Guidelines for the Opponent
In the Opponent's assessment of the doctoral dissertation, special attention should be paid to the following points:
- An evaluation of the topic of the dissertation, including consideration of the number of problems which have needed to be solved. The significance of the conclusions should be assessed in terms of the following criteria: to what extent new ideas or insights are offered; how the solutions to the problems posed in the dissertation have been solved; the quality of the Disputant's observations; and any improvement in precision achieved in the measurement of findings.
- An evaluation of the originality in both the planning and the execution of the research.
- An evaluation of the quality of the Disputant's achievement, on the basis of the care with which it has been undertaken, the difficulty of the methods used, the development (where appropriate) of new methods, and their application in the research.
- An evaluation of the Disputant's mastery of the field of research and familiarity with the relevant literature.
- An evaluation of the structuring of the dissertation, its manner of presentation, and the style and use of language.
In the statement submitted to the Faculty after the Disputation, but not at the Disputation itself, the Opponent is required to propose an evaluation of the standard reached in the dissertation, using the following scale: approbatur, lubenter approbatur, non sine laude approbatur, cum laude approbatur, magna cum laude approbatur, eximia cum laude approbatur, laudatur.
