The defense should be conducted between 15^th August and 15^th June (no public defense is allowed during the summer months). Only one defense within the same section can take place simultaneously. In practice the availability of the opponent often determines the date. At some periods of the year, especially at the end of the spring term, there may be shortage of available dates.

It is the PhD student’s responsibility to book the date for the public defense at the Student Services (disputationer@su.se or extension 7527); information is available on the Faculty’s homepage. The PhD student informs the administrator at MMK about the date of the defense and the administrator books the room for the defense.

The main supervisor shall inform the 'ämnesansvarig' about the public defense no later than eleven weeks before the intended date of the defense. The dissertation doesn’t necessarily have to be finished at this point (the writing of the summary may not even have begun yet) but enough material should be ready to make it possible to judge whether if the defense can be recommended. The material should include a description of the PhD student’s contribution to the different articles (this description should also be included in the summary).

The 'ämnesansvarig' nominates an internal reviewer. The 'ämnesansvarig' shall also inform the Teachers Board at the department about the dissertation, and they can contribute with feedback. The reviewer and the ämnesansvarig deliver a proposal to the Head of Department (Prefekt). If a decision is made to advise against a public defense, the PhD student can demand a written decision from the Head of Department.