Image: Mattias Pettersson
As a jubilee doctor, you are warmly welcome to the Spring Graduation on 12–13 May 2023. You may choose if you wish to be conferred on site, or in your absence. Regardless of which, there are a few things you need to know and 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 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.
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.
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
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.
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.
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.
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:
Formal attire
Dress code during the Procession Reception and Ceremony
You must wear:
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.
Here are some examples of what formal attire can look like.
ImageMattias PetterssonFormal attire or dark business attire
Dress code at the Spring Banquet
All guests attending the Spring Banquet must wear:
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 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:
This is what a doctoral hat looks like.
ImageMattias PetterssonLaurel 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.
This is what the laurel wreath looks like. Jubilee doctors at the Faculty of Science and Technology, Faculty of Social Sciences, and the Faculty of Arts and Humanities, or the former Faculty of Philosophy, are conferred with a laurel wreath.
ImageMattias PetterssonDiploma
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.