Reception after PhD defence
If you wish to have a reception after your PhD defence, you have two choices:
- Self-organising: If you would like to make your own decisions on the location or catering, you can choose to self-organise your reception. If you provide the receipts and a list of participants after your reception, the department will reimburse you up to 100 DKK per participant.
- Department-arranged: If you prefer someone else to make the decisions, you can choose a department-arranged reception. In this case, your primary responsibility is to provide a list of guests before the reception, and the PhD secretary will take care of the rest.
Please read more about the two options below and get back to the PhD secretary about your preferred option as soon as possible.
Self-organised reception
If you want to arrange a reception yourself, the department will pay up to 100 DKK of catering per person for a maximum amount of 30 people, if you provide the receipts and a list of participants after your reception. If you need catering for more than 30 people or for more than DKK 100 per person, you are more than welcome to provide for this yourself. After your reception, please send a scanned copy of your receipts and a list of participants at the reception to PhD secretary who will then take care of your reimbursement.
If you need some inspiration for arranging a reception, we have collected some useful tips down below.
Location
While the time, date, and location of your defence will be published on the AU website and e-mailed to the institute, you will have to invite your guests to the reception yourself – both family, friends, and colleagues.
If you want to book a room for your reception at the university, you can book rooms through Outlook (search for the building number, and you will get an overview of all rooms – The number in the parenthesis indicates how many people the room can fit):
Please note that you are responsible for cleaning up the room afterwards and making sure that it is ready to use again the next day.
If you order food and tableware from the AU canteens, please make sure to place it in the boxes it was delivered in and place it in the hall after the reception.
You are also welcome to host your reception at some place other than the university.
Catering
Regarding catering, you have several options: You can order food through one of AU’s canteens, you can order it elsewhere, or you can make it yourself.
We recommend that you order the food to be delivered in good time before the reception begins and that you ask family, friends, or colleagues to help you set it up.
If you wish to order from AU, you can contact the canteen at Navitas by e-mail at navitaskantine@au.dk or by contacting them in person.
Reimbursement
The Department will contribute to the reception with the amount of DKK 100 per person and a maximum of 30 guests. You will have to pay for the catering and get a refund afterwards from the secretariat. Please scan your receipts, enclose a list of participants and send it to your PhD program secretary.
Department-arranged reception
If you choose to have a department-arranged reception, you do not get to choose the location or catering of your reception but will get a pre-decided standard solution.
If you would like the department to arrange your reception, please let the PhD secretary know as soon as possible so they can make the arrangements. You need to inform the PhD secretary of the number of people you expect to attend, and a list of their names no later than three weeks before your defence.
Location
If you choose to have a department-arranged reception, the reception will take place in the same room as your defence.
Catering
The catering will be delivered outside of the room of your PhD defence. It is your responsibility to bring the catering into the room and arrange it. We suggest that you ask friends, family or a colleague to help you with the practicalities.
Please note that you are responsible for cleaning up the room afterwards and making sure that it is ready to use again the next day.
