Annual ceremonies and celebrations
Every year several ceremonies, celebrations and festivities are arranged. The largest are the Conferment of Doctoral Degrees and the Inauguration of new Professors. Other annual events are: Zealous and devoted service to the state (NOR), Diplomeringshögtid for the students and the Jubilee Doctors Ceremony.
The Conferment of Doctoral Degrees
The Conferment of Doctoral Degrees is the University’s largest ceremonial occasion and is primarily intended for those who have recently completed their postgraduate work and successfully defended their doctoral thesis. The annual ceremony usually takes place during the latter part of October.
New doctors from the previous academic year and honorary doctors receive their insignia as confirmation of their position at the University. A number of honorary doctorates are also conferred at the ceremony. The appointment of honorary doctors is a way of rewarding individuals, both inside and outside the country, who have made a substantial contribution to research at our University. The importance of educational contributions is demonstrated through the presentation of educational awards, both to individuals and teams.
The ceremony includes some speeches and musical entertainment from the university students at the Academy of Music and Drama. Following the ceremony is a mingle and a grand banquet. The conferment takes place at the Congress Hall, Svenska Mässan in Gothenburg. Around 150 new doctors participate on stage at the ceremony and altogether 700-850 guests are seated at the banquet.
To the Conferment of Doctoral Degrees 25 October 2024 those who defended their doctoral thesis and registered their exams between 1 July 2023 och 30 June 2024 will be invited. The invitation will be sent via e-mail in the beginning of July.
Welcome to look at the videofilms from some previous conferments: GU Play
About the Inauguration of New Professors
Every year the University of Gothenburg organises an inauguration of new professors, where the new professors are inaugurated during a festive ceremony. Participation in the ceremony is optional. Only the professors that are employed as professors or appointed as artistic professors are inaugurated. Adjunct professors and visiting professors that have been appointed by the Vice-Chancellor are welcomed at the ceremony, but they are not inaugurated.
The ceremony will take place at Konserthuset (the Concert Hall) in Gothenburg, 12th June 2024. At the ceremony we present short films about all the professors. You can watch the films here, most of them in Swedish: www.gu.se/forskning
Zealous and devoted service
Every spring an event is held for University staff who have been state employees for at least 30 years or who are retiring after at least 25 years of state employment. They are presented with a distinction for zealous and devoted service to the state, NOR.
The ceremony takes place at the University of Gothenburg, in the assembly hall in Vasaparken with speeches by the Vice-Chancellor among others. An engraved gift is subsequently presented by the Vice-Chancellor. The ceremony concludes with a buffet in the Torgny Segerstedt room, which is situated in the University’s main building.
The HR department compiles the list of the receivers of NOR-gifts and send a letter to those who shall receive gift, who make their choice from a list of gifts at Arbetsgivarverket. At the end of the year you will get an invitation to the NOR ceremony that will take place at the end of January every year.
If you do not receive your gift at the ceremony, please send an email to hogtider@gu.se and decide on a date to come and get it at Vasaparken. The gifts are not sent to your home. Please do not forget to come and get your gift! You need to get in touch and get your gift at the latest two years after the date of the ceremony.
Diplomeringshögtiden
At a ceremony, students who have been active in the university's corps are rewarded for their contributions to their university. Members of the university's doctoral committees are also honored in this way. The students receive a medal and a diploma from the hand of the Vice-Chancellor. After the ceremony the students are invited to a reception.
The Jubilee Doctors Ceremony
The doctors who received their doctorate 50 years ago or more can be created as jubilee doctors. By tradition, this usually takes place at this year's Conferment of Doctoral Degrees, but since a few years ago it has had its own celebration at the University of Gothenburg. More and more people received doctorates during the 1970s and 1980s, and therefore a separate celebration was created that is more dignified for the jubilee doctors, who are between 75 and 100 years old.
The ceremony takes place in the assembly hall in Vasaparken, where the jubilee doctors go in procession together with the university management and student marshals. One at a time, the jubilant doctors walk up to the parnassus in their doctor's hats and laurel wreaths and receive a personal diploma. They are celebrated by promotors and then with fanfare.
After the solemn ceremony, the jubilant doctors and their guests are invited to a celebratory dinner at a restaurant, together with the university's management.
This year's jubilee doctors will also be invited as guests to the subsequent Conferment of Doctoral Degrees. Those who wish may come and watch the ceremony and participate in the banquet.