Supplementary rules pertaining to the Regulations for the degree of Philosophiae Doctor (PhD) at the Faculty of Dentistry
These supplementary rules have been set out pursuant to the Regulations for the degree of Philosophiae Doctor (PhD) at the University of Oslo of 22 June 2010, and were adopted by the Board of the Faculty of Dentistry on April 19 2016.
§ 1 of the Regulations: Applicability of regulations
These regulations govern the research training and the doctoral degree examination for candidates who have been admitted to the PhD programme at the Faculty of Dentistry. Candidates on the PhD programme are obliged to familiarize themselves with the content of the rules.
Approved completion of the faculty’s PhD programme, including an approved trial lecture and an approved public defence of the thesis, gives the right to the title of PhD (philosophiae doctor).
Candidates who are attached to international agreements can be granted exemption from certain provisions in the doctoral degree regulations.
§ 3 of the Regulations: Responsibility for the PhD education
The formal research education at the Faculty of Dentistry is organised in a PhD programme. The programme is not divided into courses of specialisation. The PhD programme is linked to the research fields which at any given time are included in the Faculty of Dentistry’s study portfolio.
All issues relating to the PhD programme must be addressed to the research advisor. The research advisor prepares all cases for the Dean and Deputy Dean of Research who are the ultimate decision-making authority.
§ 5.1 of the Regulations: Admission requirements
The Faculty Board can decide that further documentation should be included in an application for admission.
§ 5.1.1 of the Regulations: Educational requirements
The faculty can after an individual assessment approve the following qualifications as basis for admission:
- Education and qualification at Master’s degree level.
- Completion of a foreign degree (M.Sc. level) corresponding to at least 4 years in the Norwegian university system, and which formally qualifies for admission to doctoral programmes in the country where the degree was awarded.
§ 5.1.2 of the Regulations: Grade requirements
As a general rule the following should apply:
- The average grade given at bachelor’s level should be no less than grade C.
- Subjects at master’s level should have an average grade of no less than grade B.
- Master Thesis should have grade B or better.
The grade requirements do not apply for applicants with a Master of Dentistry degree from Norway, or any other Norwegian higher education degree where only grades pass or fail are given.
§ 5.1.3 of the Regulations: English language skills
International students must document their English language skills by taking one of the following tests:
- TOEFL – Test of English as a Foreign Language with a minimum score of 550 on the Paper-based Test (PBT), or 80 on the internet-Based Test (iBT).
- IELTS – International English Language Testing Service with band score 6.0.
§ 5.1.4 of the Regulations: Application
§ 5.1.4.1 of the Regulations: Application and project description
A project description must be enclosed with the application. The project description must only cover the applicant’s specific PhD project. The project description should consist of a maximum of 10 pages, including a reference list, and should normally contain the following:
- Clarification of topic, including the background of the project and relationship to national and international research within the field of study.
- Clarification of the research question.
- Description of the data basis and source material that are to be used, and how the data and material are to be collected and analysed (where relevant).
- A statement of the applicant’s independent contribution if the PhD project is to be included in a larger research project.
The applicant must have at his/her disposal the resources necessary for completing his/her PhD project. The institute determines what is deemed necessary. For applicants with external funding and/or workplace, an agreement must be made in relation to each individual research project.
The applicant must be able to document a minimum of one year’s funding and must in addition submit a realistic plan for funding of the remaining admission period.
§ 5.1.4.2 of the Regulations: Attachments to the application
The application form and contract for admission should include the following attachments:
- Certified true copies of diploma and/or transcript of records.
- International applicants must attach TOEFL or IELTS test results
- Project description (see § 5.1.4.1 - Supplementary rules, Faculty of Dentistry).
- Agreement with an external party.
- Employment contract.
- Funding confirmation.
- A plan for the elective component of the educational component, i.e a plan for 20 ECTS of 30 ECTS.
- Specify who the supervisors are, i.e. principal supervisor and co-supervisor(s).
- A plan for project execution within the prescribed admission period.
- All necessary permits
§ 5.2 of the Regulations: Decisions regarding admission
The faculty notifies the applicant and department of its decision regarding admission. When the application has been approved and signed by the faculty, it is regarded as an agreement to complete the PhD programme (§ 6).
