Composition of the adjudication committee
The composition of the adjudication committee will normally take the following into account:
- both genders are represented
- all members hold a doctoral degree or equivalent academic qualification
- at least one of the members is not affiliated with the University of Oslo
- at least one of the members is not affiliated with a Norwegian institution
- two of the members must not be affiliated with the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences/Natural History Museum
- the third member must work at the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences/Natural History Museum
Impartiality rules
The evaluation committee must be impartial, and each individual member must confirm that they:
- do not have any close relationships with the PhD candidate or any of the PhD candidate's supervisors
- have not served as a supervisor for the PhD candidate
- have no shared financial interests or scientific collaborations with any of the PhD candidate's supervisors in the past five years
- have no shared financial interests or scientific collaborations with the PhD candidate
- have no co-publications with the PhD candidate
- have not contributed in any way to the dissertation
- have no co-publications with any of the PhD candidate's supervisors in the past five years
Adjudication criteria
The adjudication committee makes decisions as follows:
- The thesis is worthy of defence without changes.
- The thesis is worthy of defence, but minor changes need to be made before the public defence. The PhD candidate must normally be able to do this within two months. In this case, no new adjudication is necessary.
- The thesis has a significant number of shortcomings that need to be corrected/revised before the public defence can be held. The PhD candidate must normally be able to do this within six months. The revised thesis must be re-assessed by the original adjudication committee
- If the adjudication committee finds that a thesis cannot be revised within six months, it must be rejected. The PhD candidate is entitled to, and must receive, a detailed written account/justification of the rejection.
If the thesis requires a revision
You are not entitled to appeal the faculty's decision on the revised thesis, but you have a deadline of 10 working days to submit written comments on the recommendation. If you do not wish to submit comments, immediately notify the department/unit of this in writing.
If the adjudication committee concludes that the thesis has a significant number of shortcomings and must be corrected/revised within six months, the adjudication committee will have a new deadline of six weeks to submit its final recommendation from the date it receives the revised thesis.
The adjudication committee may ask you to submit source material and supplementary or explanatory information. Supervisors may be called to adjudication committee meetings to explain the supervision and thesis work.
Appeals
You have the right to appeal a decision in accordance with § 28 et seq. of the Public Administration Act if you receive:
- a rejection of an application for assessment of a thesis
- a decision to reject a thesis, trial lecture or public defence
You submit your substantiated appeal to the faculty. If the faculty does not endorse the appeal, it will be submitted to UiO's appeals committee for a final decision. The appeals committee may review all aspects of the decision appealed.
If the faculty or the appeals committee deems it necessary, it may appoint individuals or a committee to conduct a review of the decision under appeal and the criteria on which it is based, or to undertake a new or supplementary expert assessment.
More information
- Submission and printing of the thesis
- Trial lecture and public defence
- Use of generative artificial intelligence (AI) in the PhD thesis
- Information for the chair of the public defence and the adjudication committee
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