Practical information for ceremony participants

Invitation

The invitation is sent out to all those who have publicly defended their thesis or will be defending it since the last degree conferment ceremony. The invitation is sent by post in early March to the addresses registered with the faculties.

Date

The doctoral degree conferment ceremony traditionally takes place on the last Friday in May, with a compulsory rehearsal on the preceding afternoon. In order to take part in the ceremony, doctoral students must normally have publicly defended their theses no later than the Tuesday in the week of the degree conferment ceremony.

Participation

All those who have publicly defended a doctoral thesis and passed all required courses in the past year are welcome to take part in the ceremony. Invitations are automatically sent out to those who have publicly defended their thesis since the previous year’s degree conferment ceremony.

Doctor's hat

All doctors and Doctors of Philosophy in Business and Economics at the 

• Faculty of Engineering
• Faculty of Fine and Performing Arts
• Faculty of Law
• Faculty of Medicine
• Faculty of Theology and
• School of Economics and Management 

taking part in the ceremony must have a doctor's hat. Many choose to borrow the hat from their supervisor or from a colleague; otherwise it can be ordered from a hatter such as Torbjörn Petersson, 0704-83 76 15, in good time. The Ceremonies and Events Office has no hats available for loan.

All hats must be delivered to the Main University Building at the time specified in the invitation prior to the graduation ceremony.

Laurel wreath

The laurel wreath is compulsory for all doctors and Doctors of Philosophy at the 

• Faculty of Humanities
• Faculty of Science
• Faculty of Social Sciences and
• School of Economics and Management.

The laurel wreath is made of leaves from the bay laurel tree. The University's laurel leaves come from Italy.

You can order your laurel wreath from Söderblommor, Södra Förstadsgatan 19, Malmö.

If you are unable to visit the wreath-maker in person, you can email your order to info [at] soderblommor [dot] se (info[at]soderblommor[dot]se). In that case, please include your head measurements in the order. 

The head circumference must be measured from 'the hairline on the forehead around to the hairline at the nape of the neck'. Thus, your wreath measurement is usually not identical to your hat size. 

State your name and faculty in your order. Please note that the laurel wreath must be paid for at the time of ordering (SEK 950), Swish 123 229 44 03.

The deadline for wreath orders is 29 April.

Doctor's ring

All doctoral graduands who choose to participate in the degree conferment ceremony must have a ring. Ordering a doctor's ring is optional; any ring of your choice may be used for the ceremony. All rings must be delivered to the Main University Building at the time specified in the invitation prior to the degree ceremony.

The official doctor's rings for doctoral graduands at the 

• Faculty of Humanities
• Faculty of Fine and Performing Arts
• Faculty of Law
• Faculty of Medicine
• Faculty of Science
• Faculty of Social Sciences
• Faculty of Theology and
• School of Economics and Management
• Faculty of Engineering

can be ordered from the University’s procured goldsmith, Ingrid Trilk.

Ingrid Trilk's website (in Swedish)

The deadline for ring orders is 26 April.

Diploma

All participants in the degree conferment ceremony receive a calligraphed doctoral diploma, provided by the University. The diploma is not a degree certificate and does not replace the proof of completion of a doctoral degree to be obtained from the faculty for the purposes of job applications, etc.

Attire, ceremony

Academic formal wear for those taking part in the procession; black tails with black vest and white bow tie, black shoes or full length black dress with covered shoulders and black shoes, or a long black skirt with a black top, black jacket and black shoes. For guests in the cathedral who are not part of the procession: business attire. There is no dress code for the ceremony rehearsal.

Wreath-bearers

Graduands with daughters between the ages of 5 and 7 can put their names forward as possible wreath-bearers. There are many applicants for the role so precedence is given to the daughters from the wreath-wearing faculties, i.e. those historically included in the Faculty of Philosophy (Humanities, Social Sciences, Economics and Science). Nine wreath-bearers (representing the nine muses) are chosen from among the applicants. Lots are drawn if there are more applicants than places.

Fee

A degree conferment ceremony fee of SEK 250 is payable by those wishing to participate in the ceremony.

Photography and filming

The degree conferment ceremony is recorded on film and in photographs by a specially appointed photographer. The images and film material will be available for download after the event. 

Guests

Graduands are guaranteed four tickets to the ceremony in the cathedral and one for a guest accompanying them to the dinner. If more tickets are requested, the Ceremonies and Events Office will do its best to accommodate everyone’s wishes. Tickets are to be ordered by graduands at the time of registration.

Children

Young children should not be brought into the cathedral; there have been strong complaints from the audience at previous ceremonies about children disrupting the event.

Degree conferment ceremonial dinner

All participants are invited to the dinner; the current year’s doctoral graduates are guaranteed a place for one guest each. The dinner takes place at AF-borgen with guests gathering for a drink at 18:30 and sitting down for dinner at 19:00. The dinner is followed by dancing to a big band orchestra. As a doctoral graduand, you are an invited guest to the doctoral degree conferment dinner. The cost of the dinner for an accompanying guest is SEK 650.

Attire for the ceremonial dinner

Formal attire, black tails with white vest and white bow tie or long dress.