence by the faculty itself, may be re-evaluated after extensive revision only six months after the faculty's decision. A thesis may only be re-evaluated once.
When re-submitting a thesis, the PhD candidate must provide notification that the work has been previousy evaluated at the University of Oslo or another institution and not found worthy of defence.
Once the thesis has been found worthy of defence, the PhD candidate shall submit the thesis to the faculty in the standardised format and in accordance with the provisions stipulated by the faculty.
The thesis must be printed in accordance with the faculty's templates and its other provisions on the publication of doctoral theses.
The PhD candidate must at the same time submit an abstract of the thesis in English, as well as an electronic, popular account in Norwegian.
The thesis must be made publicly available no later than two weeks before the date set for the public defence. The thesis must be made available in the form in which it was submitted for evaluation, subject to any revisions made on the basis of the committee's interim comments, cf. § 14.2.
No restrictions may be placed on the public release, including the publication, of a doctoral thesis, with the exception of a previously agreed postponement of the public release date. Such postponement may be permitted when the research training has been partially or completely funded by an external party, to allow that external party to consider possible patenting. The external party is not entitled to refuse the public release or publication of the thesis, neither in whole nor in parts, cf. § 5.2.
When publishing a PhD thesis, PhD candidates employed by the University of Oslo must follow the university's general rules of address and must supply the University of Oslo as their address. A publication by a candidate in external employment must include the addresses of both the University of Oslo and the candidate's main employer. This rule also applies to work that was entirely or mainly completed during the doctoral programme, but which is published at a later stage.
When the faculty has found the thesis to be worthy of defence defence, cf. § 15, the PhD candidate shall deliver a trial lecture. The trial lecture is an independent part of the PhD examination. The purpose is to test the candidate's ability to acquire knowledge of matters beyond the thesis topic, and to impart this knowledge in a lecture setting.
The title of the trial lecture will be decided by the adjudication committee and announced to the candidate 10 working days before the trial lecture.
The trial lecture is normally delivered at the University of Oslo, and in the language of the thesis, unless the adjudication committee approves the use of another language.
The trial lecture shall be delivered after the thesis has been submitted, but before the public defence, and must be evaluated by the adjudication committee.
The adjudication committee shall report to the faculty whether the trial lecture merits a pass. The committee's recommendation must be substantiated if the committee recommends a fail.
The trial lecture must be passed before the public defence may take place.
The public defence of the thesis shall normally take place within two months of the faculty's decision to find the thesis worthy of defence.
The time and place of the public defence shall be announced at least 10 working days in advance.
The disputation shall be held at the University of Oslo. Exceptions may be made in the case of cotutelle agreements with foreign institutions, in accordance with the university's regulations for such cooperation.
The committee that originally evaluated the thesis shall also evaluate the public defence.
The public defence must be held in the language of the thesis unless the faculty itself, on the recommendation of the adjudication committee, approves the use of another language.
There shall normally be two ordinary opponents. The two ordinary opponents shall be members of the adjudication committee and are appointed by the faculty itself.
The public defence will be chaired by the Dean, or the Dean's proxy. The chair of the defence provides a brief account of the submission and the evaluation of the thesis, as well as of the trial lecture. Thereafter the PhD candidate explains the purpose and results of the scientific investigation. The faculty may decide that the first ordinary opponent shall provide this explanation rather than the candidate.
The first ordinary opponent opens the discussion, before the PhD candidate is given the opportunity to defence the thesis. Once both opponents have concluded their arguments, members of the audience are given the opportunity to comment ex auditorio. One of the opponents concludes the opposition, before the chair of the defence concludes the disputation.
The adjudication committee delivers its recommendation to the faculty as to whether the defence should be approved. The committee's recommendation must be substantiated if the committee does not recommend approval of the defence.
The defence must be approved before the degree can be conferred.
The faculty itself decides whether the doctoral examination shall be approved, on the basis of the adjudication committee's recommendations.
If the faculty itself does not approve the trial lecture, a new trial lecture must be delivered. A new trial lecture must address a new topic. A new trial lecture must be delivered within six months and should be evaluated, if possible, by the original committee, unless the faculty decides otherwise.
If the faculty itself does not approve the public defence, the PhD candidate may defend the thesis once more. A second defence may only be held six months after the date of the original defence and should be evaluated, if possible, by the original committee, unless the faculty decides otherwise.
On the basis of the faculty's report that the educational component, the thesis and the doctoral examination are approved, the Rector shall confer the degree of Philosophiae Doctor of the University of Oslo to the candidate.
The doctoral diploma shall be issued by the University of Oslo.
The faculty itself shall issue a doctoral diploma supplement in the standardised format.
The diploma supplement shall always contain information regarding the content of the educational component, the date and title of the trial lecture, the title of the thesis and the date of the public defence. The faculty itself may stipulate that the supplement should contain additional information.
Rejections of applications for admission, decisions to rescind the right to study and the disapproval of elements of the educational component may be appealed pursuant to the provisions of the Public Administration Act, §§ 28 et seq. A substantiated appeal must be submitted to the faculty. If the rejection is upheld, the appeal shall be forwarded to the Appeals Board [Den sentrale klagenemd] of the University of Oslo for a final decision.
Examinations sat as part of the educational component may be appealed pursuant to the Act relating to universities and university colleges, § 5-3 concerning appeals over marking and § 5-2 concerning appeals relating to formal errors in examinations. A substantiated appeal must be submitted to the faculty. If the rejection is upheld, the appeal shall be forwarded to the Appeals Board of the University of Oslo for a final decision.
The University of Oslo's Routines for handling suspicion of cheating and attempted cheating also apply to examinations in PhD programmes.
The rejection of an application for a thesis evaluation and decisions not to approve of a thesis, trial lecture or public defence may be appealed pursuant to the provisions of the Public Administration Act, §§ 28 et seq. A substantiated appeal must be submitted to the faculty. If the faculty concerned finds that the appeal is justified, it may overturn or amend the decision. If the faculty itself rejects the appeal, it shall be forwarded to the Appeals Board of the University of Oslo for a final decision. The Appeals Board may review all aspects of the appealed decision.
If the faculty concerned or the Appeals Board considers it justified, either individuals or a committee may be appointed to assess the evaluation and the criteria on which it was based, or to undertake a new or supplementary expert evaluation.
This regulation has immediate effect and the Regulation of 21 June 2007 is hereby abolished.
Anyone who at the time this regulation came into force had been accepted onto a doctoral programme pursuant to the Regulation of 21 June 2007 retains the rights granted under the latter regulation if this is to their advantage.