Doctoral degree conferment ceremony
Karolinska Institutet holds a conferment ceremony for new doctors twice a year. In the spring ceremony honorary doctors are welcome and in the autumn ceremony jubilee doctors are welcome. The ceremony takes place in the Blue Hall of Stockholm City Hall and is followed by a banquet in the Golden Hall and dance.
The doctoral degree conferment is the ceremony through which a university or university college, which has fixed research resources, distributes the external signs of the doctorate. Karolinska Institutet's first doctoral conferment took place on 31 May 1906.
The doctoral degree conferment ceremony has ultimately its roots in the European Middle Ages and its universities. The Swedish word promovera comes from the Latin verb promovere, which means to bring forward, to push forward, but here in a transferred sense almost to promote.
Stream the ceremony
Cannon salute
Karolinska Institutet's first doctoral conferment took place in 1906, but the exact date when new doctors began to be celebrated with a cannon salute is not documented.
Who fires the salute?
The cannons are fired by the Artillery Division in Gothenburg. It is a non-profit association that recreate the Royal Göta Artillery Regiment’s history. They have been firing salutes for Karolinska Institutet since 2004.
When is the salute fired?
The first salute is a test firing and is shot from Stadshuskajen at 3:00 PM. Later in the afternoon, the shots will be fired at irregular intervals between approximately 5:20 PM and 6:30 PM, marking special moments in the conferment ceremony.
Dates for the ceremonies in 2025:
May 16
November 14
Practical information for new doctors (promovendi)
Who is entitled to the conferment
If you are a new doctor at KI who have satisfactorily defended your thesis and have applied for the doctor's degree certificate.
Postponement
For particular reasons there is the possibility to postpone your conferment within 2 years, but you have to contact the unit for academic ceremonies as soon as possible at: doktorspromotion@ki.se
Invitation
An invitation will be sent to you approximately 2-3 months before the Conferment Ceremony by e-mail.
Please make sure to notify us of any change of e-mail address in order for the invitation to reach you at doktorspromotion@ki.se
Your supervisor will get an invitation after we have received your reply. This is in order to be sure that KI invites the supervisor whose promovendi has accepted the invitation.
You are welcome free of charge together with a guest to the ceremony and to the banquet that will follow.
Guests:
Promovendi can bring one guest to ceremony and banquet and up to two guests to the ceremony.
Supervisor
One supervisor per promovendi will be invited by KI to the ceremony and the banquet at no cost, provided their former doctoral student is attending. The new doctor decides if KI shall invite the supervisor. The supervisor will thereafter receive a separate invitation from KI. The supervisor can register a guest attending both ceremony and banquet but has to pay the fee for the guest. More information about that comes with the invitation.
Dress code
For the new doctors the dress code is full evening dress: white waistcoat, white tie and tails/ long evening gown. An alternative may be to wear the national costume.
For supervisors and other guests who will even participate to the banquet the dress code is also full evening dress. Guests just attending the ceremony are not required to wear evening dress, smart casual is appreciated.
Schedule
- You are welcome from 3:00 pm. in order to participate in the general rehearsal.
All other guests are welcome from 4:15 pm. Everyone should have taken their seats at 4:50 pm.
The Ceremony starts at 5:00 pm.
Entrance tickets
All guests (included promovendi) need entrance tickets with QR code. Entrance tickets will be sent digitally to all guests by e-mail approximately 1-2 weeks before the ceremony and shall be shown at the entrance. Please notice also that the e-mail containing the ticket may come to your spam box.
Ceremony
The ceremony comprise the conferment of new doctors (promovendi) and of jubilee doctors (doctors who had been conferred their degree 50 years ago, autumn occasion) or honorary doctors (spring occasion) . You will be called on stage in groups. When on stage, the chief usher will announce your name and the Deputy Vice-President of Doctoral Education confer you the doctor's degree by placing the doctoral hat on your head and thereafter hand over a diploma. After a fanfare and applauds the group is lead back to the seats. The hats stay on during the remains of the ceremony.
Banquet
At the banquet you are primarily seated together with your accompanying guest and your supervisor. Thereafter you are seated in order of department and division as far as it is possible.
Diploma
The diploma handed at the Conferment Ceremony is not an official document. It is only a document attesting that you have attended the ceremony following the Swedish tradition and it is not to be considered an official validation of a doctoral degree. The official document is the degree certificate which testifies the receipt of the doctoral degree. See more here to apply for it: degree certificate
Dress code and doctoral hat for the new doctors
Doctoral hat
It is mandatory for new doctors to wear a doctoral hat at the Conferment ceremony. You can either buy a hat, borrow from a colleague or hire a hat from KI.
Hire
You can hire a doctoral hat from KI. The cost is 500 SEK. For more information contact: doktorshatt@ki.se, you can read more about that in the document attached to the invitation.
Buy
Please contact well in advance: Hattmakarna
Dress code
The dress code is full evening dress: white waistcoat, white tie and tails/ long evening gown. An alternative may be to wear the national costume
Tail coats and evening dresses may be hired/bought from, among others:
- Wedding Bells by Little Faires, Skidvägen 21, 129 49 Hägersten, tfn 08-646 08 00
- Kungs Skräddare & Uthyrning, S:t Göransgatan 65, Stockholm, tfn 08-653 25 86
Tail coats may be hired or ordered from, among others:
- Månberg & Bagge, Drottninggatan 112, Stockholm, tel 08-24 30 32
- Grosshandlarn, Vasagatan 11, Stockholm tel 08-21 22 11 - Odengatan 34, Stockholm, tel 08-612 50 55
- Steens Herrmode AB, Odengatan 106, Stockholm, tel 08-34 93 00
- Östermalms Smoking & Frackuthyrning, Almlöfsgatan 3, Stockholm, tel 08-660 28 29
- House of Steens, Odengatan 106, 2 tr, Stockholm, tel 08-997700
- Brudgummen, Vattugatan 1, Stockholm, tel 08 30 01 12
Doctoral ring (not mandatory)
Doctoral rings can be ordered from:
- Atelier Borgila AB (AB Heymann & Kuhlmann), Vegagatan 7, Stockholm, tfn 08 673 41 00
- Oskars Guld & Silver, Västerlånggatan 55, Stockholm, tfn 08-22 80 29
- Sundbybergs Guldsmedsaffär, Sturegatan 28, Sundbyberg, tfn 08-28 14 24
- Guldsmed Stefan Carlsson, Vaksalagatan 40 Uppsala, tfn 018-12 57 08