Guidelines for internal examination (green reading)
- The internal examination committee is comprised of two PhDs from the department, among which one should be a professor (the convenor) and the second an associate profrssor. The two internal examiners should also have participated in the dissertation draft seminar.
- The director of doctoral studies appoints the members of the internal examination committee ahead of the manuscript conference, after consulting with the supervisor(s) and the doctoral student.
- At the end of the manuscript conference, the green readers, supervisors and the Doctoral student decide on a deadline and on the process ahead. It has become quite common that the Doctoral student themselves summarises the main points of revision, on basis of their impression from the manuscript conference. The green readers shall check the list, and if necessary add or remove parts of it, before the Doctoral students start revising the manuscript.
- When the final product is available, the committee makes an overall judgment of the academic quality of the thesis in order to issue a recommendation as to whether the thesis is ready to be presented at a public defense.
- The supervisors and internal examiners should adhere to a schedule so as to give the internal examiners good advanced warning of when they are expected to perform the internal examination, and to enable them to give their recommendation relatively quickly (usually within 2–3 weeks of receiving the manuscript).
- The two internal examiners should preferably agree on a recommendation.
- If the committee decides that the thesis is not yet ready to be defended, the two internal examiners should provide a written statement specifying what the doctoral student should do in order to get the manuscript ready for a public defense. If the go-ahead (“green light”) is given, no written statement is required.
- If the internal examiners among themselves, or the examiners and supervisor(s), make completely different judgments on the quality of the thesis and, despite all efforts, it proves impossible to reach agreement, the issue shall be referred to the board of supervisors (“handledarkollegiet”).