Graduation ceremonies for graduates are a solemn academic rite of conferring university diplomas to graduates. They are held with the participation of the rector and the dean of the faculty whose graduates are being promoted, using the academic insignia and robes of the university and the faculty.
During the graduation ceremony, the dean of the faculty presents the graduates of the faculty’s study programs to the rector of the university, who expresses his consent to the awarding of the university degree and the handing over of documents on completed university studies to the graduates.
The graduate takes the graduation oath before the graduation senate by placing their hand on the faculty’s scepter, and after taking the oath, the dean of the faculty hands over the documents on university studies to the graduate – the university diploma, the certificate, and the diploma supplement.
The rector awards the Rector’s Award or the dean awards the Dean’s Award to a student who has achieved outstanding academic results and other significant successes during their studies, or who has represented the university and the faculty, and it is solemnly presented to them during the ceremony.
At the beginning of the solemn graduation ceremony, the anthem of the Slovak Republic is played, and at its end, parts of the student anthem Gaudeamus igitur.