This summer I will be going up for my licentiate degree. In Sweden the licentiate marks the the halfway point in a PhD programme. It requires a combination of research and coursework – and results in a thesis.

I will be defending my thesis on Friday, 5 June 2009. This is a public event, where I will present my research, and then answer questions from those in attendance.

Everyone is welcome to attend – if you want the details just contact me. My parents will be coming over from Australia. Until then I am finishing up my last three assignments to complete the coursework component.

Today I passed a major milestone – I received a bound copy of my thesis from the publisher to check and approve. There was one small problem that the publisher has now fixed, so I have approved the manuscript for printing.