Final Defence

Before applying officially for the (Final) Defence, all subjects have to be completed and the thesis has to be officially assessed and graded. After your supervisors have graded your thesis, you may apply for your (Final) Defence by submitting the form PhD 03 "Application for Final Defence" (and the "Master Data" if person(s) of the board haven't previously been reader(s)/member(s) of a thesis board at the University of Graz) to the Coordinator. Please find the forms here.

Before submitting the form to the Coordinator, please contact both of your supervisors and ask them for three proposal of dates when they (and you) could attend the Final Defence. In other words, please agree with both of your supervisors three proposals of dates and time when the Final Defence could take place. Send the proposals to the Coordinator and he/she will check the dates with the Programme Director and the Dean of Studies of the Law Faculty since you, your supervisors, the Programme Director and the Dean of Studies of the Law Faculty have to be able to attend the (Final) Defence. There have to be some weeks between the submission, the assessment and the proposed dates for the Final Defence.

The Final Defence is a public, oral board examination. At the beginning, the candidate gives a presentation of twenty minutes focusing in particular on his/her findings related to the dissertation. After the presentation, the candidate will be asked questions until all members of the board agree to end the Final Defence. Then, the candidate will be asked to leave the room in order to give the board the opportunity to discuss assessment and grading of the Final Defence. This discussion is not open to public. The board will agree on an assessment/grading for the Final Defence in accordance with the Austrian grading system.  After having agreed on an assessment/grading for the Final Defence, the final result will be immediately announced to the candidate.  

After having completed the (Final) Defence, the Certificate of the (Final) Defence will be issued and signed by the Dean of Studies of the Law Faculty. This might take around four weeks. Please send a request and a current postal address to rewi.studium(at)uni-graz.at, using your student's e-mail account from the University of Graz. 

Afterwards, your diploma  (Certificate of Graduation) will be issued by the Office of Academic Affairs. Please check their procedure and their opening hours in advance!