Hardly anyone managed to get work done in our department yesterday. For one student, Olof Bengtsson, it was the day of his dissertation defense. His examiner - "opponent" as he is called - is an invited expert in the field. The defense involves short presentations by both the defendant and the opponent, after which the opponent and a judging board of three others may ask questions of the defendant based on the written thesis. This process takes 2 and half to three hours. In Olof's case, he started at 10am and was out a bit before 1pm. The judging board retreats for discussion while champagne and snacks are prepared for the expected outcome. If anyone ever fails the defense, I've never heard of it. Olof passed, of course, and we drank champagne and congratulated him in the meeting room. A formal dinner at one of the student "nations" was held that night with the usual toasts, brännvin and singing. I was seated with international students invited from the university in Gävle where Olof conducted much of his work. The students were from various countries - Lebanon, Pakistan, Peru, Sudan, India and I think a couple more. There were also a few Swedes. It made for a fun and interesting evening.
But there was
more happening yesterday. Another student, Ulf Malm from our solar cell group will also be defending his thesis in three weeks. It's a requirement that the thesis be made public at least three weeks prior to the defense. Not unexpectedly, this event is also steeped in tradition (and alcohol). A copy of the thesis is quite literally nailed to a wall in a place for this purpose. Our department simply uses a board which can easily be taken down and moved. Ulf successfully nailed his thesis on the second attempt, having first bent his carefully selected spike from the 1930's to an unuseable shape. Afterwards, beer (spiköl) and chips were served while Ulf signed the copies with which we were personally presented. This event was conveniently scheduled at 4pm, suitably distant from both the 1pm champagne and the evening's brännvin.
I didn't even think of making a solar cell all day.
more happening yesterday. Another student, Ulf Malm from our solar cell group will also be defending his thesis in three weeks. It's a requirement that the thesis be made public at least three weeks prior to the defense. Not unexpectedly, this event is also steeped in tradition (and alcohol). A copy of the thesis is quite literally nailed to a wall in a place for this purpose. Our department simply uses a board which can easily be taken down and moved. Ulf successfully nailed his thesis on the second attempt, having first bent his carefully selected spike from the 1930's to an unuseable shape. Afterwards, beer (spiköl) and chips were served while Ulf signed the copies with which we were personally presented. This event was conveniently scheduled at 4pm, suitably distant from both the 1pm champagne and the evening's brännvin.
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