The chairperson of the public examination (custos), the doctoral candidate and the opponents are dressed in academic attire, a tailcoat (black waistcoat) or a dark suit. The candidate decides on the dress code and agrees on it in advance with the custos and the opponents. A foreign academic robe is also acceptable. Ladies wear a dark dress with a closed neckline and long sleeves.

During the public examination, the parties should address each other with the titles Doctoral Candidate, Honored Opponent and Honored Custos. Familiar forms and first names should be avoided.

In accordance with the academic tradition, the public examination begins at a quarter past the hour, which is announced on the front page of the dissertation.

If the custos and the opponents own doctor's hats, they carry them in their hands when entering the ceremony venue; during the public examination, the hats are on the table.

The doctoral candidate is the first to enter the auditorium, then the custos followed by the opponents; the audience stands up when they enter. The doctoral candidate, the custos, the opponents and the audience sit down simultaneously.

“On this occasion, the dissertation entitled (name of the dissertation) written by (name of the doctoral candidate), Lic.Sc.(Tech.) / Lic.Sc. (Econ. & Bus. Adm.) / M.Sc. (Tech.) / M.Sc. (Econ. & Bus. Adm.) / M.Sc... will be examined publicly for the degree of Doctor of Science (Technology) / Doctor of Science (Economics and Business Administration) / Doctor of Philosophy / Doctor of Social Sciences."

Then the custos may introduce the opponents.

Next, the custos says, "I now declare the examination open".

The doctoral candidate delivers his/her lectio praecursoria (approximately 20 minutes), in which he/she explains the research project, the underlying problems, development trends etc. In the latter part of the presentation, the doctoral candidate summarizes the crucial research problems of the work and the results. The lectio praecursoria is normally given in the language understandable to the general audience; highly specialized terms should be avoided. If the language of the lectio praecursoria is Finnish, the candidate should make a written version of it for the foreign opponents in English.

The presentation starts with the words “Honored custos, honored opponent(s), honored listeners”.

At the end of the presentation, the doctoral candidate addresses the opponent(s), “I now call upon the opponent(s) to criticize and comment on my doctoral dissertation.”

The opponent/one of the opponents briefly reviews the field of the dissertation, current interest in the field of research in question, its importance, etc. This review normally lasts approximately 15 minutes.

After the review the doctoral candidate and the opponent sit down.

The opponents will examine the dissertation critically, pose first general and then detailed questions and make comments. The custos does not participate in the discussion.

The opponents may use a maximum of approximately three hours for examining the dissertation. This will allow time for possible questions and comments from the audience. If the examination is prolonged, the custos may announce a break. However, the public examination as a whole may not take more than four hours.

At the end of the occasion one of the opponents makes a final statement in which he/she evaluates the dissertation, analyzes the results stated and the ability of the doctoral candidate to defend his/her work in a public examination.

The doctoral candidate listens to the final statement standing.

After the examination is finished the doctoral candidate (standing) calls upon the people present,

“I now call upon anyone who has anything to comment on my dissertation or its defence to ask the honored custos for permission to speak”.

The custos (sitting) then guides the discussion, grants the permission to speak, sees that the doctoral candidate has the opportunity to answer the question or to reply to the comment, and makes sure that the speakers do not deviate from the subject.

It is the responsibility of the custos to take notes on possible comments and the persons commenting.

The custos closes the occasion declaring, “The public examination is now closed”. Next, the custos usually invites all participants to have coffee and cake. The audience does not applaud at the end of the public examination.

The doctoral candidate is the first to leave the auditorium followed by the custos and the opponents. The custos and the opponents carry their doctor’s hats in their hands as they leave the auditorium. The audience can congratulate the doctoral candidate outside the auditorium.

The usual protocol is followed in fully online public examinations. However, small changes required by streaming are possible, for example regarding parts performed seated or standing. The custos, the doctoral candidate and the opponents go through the arrangements with the technical support in the testing event prior to the public examination. At the end of the event the custos may instruct the audience about asking permission to speak via the system used.