For jubilee doctors wishing to be conferred in 2023

What to do before the Spring Graduation

Register no later than on 14 March

Whether you wish to be conferred on site or in your absence at the 2023 Spring Graduation, you still need to register no later than on 14 March. The link to the registration form can be found in the email you have received with your invitation. If you have any questions, please contact promotion@umu.se.

In the registration, you must confirm if the information for the programme publication about your name, your jubilee doctorship, the title of your doctoral thesis and your faculty are correct. These details were included in your invitation. If any information is incorrect, please add the correct details in the registration form.

If you are participating in the Ceremony, you must also specify the following:

• if you need assistance during the procession (learn more under Rehearsal)
• if you wish to attend the Vice-Chancellor's Reception and the Spring Banquet, and if you have any special dietary requirements;
• name and any special dietary requirements for any guest attending the Vice-Chancellor's Reception; and
• name of any guests attending the Spring Banquet, and their potential special dietary requirements. Read about the costs of inviting additional guests to the Spring Banquet, other than your plus one.

If you wish to be conferred in your absence

If you wish to be conferred in your absence at the 2023 Spring Graduation Ceremony, you must register no later than on 14 March.

When you are conferred in your absence, you do not participate in any of the events, but your name will be presented in the programme publication and you will be mentioned and conferred in your absence by the conferrer at the Ceremony. After the event, you will receive a diploma by post. The Spring Graduation Ceremony will be broadcast live, allowing you to follow your conferment on live.umu.se, should you wish.

If you wish to be conferred on site at the Ceremony

Acquire your doctoral insignia

If you belong to the Faculty of Medicine, (including the former Faculty of Odontology) you will be conferred with a doctoral hat. Take the hat with you both to the rehearsal and the Ceremony. If you do not have a hat, you can borrow one from someone who has previously been conferred, or buy a new one.

If you belong to one of the other faculties, you will be conferred with a laurel wreath. The University will order a laurel wreath on your behalf once you have registered for which you will be invoiced SEK 525 after the Spring Graduation. You will get to try the laurel wreath on at the rehearsal.

Read more about the doctoral hat, the laurel wreath and other doctoral insignia and how to acquire them.

Prepare your attire according to the dress codes

The Spring Graduation events require certain dress codes for guests of honour, such as yourself, but also for your guests. You can purchase, hire or borrow clothes, such as the formal attire required for the Ceremony. Please make sure to prepare in ample time before the Spring Graduation.

Learn what dress codes apply for each event.

Mandatory and optional events related to the Spring Graduation

• You must attend the rehearsal, the Procession Reception and the Spring Graduation Ceremony described in more detail below.
• Other events are optional. When you register, you will specify if you want to attend the Vice-Chancellor’s Reception and the Spring Banquet. This is also where you register any potential guests you would like to bring.
• Award recipients’ presentations and pedagogical conversations are open to everyone and no prior registration is needed.

Potential costs and other practical issues

The faculty will pay for you and one accompanying guest to attend the Spring Banquet.

If you wish to invite additional guests, you need to cover the costs of their cover charge: SEK 850 per adult and SEK 650 per child under the age of 18. After the Spring Graduation, you will receive an invoice of these costs to the address you have stated in your registration. You must register your guests when you submit your registration for the Spring Graduation. Please note that the number of additional guests may need to be limited if interest exceeds the capacity of the venue. 

Having children under the age of 10 attend the Spring Banquet is rare. Please note that everyone, children and adults alike, are served the same menu. But guests under the age of 18 are served non-alcoholic alternatives.

If you and your guests need to obtain clothing suitable to the dress code, pay for travel or accommodation, you need to cover those costs yourself.

These events take place on Friday, 12 May

REHEARSAL 
At 9:00–10:00 (approximate finishing time) in Aula Nordica  
No dress code 

It is mandatory to participate in the rehearsal if you wish to be conferred on site. At the rehearsal, you will go through the Ceremony and practise the procession, taking your seat on stage and the procedures during the conferment ceremony.

Need for assistance in the procession

The procession proceeds into Aula Nordica, down a number of steps of the auditorium and then up a few steps onto the stage. If you wish, a student marshal can walk beside you during the procession. If so, please make a note of this in your registration. It is also possible to join the procession just before it walks up on stage, or join the stage from the VIP lounge just behind the stage.

Bring your doctoral hat and try out your laurel wreath

Jubilee doctors at the Faculty of Medicine (including the former Faculty of Odontology) must bring your doctoral hat to the rehearsal.

If you are a doctor at any of the other faculties, you will get to try out your laurel wreath after the rehearsal. 

VICE-CHANCELLOR'S RECEPTION 
At 18:00–20:00 at P5 in Väven in central Umeå 
Dress code: Business casual 

The Vice-Chancellor of Umeå University invites jubilee doctors, doctors and award recipients to a night of mingling the day before the Spring Graduation Ceremony. You are welcome to bring one guest, and this guest must be named in your registration to the Spring Graduation. Sparkling wine and snacks are served. 

These events take place on Saturday, 13 May

PROCESSION RECEPTION
At 15:00 outside Restaurant Hjortron in Universum 
Dress code: Formal attire 

At the mandatory Procession Reception, jubilee doctors, doctors and award recipients participating in the Ceremony get a chance to meet other guests of honour before lining up for the procession into Aula Nordica.

Your guests will not attend the Procession Reception but are instead welcome to mingle with other guests before taking their seats in the auditorium around 15:30 when the doors open.

SPRING GRADUATION CEREMONY
At 16:00 in Aula Nordica 
Dress code for doctors: Formal attire 

The Spring Graduation Ceremony starts by jubilee doctors, doctors and award recipients walking in procession to their seats on stage, where you will remain during the Ceremony.

