Policy for awarding Honorary Doctorates
(Approved by the LTH board on 8 april 2024, dnr STYR 2024/955)
Through honorary doctorates, the Lund University Faculty of Engineering (LTH) aims to reinforce the image that LTH creates space for brilliant research and inspires creative, groundbreaking, and sustainable development in technology, architecture, and design, in line with LTH's vision: " Together we explore and create – to benefit the world." Being appointed an honorary doctor at LTH means becoming part of LTH's research community and serves as a mark of great appreciation.
The award is given to a person who has made significant contributions to development, collaboration, innovation, utilization, or visibility in areas related to the faculty's research.
An honorary doctor is regarded as a future ambassador for LTH, and the appointment should align with LTH's values and be driven by the societal challenges the faculty seeks to address in its work.
An honorary doctor at LTH is distinguished by an outstanding professional contribution relevant to LTH’s research activities and is characterized by one or more of the following:
- Scientific excellence
- Significant contributions to research infrastructure
- Significant contributions to industry and/or society related to LTH’s research
In assessing nominations, the following will be prioritized:
- Connections to LTH's research activities through past or ongoing collaboration
or - The nominee’s potential to strengthen LTH through future research collaborations
Honorary doctors should, over time, reflect LTH's broad scope in research, collaboration, and utilization. A gender perspective and diversity should be considered, and honorary doctors should come from various sectors of society. Only in exceptional cases will more than two (2) honorary doctors be appointed per year. A selection process will only commence when at least five (5) qualified candidates have been nominated, of which at least two (2) must be from an underrepresented gender. Nominations with broad support from within LTH will be prioritized.
Honorary doctors at LTH are appointed by the LTH Board, based on the recommendation of the Dean of LTH. An honorary doctor at LTH must not hold a doctorate from or be employed by LTH, have legal influence over LTH, or hold a doctorate from another Swedish institution in technology. They must also not be an honorary doctor at another Swedish technical university or faculty.
Nominated proposals for honorary doctor must remain confidential until the decision has been made by the LTH Board, and the proposed honorary doctor has been informed and has accepted the honorary appointment.