PhD viva - any tips and advice please? *updated*

Tip 1. Stop reading your thesis. This is your work. You did it, you wrote about it, you read the relevant literature. If it hasn't sunk in over the last three years, another week or two isn't going to make much difference. Give yourself a well-earned break.

Tip 2. Of course you are good enough. Would your supervisor really have put you forward if you weren't ready, if your thesis wasn't good enough? They have almost as much at stake as you do.

Tip 3. Enjoy the experience. This is your opportunity to shine. Chances are nobody knows as much about your topic as you do yourself.

Tip 4. Do a bit of background on your examiners - it will give you something else to talk about and they'll be flattered that you've shown an interest

I had my viva 6 months ago, so can offer the following advice:

1. Your supervisors wouldn't stake their reputations on putting through an unworthy piece of work.

2. Acquaint yourself fully with the work of the examiners (it looks good!).

3. Pass with minor revisions (i.e. typos and formatting) is the likely outcome. No proofing is 100% perfect, especially when you're keen to submit the sodding thing! I had about half a day's worth of corrections to make.

4. Dress smartly! I wore a simple trouser suit.

5. You know your thesis inside-out, despite what nerves tell you - you worked on it for all those years!

6. Typical questions would be 'why did you choose this area?', 'how did you decide upon your research questions/methodology/case studies?', 'how would you improve it?'

7. The examiners are not there to 'catch you out', just to make sure the work is worthy of the PhD 'rubber stamp' - they'll be interested in your work, and the viva could turn into a lively discussion about your work, which will be rewarding.

8. After the result has been given, I'd ask the examiners about how the work could be developed and disseminated. Not that many people will have the 'joy' of reading your full thesis, so you may as well pick their brains!

9. Mine lasted 1hr 45, but between one and 3 hours is usual, and sometimes more.

10. GOOD LUCK!!!!

Thanks both, that's exactly what I needed to hear.

Rather annoyingly I have found rather a lot of typos, (I was right up against the clock to submit as my new job gave me an unmoveable deadline to submit my thesis) which I am beating myself up about! But have corrected most of those already and written a list of them to take with me.

But I feel like my work itself is good enough, I'm just not very eloquent at explaining it and I'm not so great under pressure - the fear of the viva has been with me right from the start of my PhD, I'm excited for it to be over, but serioulsy dreading it!

Thanks again, I really appreciate it!

Some really good advice above. I am also better at writing things than explaining them in words. If you're worried about this, get your OH or friend to ask you a few of the more common questions e.g. 'summarise the key findings of your thesis', 'what changes would you make if you were to do this again' etc and practise answering them properly. It made me feel a lot more confident. Good luck!

Tip 1: I'd go against Pint&APie's first tip. Know your thesis like the back of your hand, especially if you aren't good at speaking off the cuff or have a great memory. You can also place a couple of postit notes in well chosen places where you know you can refer to quickly as it's most likely to come up in a number of ways in questions. Your examiner won't mind you opening the page and telling them what you are referring to.

Tip 2: Do defend your thesis confidently, examiners aren't there to catch you out but they may challenge you. At the same time, know when to back down and say you will explore that if it's required as part of corrections (even if you are convinced that they are wrong and you are right). This happened to me, and I was right but you don't want to embarass your examiner either.

Tip 3: Fake confidence and enjoy the discussions. Take part and show your enthusiasm.

Tip 4: It will be over before you know it. Have something to celebrate with after.

I ended up with just minors - take note of what corrections are required during the viva. Don't worry about typos though.

Good luck.

Don't be surprised if your examiners haven't a clue - a few times I was asked "you haven't said this/done that/the other" and had to point out exactly where in the text I had detailed exactly that.

Make sure you bring in a pen and paper for scribbling down diagrams etc if you are explaining things.

Thanks again - that's really helpful, I will be sure to keep you updated.

Definitely do this! My examiners had pretty much decided that i had passed before my viva began, so rather than quizzing me about my research, they just wanted to chat and there's nothing they like chatting about more than their own research!

Good luck - you'll be just fine!

Yes do be aware of your examiners research interests and key publications (you probably already are, otherwise why are they your examiners?)

As luck would have it, I recieved this today:

Generic viva questions:

1. In one sentence, what is your thesis?
2. What is original about your work?
3. How did your research question arise?
4. What inspired you to tackle this research problem?
5. In hindsight what would you have changed about your work?
6. Provide me with a brief ‘abstract’ of your thesis
7. What is the key contribution of your thesis to increased scientific knowledge?
8. What have you done that merits a PhD?
9. How would you describe your methodology and why did you decide to use this?
10. Given the rate of development in your research area, how long term do you see your contribution as relevant?
11. What are the most recent major developments in your area?
12. How could your work be improved?
13. What are the strongest and the weakest points of your work?
14. Why is the problem you have tackled worth researching?
15. From your experience of research, what have you learned about research?
16. Generally, what sections of your thesis do you think are publishable and in which journals do you intend to publish?

Everyone here has given good advice. One thing I would add is, don't look at your watch! I didn't look at mine and was really enjoying the discussion, although it was challenging - but then I caught sight of the watch on one examiner's arm and couldn't believe I'd been in there for 3 hours!

Also, if it doesn't all go perfectly, it's not the end of the world. I had to rewrite a chapter and resubmit, which upset me at the time (the thought of going back to it and doing more was a nightmare!) but I have my PhD now, and it was all worth it!

Thanks for the good advice everyone.

Thanks spyns for the example questions.

Thanks hungry caterpiller - that helps to know that even if things don't go perfectly it'll be ok in the end. Can I ask how long it took you to re-write a chapter? Was it quite a lot of work?

Thanks again - I will keep you updated!

Remember that the point of a PhD viva is to get you to defend your work, so if they ask stuff that feels critical, it doesn't mean you're going to fail. They just want you to discuss it.

A PhD is about demonstrating that you can devise a hypothesis, construct an experiment to test it, interpret results and draw conclusions accordingly. It's worth remember that - what were your hypotheses? How did you test them? Do they stand?

Do enjoy it if you can - it's the only chance you'll have to have two people captive and forced to talk about your work!

It's worth boning up on things like how instrumentation/techniques work too.

Good luck!

I had to rewrite a chapter and then had a few other little things to do too. It took about 4 months but that wasn't working on it full time, only about 1 day a week. In the end I realised it was unproductive to do it like that (and at the time I was moving jobs) so I took 2 weeks off and got it finished in one!

Really I think it takes as long as you let it!

I also think it depends on the subject - mine is Sociology and Education. I'm sure it would be very different for science / maths etc.

Thanks all! I appreciate all your adviccec. I'm feeling pretty nervous, but really looking forward to it being over!

Thanks again for taking the time to reply -I've made a note of all your tips and things to have a think about.

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See update!

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Get in! That's great news! Congrats, Dr Rah!

?Congratulations!!!! It's such a huge weight off your mind isn't it.

Enjoy your very well deserved ?

Congratulations!

My viva was hideous. It went on so long they had to give me a break (4 hours). They had a fundamental issue with it and made me re-write bits and even change the title. The very thought of it makes me hate my useless supervisor even more ? It caused me no long term harm though - sadly, no one has ever paid any attention to my thesis - especially me....[:'(]?

So pleased you had a good outcome - mine was long enough ago that I no longer have viva envy...

Wow well done - Dr!

Thanks everyone!

It hasn't really sunk in yet but feels good!

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