At Botta Events, you can organise a post-defence or post-doctoral party, “karonkka”, right in the centre of Helsinki.
The “Väitöskaronkka”, the graduation party for the doctoral process, is an old academic tradition. The doctoral candidate organises a feast to thank the opponent, the custos and others who contributed to the dissertation.
Invites In addition to the opponent and the custos, the professors whose dissertation falls within the scope of the dissertation and others who have helped with the dissertation will be invited. In addition to the academic community, family and friends can be asked. The invitation includes a request to confirm participation and any special dietary requirements and allergies by a specific date.
Seating The inviter usually draws up the seating plan for a Karonkka, which is either a full or semi-placed one. Full seating means each guest is assigned a seat and a name card. In a semi-placed seating arrangement, the guests are assigned seats by table. It is also possible to combine the placings so that only the main table has designated seats and the other tables are only placed by table. The main person of the day is the doctoral candidate, but the actual guest of honour at the karonka is the opponent. The guest of honour is seated at the table to the right of the doctoral candidate. If there have been two opponents, they are placed on either side of the doctoral candidate. The following seating order is that of the custos: to the left or opposite the doctoral candidate. After them come the other guests, usually in order of academic merit.
Dress code The most common dress code is the dark suit, i.e. a plain dark suit for men and a long or half-length evening dress for women. The dress can also be more informal than this, but please include the dress code in the invitation so that guests don’t have to guess how to dress your stake.
Serving and programm Before the meal, the doctoral candidate will briefly welcome the guests and explain the evening. The doctoral candidate will provide food, drink, and possibly a programme at the venue. Dinner can either be served at tables or from the banquet buffet. See the menu options. Usually, the doctoral candidate will provide at least appetisers, drinks, and possibly a digestive, but the amount of drink provided is at the honoured’s discretion.
Speeches The time for speeches is only after the main course, before dessert and coffee. The first doctoral candidate will thank the opponent(s), the custos, the supervisor and others who contributed to the work. The relatives are only mentioned at the end of the speech if wanted. The other persons present then speak in the order in which the doctoral candidate mentioned them in their speech. It is advisable to keep speeches short, as responding to each speech with a speech of equal length is traditional.