University switches to digital PhD ceremonies
Only the PhD candidates themselves, the chair of the promotion committee and the beadle will be in the room.
The other members of the promotion committee, the thesis supervisor(s), and any experts will join in through video conferencing. Other interested parties can watch a livestream of the ceremony.
Digital ceremony
The digital ceremony, held without an audience or paranymphs, will be held in the auditorium in the Academy building. The promotion committee will ask questions over the video link. Afterwards, the committee will confer with the supervisor(s) behind ‘closed doors’, after which they’ll announce their final judgement.
The UG will stick to the current promotion schedule for the online ceremonies wherever possible. Any PhD candidates who do not want to have their ceremony online can delay it until regular business resumes. They do have to take into account that delaying the defence does not give them the right to a continuation of their contract or scholarship.
Total lockdown
Should the Netherlands go into total lockdown after all, the entire ceremony will be held online, which means the committee chair and the candidate will not be in a room together, either. The same will be done if the candidate can’t be present in person.
The UG website provides more information on the temporary guidelines for PhD ceremonies.