PhD external examining - give me your tips!

[Closetlibrarian]

I'm external examiner for a PhD (humanities) in a few months. Its' the first time I've done this and I'm a bit trepidous. I'm confident in my expertise in the field, it's more the protocols and expectations I'm nervous about. I did my PhD in another country, so I've never actually witnessed a UK viva. Anyone got any top tips on what's expected/ what I should and shouldn't do?

I’ve done quite a few, all but one in the U.K., and in the humanities.

Timings: usually last between 2 and 4 hours depending on how straightforward or not, things are.

Generally start with more methodological questions, e.g. how did you come to choose this topic? How did you select case studies? What problems did you encounter, and how did you deal with them? If you don’t feel that the originality of the research is stated as clearly as it could be in the thesis itself, ask the candidate to state, in one sentence, what the significance of their research is. Then questioning on the broader theoretical approach, larger themes and issues, wider scholarship, etc, before going through the thesis chapter by chapter, and asking more nitty-gritty questions. I tend to finish by asking the candidate what they would do differently if they were starting he project again.

Then ask candidate to step out of the room for a few minutes while you make the final decision. When they come back you can discuss (assuming a good outcome) future plans (e.g. publication, exhibitions, etc).

Brilliant - thank you, very helpful indeed!

in every UK viva I've done, question 1 is - please give a quick (5 mins) overview of your thesis.

then you get started on the main questions, mostly working through chapter by chapter. And I try to have a 'lighter' question to finish with.

Thanks parietal