Serving as opponent

So there you have it. Two hours worth of questions. Actually handled very well by the candidate. So in the pic you see the final stages where I'm picking up my notes and giving my closing statement. PhD defenses here I think are somewhat tougher than in the states, even though it's really just one-on-one instead of committee vs. the candidate. In the states, the committee can ask questions but it seems rare for the event to go longer than an hour or so. With much less fanfare. The tradition here is much richer. As you can see I'm in full academic regalia while the advisor and candidate are in tuxedos. Mind you, if there's a next time, I just might do this in a tux as well; it got pretty hot under that gown. All in all, this was fairly stressful requiring a lot of prep work, and so both the candidate and I are relieved that's it's over. Now it's on to the banquet. Tomorrow I fly out to Helsinki and then two days later back home.