Submission of PhD thesis without enrolment
Under special circumstances, the PhD school may decide that a thesis can be accepted for assessment without enrolment. In that case, the author must document how they have acquired qualifications equivalent to those required in the PhD Order (cf. Ministerial PhD Order. Section 15, subsection 2):
- Completion of PhD courses or other academic activities corresponding to approx. 30 ECTS credits.
- Participation in active research environments, e.g. at foreign research institutions or private research companies.
- Obtained experience of teaching or other forms of knowledge dissemination.
Submission of PhD thesis and application for assessment
If you want to apply for submission and assessment of a PhD thesis without enrolment, please contact the PhD Administration.
You will need to fill in this form for the PhD Administration (phd@hrsc.ku.dk).
Enclose
- A copy of your PhD thesis.
- A summary of your thesis in both Danish and English (max 1 page each).
- Documentation of qualifications equivalent to 30 ECTS.
- Documentation of knowledge dissemination activities.
Note, that if your thesis includes co-authored chapters or articles, you will need, in addition, to submit a declaration for all co-authored items.
Assessment of your application
The PhD School will request an opinion from one or more of faculty staff with appropriate expertise within the relevant academic field to form an opinion as to whether the theses can be accepted for assessment. The Head of Department will be consulted if they have the capacity to assess the thesis. Based on these recommendations, the Head of the PhD school will decide if the thesis can be accepted for assessment.
The PhD administration will inform you by email about the decision. If your PhD thesis is accepted for submission, then you will also receive information about your payment of the fee, appointment of assessment committee and defence procedures.
Please allow for 1–3 months for the evaluation of your PhD thesis and qualifications.
Fee for assessment of Phd thesis and public defence
If the PhD school approves the thesis for assessment the author must cover the fee of DKK 50,000 (2024) for the assessment of the PhD thesis by an international committee, the public defence proceedings, printing of the PhD thesis, and administration of the procedures. The fee must be paid prior to the assessment and is applicable whether the thesis is accepted or rejected for public defence.
Exemption from fee payment
If you have been enrolled in the PhD School less than 4 years ago, you may be exempt from paying out the fee. You may apply to the Head of the PhD School for exemption via email to the PhD Administration (phd@hrsc.ku.dk).
Assessment process
If your PhD thesis has been accepted for assessment by the PhD School and the PhD administration have received the payment of the fee, you must submit the PhD thesis through the digital platform PhD Planner.
The assessment will start by appointment of an international Assessment Committee, following the rules laid down in the Ministerial PhD Order and supplementary rules by UCPH and the PhD School. You can follow the process and comment on the suggested members of the Assessment Committee through PhD Planner.
The PhD Administration will submit your PhD thesis to the Royal Library for textual screening for plagiarism, before sending it to the members of the Assessment Committee for assessment.
Once appointed and within 2 months after receiving the thesis, the assessment committee will submit a written assessment of the thesis including an initial recommendation of whether the thesis should be accepted for defence. If accepted for public defence, the thesis is defended according to the general rules and guidelines for defence procedures at the faculty.