§ 5.3 of the Regulations: Admission period
§ 5.3.1 of the Regulations: Admission period
Application for admission to the Faculty of Dentistry’s PhD programme should be sent to the faculty within two (2) months from commencement date in a PhD position.
§ 5.3.2 of the Regulations: Extension of admission period
The admission period is extended in the event of any statutory interruptions such as maternity leave, illness etc. that causes total or partial discontinuation of the work on the PhD.
The PhD candidate is obliged to submit documentation regarding statutory interruptions to the faculty.
A thesis which is completed after the admission period has ended may nevertheless be submitted for evaluation for the PhD degree.
§ 6 of the Regulations: The PhD agreement
The parties’ rights and obligations during the admission period are governed by the application and contract form for admission to the organised doctoral degree education at the Faculty of Dentistry and the Regulations for the degree of PhD at the University of Oslo with the supplementary rules for the Faculty of Dentistry.
Any supervisor(s) who is/are appointed after the date of admission must sign a separate supervisor agreement.
§ 7.1 of the Regulations: Content of academic supervision
Supervisors are obliged to keep themselves informed of the rules that govern the PhD programme and to assist the candidate in fulfilling his/her rights and duties.
The candidate is obliged to maintain an active dialogue with his/her supervisors on the progress of the work and to submit drafts of written works for discussion with the supervisors.
The candidate and supervisors are obliged to inform each other regularly on all aspects that are of importance for the completion of the doctoral education.
The parties are obliged to actively follow up any circumstances that may lead to a risk of delay or failure to complete the doctoral education in order to ensure, as far as possible, that the education can be completed.
§ 7.2 of the Regulations: Appointment of academic supervisors
All candidates must have a minimum of two supervisors throughout their period on the PhD programme.
All supervisors must hold a doctoral degree or equivalent qualifications.
On mutual agreement, the PhD candidate and supervisor can request the faculty to appoint a new supervisor for the candidate.
In the event of a conflict arising between the candidate and supervisor, the parties shall together attempt to find a solution to the situation.
If the parties do not find a solution to the situation, one or both can ask to be released from the supervisor agreement. A request to be released from a supervisor agreement must be sent to the faculty.
Any change of supervisors must be approved by the faculty. A supervisor cannot resign until a new supervisor has been appointed.
§ 7.3 of the Regulations: The principal supervisor
If the candidate wants an external principal supervisor, the candidate must submit an application to the faculty giving his/her reasons for this.
The principal supervisor must be employed at a Norwegian institution.
§ 7.4 of the Regulations: Co-supervisors
If the principal supervisor is an external supervisor, the co-supervisor must be employed at the Faculty of Dentistry.
§ 8 of the Regulations: The educational component
The educational component must be relevant to the doctoral degree work and to a general qualification in research within the subject.
The educational component can be carried out throughout the admission period, but the bulk of it should be completed during the first year.
The educational component at the faculty consists of a compulsory part of 10 credits and an elective part of 20 credits.
Candidates working on research projects involving animal testing are required to attend a mandatory course in laboratory animal science based upon FELASA C requirements.
It is mandatory for all PhD candidates to participate at the Research Day. Participation with a presentation will give 1 credit.
A minimum of 15 credits of the elective part must consist of PhD courses at a Norwegian or international education institution.
Specialisation in dentistry is approved as a 5-credit PhD course. Individual courses forming part of specialisation are not approved. Other specialisations can be approved upon application.
Courses at Master’s degree level can be approved in exceptional cases if the candidate has a particular need to acquire supplementary knowledge for an interdisciplinary assignment. A confirmation from the principal supervisor must in such cases state that the course is relevant for the research project.
Up to 5 credits can be taken as other activities than PhD courses according to current rules:
- Other relevant research courses are approved according to the ECTS grading scale.
- Participation in a national congress with a presentation (oral or poster presentation): 1 credit per congress. A maximum of 3 credits can be achieved in this manner. The presentations must be on different individual projects.
- Participation in an international congress with a presentation: 2 credits per congress. A maximum of 4 credits can be achieved in this manner. The presentations must be on different individual projects.
- An original lecture: 1 credit per hour, up to a maximum of 2 credits.
- A popular scientific article/chronicle written on the candidate’s subject area: 1 credit per article, up to a maximum of 2 credits.