Firstly, jubilee doctors and doctors will be conferred per faculty. Secondly, award recipients will receive their awards. The Ceremony is open to the public and will generally take between 1.5 and 2 hours. 

Your guests will be seated in the auditorium. Seating is free, apart from some reserved seats for guests with special needs or young children. Please note that we do not recommend that young children attend the Ceremony, if possible. 

About the conferment ceremony and the programme publication 

The conferment takes place on stage in the Aula Nordica auditorium. The jubilee doctor will be greeted with a handshake by the faculty conferrer who then hands over the insignia to the jubilee doctor. The jubilee doctor will receive applause from the audience and return to their seat on stage. 

Before the Ceremony, the audience will receive a programme publication. This publication presents all jubilee doctors who are conferred and includes name, degree and title of the doctoral thesis.

Example: 
CARINA KÄLLESTÅHL 
Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Dental Science 
Doctoral thesis: Periodontal conditions in Swedish adolescents.

SPRING BANQUET
At 18:00 in Restaurant Lingon, Universum 
Dress code: Formal attire or dark business attire 

The Spring Banquet starts with a welcome drink straight after the Ceremony. Starter, main course and dessert will be served with wine or non-alcoholic options. You and your guests will be seated together. Pre-registered speeches will be held over the course of the evening. After coffee is served, the dance floor opens up to music by Renhornen.

Dress code

This information explains what the different dress codes mean. If you have questions regarding the dress code, please contact promotion@umu.se.

Business casual 
Dress code at the Vice-Chancellor's Reception

You and your guest attending the Vice-Chancellor’s Reception must wear:

• Suit or a jacket with trousers (not jeans) with a white or discreetly-coloured shirt, a bow tie or a tie. The suit or jacket may be light or dark;
• Dress, skirt or trouser suit. The dress or skirt length is short, which means below the knee; or
• A trouser suit should be more elegant that everyday wear.

Formal attire
Dress code during the Procession Reception and Ceremony 

You must wear:

• A long dress or skirt with a top in any colour. The dress or skirt must be floor-length;
• Black tails with a white shirt, white bow tie and a white waistcoat;
• Academic gown; or
• Formal national costume or folk costume.

Any headgear matching your outfit must not be worn during the procession or the Ceremony. You may wear one or several decorations.

If you have guests only attending the Spring Graduation Ceremony, but not the Spring Banquet, these guests do not need to follow any dress code. However, those of your guests who will attend the Spring Banquet are recommended to dress according to the Spring Banquet dress code for the Ceremony too.

Formal attire or dark business attire
Dress code at the Spring Banquet

All guests attending the Spring Banquet must wear:

• Long, ankle-length or short (below the knee) dress or skirt more elegant than everyday wear;
• Black tails with a white shirt, white waistcoat and white bow tie;
• Dark business attire with a white shirt and tie or bow tie. The suit may be dark blue, dark grey, dark green or dark brown;
• Folk or national costume; or
• Academic gown.

Children may wear a fancy dress or only a white shirt (suitably with a tie or bow tie) and trousers. 

You may wear one or several decorations. Only conferrers, doctors and jubilee doctors of the Faculty of Medicine who have participated in the  Ceremony wear doctoral hats.

Doctoral insignia

Doctoral insignia are the symbolic items awarded the doctor at the doctoral conferment: a doctoral hat or laurel wreath, and diploma. Jubilee doctors at the Faculty of Medicine (including the former Faculty of Odontology) are conferred with a doctoral hat and jubilee doctors from other faculties are conferred with a laurel wreath. 

Doctoral hat

The doctoral hat stands for academic freedom and power. Pleated and black, it carries the emblem of the recipient’s faculty, custom-designed for Umeå University. Only if you belong to the Faculty of Medicine, you will be conferred with a doctoral hat. Take the hat with you both to the rehearsal and the Ceremony. Here are some suggestions if you do not already have a doctoral hat.

Borrow a hat

You can borrow a doctoral hat from someone who has been conferred in previous years. Ask your colleagues or friends about this in ample time. Doctoral hats from other universities are also acceptable.

Buy a hat

You can buy a doctoral hat at your own expense. Contact promotion@umu.se if you wish to know what hat suppliers are available.

Umeå emblem

When Umeå University was founded, there were three faculties: the Faculty of Odontology, Faculty of Medicine and Faculty of Philosophy. As a result, there are three different Umeå emblems on the doctoral hat. Nowadays, only doctors at the Faculty of Medicine wear a hat at the conferment ceremony. The emblems that are relevant for you are:

• Medicine doctoral hat: for all doctors at the Faculty of Medicine, beside those with a Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Dental Science.
• Odontology doctoral hat: for doctors at the Faculty of Medicine, or former Faculty of Odontology, who carry a Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Dental Science.

Laurel wreath

The laurel wreath is a symbol of academic freedom used at the conferment ceremony, and is an ancient tradition. All jubilee doctors from the Faculty of Science and Technology, Faculty of Social Sciences, and the Faculty of Arts and Humanities, or the former Faculty of Philosophy, at Umeå University are conferred with a laurel wreath. 

Umeå University will order laurel wreaths for all doctors who will be conferred with a laurel wreath. The cost, currently SEK 525, will be invoiced to the doctor after the Spring Graduation. The laurel wreath is adjustable and will be tried out at the rehearsal. 

Diploma

The diploma is a gift from the faculty. Jubilee doctors participating on site will receive their diplomas at the Ceremony. Jubilee doctors conferred in their absence will receive their diplomas by post after the Spring Graduation.