ABSTRACT
The Chair of the defence committee usually gives the opening words. The presentation comes in different forms. In some cases, it is the main committee member who has to present the thesis instead of the student. The main part of the defence is the answering of questions from the committee. Re-familiarization with the context, research questions, literature, key findings, and the conclusion should, therefore, be a primary aim of the read-through because, without this, candidates are unlikely to be able to offer an adequate defence of their work. In terms of what the students knew about the defence, many commented that the purpose was to defend their thesis. During the last couple of weeks before the defence student can also organize and do a “mock defence”, which is a rehearsal for the real thing. All committees have members from the same department or university as the candidate.
