VUB’s regulations govern gown use at the public doctoral defence

VUB’s central doctoral regulations state that the jury appears in gowns during the public defence, with an express exception for a digital defence. The source therefore has university-wide significance within this particular doctoral phase.

That clarity must not be extended to every academic session or graduation event. The article concerns the public defence and does not state that all students, researchers or attendees wear gowns.

The digital-defence exception appears in the same central provision and is substantively important. It links the wearing moment to the physical public ceremony, not solely to the jury’s academic assessment.

A hybrid or technically unusual defence should follow the organiser’s current instructions. The published rule must not be supplemented with an invented answer for a format that it does not expressly address.

Article 34 does not provide cloth, colour, faculty accent, headwear, measurements or accessories. Those technical features cannot safely be reconstructed from general academic tradition or images.

Nor does the article publish a central booking, loan, rental or purchasing route. For an actual defence, the supervisor, faculty or competent ceremonial office must confirm stock, sizes, collection, return and any costs.

A request should cite Article 34 as the protocol basis without attributing absent technical details to it. A VUB-approved reference gown or current specification is still needed for model, material and finish.

The ceremonial moment for the new doctor also requires operational agreement: who hands over which gown, for how long, and who arranges its return? These questions keep a meaningful ritual distinct from a sale or transfer of ownership.