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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.

The Faculty Student Administration will register your doctoral exam, where after you will receive an invoice 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 will take about 1 working week)
  • Print your dissertation, for example at University Press. This takes about 3 days.
  • Upload your dissertation in Plato. Biblio automatically collects dissertations from Plato. To complete the transfer, log in to Biblio after your defence, and approve the dissertation.
    Read the research tip for more information.
  • Hand in 2 hard copies (from 2025) at 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.

Public defense : 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.
  • Presentation of the work  : 35 minutes

Room Azalea

For hybrid 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, the auditoria in building E are alternative locations.

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 multimedia.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) or in room Biosphere (building A, 1st floor).

    On https://www.ugent.be/nl/univgent/lokalenverhuur/organisatie-evenementen/
    you will find a lot of guidelines and requirements for the organisation of events at UGent relating to safety. Specifically for setting up a barbecue, the use of a deep fryer and the use of gas bottles, you will find specific info on that web page. These regulations also apply when you bring in a food truck. If you are organising something on the HOGENT or Howest sites, you should also enquire there about the applicable regulations.

    Are you organising a party, reception, barbecue or similar activity at our faculty?

    Your activity must end at 21.30 at the latest

    .

    Invitation

    1. Make an invitation for your defense: use this template
    2. Upload your invitation into Plato, as well as your rebuttal letter and final version of your manuscript
    3. 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.

    Research Integrity statement

    Before closing the public defense, the chair of the examination committee will read the research integrity statement and ask the candidate to endorse it.

    After the defense

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