Whether you are promoted to professor or appointed as professor, you will be offered the opportunity to be inaugurated (installed) at the upcoming Commencement Ceremony. This applies even if you have previously been inaugurated at another higher education institution. In September, about five months prior to the ceremony, you will be invited to the inauguration. The invitation provides information you will need in the run-up to the event. You will receive this invitation if you have been appointed or promoted to professor in the preceding September to August. This means that if you have been appointed or promoted as a professor in the few months prior to the next ceremony, you will be honoured at the ceremony following that one.

At the ceremony, you will receive a stole and a diploma as a sign of your new status. You may invite your loved ones to the ceremony; the number of people you can invite will vary according to the number of people being honoured and will be stated in your invitation. One of the professors being inaugurated will be asked to give the inauguration speech and represent all the new professors.

A short film about you and your research will be shown during the ceremony and subsequently made available on the university website. The film can also be used as part of your researcher profile on sh.se. This film will be recorded during the autumn; you will receive all the information you need when you are invited to your inauguration.

Many elements are involved in organising a suitably distinguished ceremony. We therefore recommend that you block time in your diary for this purpose after you receive your invitation. There will be a separate rehearsal with you and the other professors who are being inaugurated, usually in January, and then a dress rehearsal with everyone involved a few days before the ceremony itself. On these occasions you will rehearse the procession, where to sit, when you take the stage and how to receive your insignia. A group photograph will be taken in association with the Commencement Ceremony.

You have presented your thesis, defended it and are now ready for your degree to be conferred. But where will this be done? If you have been admitted to and employed at Södertörn University, you will be invited to have your doctorate conferred here. If you were admitted to another university but employed by us, you should be offered a conferment there. If you have been admitted to Södertörn University, but employed at another university, you will be invited to have your doctorate conferred here. If you are not sure what applies, please contact akademiskhogtid@sh.se and we will help you.

At the ceremony, you will receive a wreath and a diploma as a sign of your new status. You will also have the opportunity to buy a doctoral ring. You may invite your loved ones to the ceremony. Details about this and other matters will be included in the invitation to the conferment of your degree. This will be sent in September, about five months before the ceremony. To receive this invitation, you must have defended your doctoral thesis during the preceding September-August.

During the ceremony, there will be a short photo presentation and you and your thesis will be named. The photo shoot will take place in the autumn; you will receive all the information you need along with the invitation to the ceremony.

Many elements are involved in organising a suitably distinguished ceremony. We therefore recommend that you block time in your diary for this purpose after you receive your invitation. There will be a separate rehearsal with you and the other graduands, usually at the end of January, and then a dress rehearsal with everyone involved a few days before the ceremony itself. On these occasions you will rehearse the procession, where to sit, when you take the stage and how to receive your insignia. A group photograph will be taken in association with the Commencement Ceremony.

If you are unable to attend the ceremony or do not want to, you can choose to have your doctorate conferred the following year or in your absence.