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Your public defense

Payment

Once you are admitted to the public defense, the Faculty Student Administration makes sure the date of your defense is published on the Ghent University website, usually sooner than 60 days after the first meeting of the exam commission.

You will be requested to register for the doctoral exam and to pay the exam fee.

Dissertation hard copy

For your public defense, you will need to print public hard copies of your dissertation to hand out to the Faculty Student Administration, the exam committee and the audience.

  • Apply the guidelines for your thesis
  • Ask for a ISBN number (do this in time - procedure can take about 3 working days)
  • Print your dissertation, for example at University Press. This takes no longer than 3 working days.
  • Publish your dissertation on Biblio, make a printscreen of the proof and upload it in the plato-platform or mail it to the Faculty Student Administration.
  • Hand in 3 hard copies and the proof of the Biblio submission to the Faculty Student Administration.
  • In agreement with the jury members and at least 48 hours prior to your public defense, give a copy to each member of the exam committee, unless they have decided differently.

Date, location and IT support

After a positive internal defense, you can start organizing your public defense. Your defense will take minimum 1 and maximum 2 hours.

Read the corona measures for PhD defenses.

Room Azalea

For hybrid and online defenses, room A0.1 Azalea on Campus Coupure is the most convenient.

  • Check in TimeEdit if room Azalea is available on your desired date before the internal defense.
  • You don't have to book the room yourself. The faculty student administration will book the room for you, based on the report of your internal defense in Plato.
  • If room Azalea is not available, Het Pand or Ceremoniezaal at the Aula are alternative locations. At these locations, there is no IT support from colleagues of videoconferentie.fbw@ugent.be

IT support

You will need support for the live stream to create the links for the live stream in room Azalea, and IT support on the spot.

  • Contact videoconferentie.fbw@ugent.be to ask for information concerning the IT support for your defense. 
  • One of your department colleagues can get instructions from the videoconferencing team about the setup.

    Reception

    At campus Coupure, you can organize your reception in the Agora (building E).

    Invitation

    1. Make an invitation for your defense: use this template
    2. Send your invitation to and to your guests, minimum 14 days before your defense

    Gown

    During the public defence, professors are invited to wear a gown.

    For gentlemen, please wear the gown on a dark suit with white shirt and tie. For ladies, please wear the gown on dark business attire and a white blouse.

    The jury members and the promovendus are requested to wear business suits.

    Prepare the room

    Organize the room of your defense on time.

    1. Check if the beamer and computer work. This applies only if your department will do the IT support of your defense. Otherwise, the videoconferencing team will take care of this.
    2. Provide tables, chairs, water and glasses for the exam committee.
    3. Place chairs for the audience.

    After the defense

    Clean up the rooms, and leave the campus before 20:00.