- A study or research period at an institution abroad: 1,5 credits for the first two weeks, followed by 1 credit per week. A minimum duration of two weeks is required. The plan for the stay abroad must be approved by the principal supervisor and its completion must be confirmed by the external institution. A written report must be submitted after completion.
- Other activities upon application.
Mid-term evaluation is mandatory for all PhD candidates at the Faculty of Dentistry.
The Student Research Programme at the faculty is regarded as equivalent to the educational component of the PhD programme, and candidates who have completed this programme are exempt from the educational component requirement of the PhD programme.
When the educational component is deemed completed in accordance with the faculty’s guidelines, an application for approval of the component must be sent to the faculty. Elements in the educational component will not be approved individually.
The application must contain a summary of the elements that are sought to be approved, and documentation for each element must be attached in the form of copies of diplomas/course certificates and confirmations.
§ 9 of the Regulations: Reporting
The candidate and supervisor(s) must submit annual reports on the progress of the PhD work.
Candidates who have been enrolled after 1 May do not send in a report the first year.
The report must indicate the progress of the candidate’s research work and educational component. Any significant deviation from a candidate’s time schedule or other particular aspects are specified and followed up.
§ 10.1 of the Regulations: Thesis requirements
A thesis for a PhD degree should consist of at least three (3) scientific articles published in or submitted for assessment to international journals with peer reviews.
As a general rule the PhD candidate should be the first author of at least two articles. In cases where the candidate is not the first author, he or she should have made a substantial contribution to the data collection, the interpretation of results and the writing of articles.
On submission of the thesis at least one (1) of the articles that are included in the thesis should have been finally accepted for publication. Manuscripts and works submitted for publication that form part of the thesis must be of the same quality as a published article.
The number of articles will depend on the size and quality of each separate article and on the extent of the candidate’s contribution. The number of articles may be reduced if the candidate has put an unusually large amount of work into an article and the article is of very high quality.
In addition to individual articles, the thesis must contain an overall presentation of the scientific results with a thorough comparative discussion. This overall presentation must be an independent scientific document in which the candidate has the opportunity to elaborate and if necessary correct aspects of the articles. It must show a thorough grasp of scientific perspectives and maturity as well as the ability to investigate specialised scientific issues.
In exceptional cases a thesis may in its entirety be a joint work by two PhD candidates.
The scope of the thesis must be equivalent to two ordinary PhD theses. In addition, each candidate’s independent contribution must be clearly defined and must constitute approximately half the scientific work.
Unpublished monographs can also be approved as theses for the PhD degree. Unpublished monographs must be assessed according to the same criteria as those used when assessing a collection of published articles with presentation, i.e. the same minimum standards of scientific quality are identical.
The thesis should in its entirety be written either in English or in Norwegian. Permission to use another language must be obtained from the faculty.
§ 10.2 of the Regulations: Work not eligible for evaluation
An article that has previously been submitted and/or evaluated as part of a PhD thesis can be submitted for assessment provided a declaration is enclosed with the thesis that describes the contribution of the candidate and the individual co-authors, cf. § 10.1, section 5.
§ 12.1 of the Regulations: Submission of the thesis
An application for evaluation of the thesis must be addressed and sent to the faculty by way of an application form.
An application cannot be submitted before the educational component has been completed and approved, and the faculty has issued confirmation of approval.
The following attachments must be enclosed with an Application:
- The entire thesis as a single PDF file.
- Confirmation that the educational component has been approved.
- Signed co-author forms for each individual joint work.
- A declaration stating that the necessary permissions have been obtained.
- Copy of all the necessary permits
§ 13 of the Regulations: Appointment of the evaluation committee
In connection with an application for a thesis to be evaluated it is the principal supervisor who must propose the composition of the evaluation committee. The proposal should be well-founded and show how the committee as a whole covers the subject area of the thesis.
The proposal is made on a standard form and must be signed by the principal supervisor and the head of the institute before it is sent to the faculty. Enclosed with the proposal must follow a signed and completed declaration of impartiality for the proposed committee members.
The candidate’s co-author(s) and/or previous and current supervisor(s) cannot sit on the committee.
One of the committee members must be employed at the Faculty of Dentistry, UiO.
The committee members should normally not have had any joint works with the candidate’s supervisors during the past 5 years.
If a supervisor and a committee member have had a collaboration, clarification of this must be given.
