The Tradition of Nailing One's Doctoral Thesis to a Wall

Sweden has the odd PhD tradition of Lutherishly nailing your thesis to a wall a few weeks before your defense, so here is my PhD student Vidya Somashekarappa nailing her thesis into the designated thesis nailing wall (officially required btw). pic.twitter.com/2s8DiwCy1l

— Asad Sayeed @asayeed@zirk.us (@asayeed) April 3, 2024

Sweden is historically a Lutheran nation, so the tradition of nailing statements to buildings is strong. At Umeå University, when doctoral students complete their theses, they nail a copy to the wall of the library in a ceremony called spikning or "thesis spiking." The library's website says that this procedure "is no longer mandatory," implying that, at some point, it was a formal requirement. Still, many students choose to participate in this ritual.

Uppsala University has a similar tradition, although students nail their theses onto the walls of their departments instead of the library.

Chalmers University of Technology prefers that students use old fashioned nails on rough wooden planks.

-via Super Punch | Photos: Robert Elkington, Chalmers University