Niilo Lahti, Doctor of Theology, has been selected as the Primus Doctor, and Niko Soininen, Doctor of Law, as the Ultimus Doctor of the doctoral conferment ceremony of the University of Eastern Finland to be held at the Joensuu Campus on 7 June.
The conferment ceremony will witness the conferring of 89 doctorates upon persons who have defended their doctoral thesis at the University of Eastern Finland or at the University of Joensuu. From among the promovendi, the Doctors’ Committee traditionally selects a Primus/Prima and an Ultimus/Ultima Doctor. These persons have written an outstanding doctoral thesis and they enjoy a specific honorary status in the conferment ceremony. The Primus Doctor is the first promovendi upon whom a doctorate is conferred in the ceremony. The Primus Doctor also answers a question posed by a professor in his or her discipline and thus, as a representative of the promovendi, demonstrates their scholarship. The Ultimus Doctor, on the other hand, is the last promovendi upon whom a doctorate is conferred in the ceremony. The Ultimus Doctor gives a speech to the guests of honour in the banquet and ball.
“The criteria for selecting the Primus and Ultimus Doctors was that they had to represent the cream of the crop of those having defended their dissertation, and they had to come from different faculties. We also expected the grade of the doctoral dissertation to be Laudatur or Pass with distinction,” says Senior Lecturer Hanna Savolainen, the chair of the Doctors’ Committee.
According to her, the Doctors’ Committee also decided to consider other academic performance, such as course grades and the number of courses completed.
Based on these criteria, Niilo Lahti was regarded as the most accomplished promovendi, and was thus selected as the Primus Doctor. Niko Soininen was considered the second most accomplished promovendi, and was selected as the Ultimus Doctor.
Niilo Lahti (born 1985) defended his dissertation in the field of theology in 2017. His dissertation focused on the thinking and argumentation of Paul in First Corinthians 4:18–7:40. Lahti’s background in mathematics combined with his thorough mastery of philology and exegesis enabled the application of modern methods of argumentation research to texts from the Antiquity.
Niko Soininen (born 1985) defended his dissertation in the field of law in 2016. His dissertation focused on legal reasoning in water management permitting. In addition to environmental law, the dissertation is closely linked with administrative law and constitutional law. Methodologically, the dissertation combines argumentation theory, jurisprudence and empirical research on law. A key outcome is a model that enables a comprehensive evaluation of the transparency and correctness of legal reasoning.
Out of the 89 promovendi upon whom a doctorate will be conferred in June, 43 defended their dissertation at the Philosophical Faculty, 28 at the Faculty of Science and Forestry, and 18 at the Faculty of Social Sciences and Business Studies. 56 of the promovendi are female and 33 male.
For further information, please contact:
Senior Lecturer Hanna Savolainen, hanna.savolainen(at)uef.fi, tel. +358 50 442 3489
Doctoral Conferment Coordinator Kirsi Bykachev, kirsi.bykachev(at)uef.fi, tel. +358 50 363 4819