If a committee member withdraws before the recommendation is submitted, a new committee member must be appointed suggested by the principal supervisor. The proposal and declaration of impartiality must be sent to the Group for research training.
If a member of the committee is unable to be present at the trial lecture and/or public defence of the thesis, the faculty can appoint a substitute member suggested by the committee administrator.
§ 14.2 of the Regulations: Revision of a submitted thesis
The evaluation committee must present its final recommendation within two (2) months.
The thesis must be rejected should the evaluation committee find that a thesis cannot be revised within six (6) months to a level that is worthy of a PhD degree.
If the candidate has made the revisions proposed by the evaluation committee, the committee must normally recommend the thesis worthy of defence.
§ 14.3 of the Regulations: Recommendation of the evaluation committee
The recommendation must be a joint statement. Individual statements should be enclosed when relevant.
Should the committee conclude that the thesis is not deemed worthy of a public defence, or should the opinion of the committee members be divided, the committee must present more detailed grounds for its conclusion than when the conclusion is positive.
In cases where the committee concludes by approving the thesis for a public defence, the recommendation can be presented in a more general and concise form.
The committee’s recommendation should contain a description of:
- The content and objective of the thesis.
- The candidate’s original contributions and independence.
- The candidate’s overview of the subject area and the placement of his/her research within this field.
- The technical quality of the thesis: organization, written presentation, overall impression.
- The key elements of the thesis in terms of theory, hypotheses, material and methods.
- The findings of the thesis and the main conclusions drawn.
- The thesis´ qualitative level, its scientific importance, and its level in an international context.
The PhD candidate’s written comments to the recommendation are enclosed with the recommendation when the decision is to be taken.
§ 14.4 of the Regulations: Correction of formal errors in the thesis
Applications to correct formal errors in the thesis must be sent to the faculty. Applications are handled by the evaluation committee.
In this context formal errors are regarded as mistakes of a non-academic nature such as spelling mistakes, poor language etc.
A complete overview of the errors must be printed in the final version of the thesis.
Changing the status of a journal after submission is not allowed.
§ 16 of the Regulations: Re-submission
A PhD thesis that has previously been evaluated and not found worthy of defence by the Faculty of Dentistry can be re-submitted once.
The thesis can be re-submitted at the earliest six (6) months after and at the latest two (2) years after the faculty’s decision to reject the thesis.
The faculty appoints the same evaluation committee to assess the revised thesis unless there are special grounds for appointing new members to the committee.
§ 17.1 of the Regulations: Faculty requirements for the printed thesis
When the faculty has found the thesis worthy of defence, 20 copies of the thesis must be printed.
The faculty covers the expenses of printing the 20 mandatory copies of the thesis.
Reprosentralen must be used for printing. The thesis must be printed in accordance with the university’s template and use the faculty’s cover along with a specific series number.
§ 17.2 of the Regulations: Publicising
When the PhD thesis is to be publicised, the candidate must no later than 3 weeks prior to the public defence submit to the faculty a completed form giving his/her personal details and two summaries of the thesis – a summary in English of the research field and a popular scientific summary in Norwegian.
The defence of the thesis is open to the public, and the thesis must be made generally available. In addition the faculty has a statutory duty regarding the legal deposition of PhD theses. The faculty ensures that copies of the thesis are available during the public defence and that the statutory duty regarding the legal deposition is complied with.
§ 18.1 of the Regulations: Trial lecture
The trial lecture is held prior to the public defence and can take place at the earliest six weeks after the faculty has found the thesis worthy of defence.
The PhD candidate must hold a trial lecture in a given topic. The trial lecture must last 45 minutes, with an additional 15 minutes for any questions/comments.
In its assessment of the trial lecture, the evaluation committee must emphasize the following:
- Did the PhD candidate start by presenting an outline of the lecture?
- Did the PhD candidate manage to distinguish between the main points and less important points, and was the connection between the main points made clear to the audience?
The lecture must be held in English, Norwegian, Danish or Swedish.
§ 23 of the Regulations: Entry into force and transitional rules
The supplementary rules pertaining to the Regulations for the degree of Philosophiae Doctor (Ph.D.) at the Faculty of Dentistry, University of Oslo, come into force with immediate effect on their adoption by the Faculty Board.