The people to be celebrated will receive various insignia, which demonstrate that they have achieved knowledge, skills and honour. Doctors of Science, Medical Sciences and Economics will wear a doctors`s hat during the ceremony: a symbol of power and freedom, and of the freedom of research.
Doctors of Philosophy wear a laurel wreath, a custom that emerged in mediaeval Europe. If the wish, the doctors may also wear a special ring; this symbolises the infinite world of scholarship and the bearer´s fidelity to science. All doctors receive a diploma, another centuries-old tradition.
Also on the stage there are a number of symbols and colours. There is a wooden pulpit at the front part of the stage. When a new doctor is led over the pulpit to the other side, it symbolises the young researchers´s transition from student to teacher.