PhD corrections

[LCM001a]

Hello wise people

I am about to submit my corrections for my Phd. I had quite a few, but still minor corrections, and have worked my way through them the best I could. My supervisor retired, my second supervisor left the phd some time ago and was not replaced, so this has been a bit of a nightmare to get through on my own.

Can I ask, if the examiners are not happy with something I have done, does the thesis just bounce back to me and I am given a time period to sort that out? I dont' believe I would 'fail' the Phd now, as I have passed with minor corrections, but I really really do wish this whole thing would go away so I can move on to new projects.

thanks

You should still have a supervisor, either it's still your 'retired' primary supervisor or you should have been assigned a new academic in the department to go through this with you and check your corrections. Approach your graduate school if this has not happened.

You also should have been given another second supervisor. Who was your internal examiner? This is usually your second supervisor.

Yes if the examiners aren't happy they can bounce it back to you. You should address ALL your corrections thoroughly, however minor, or they are well within their rights to do so (and will not be well disposed towards you as a result).

Your pass is contingent on corrections, if you don't get them through you don't graduate. You don't have your PhD until you graduate.

Yep, totally agree that this situation should not be happening, but it is and i have to work within it. I have now contacted the graduate school to let them know, and I will see what happens.

I know I only pass when the corrections are completed, I am assuming there is a procedure for when a correction is not interpreted the way the examiner intended, that it would come back with clarification and I would have the opportunity to readdress it.

When I submitted my corrections, I also had to submit a signed letter referencing each correction request, how I’d met it and where in my thesis the specific changes could be found. This was then signed off on by one of my viva examiners. Feedback was given. Mine were signed off but my understanding is that if there had been further corrections/correction of any misinterpreted corrections I would have been given a brief timeframe to implement them.

Best of luck OP, sounds like it’s been a long road.

I know, I'm not saying you've done anything wrong. If you're unclear on your supervision the School has failed. You will have a primary and secondary supervisor in the system somewhere, it's not possible to viva and graduate you without them!

My point was more that you need your supervision team to go over your corrections with you to avoid the situation where your viva team bounce back to you. Similarly to @Callmemummynotmaaa , you should have been advised to submit your corrections in a format where you reference each request, your response to it and the correction made in your thesis etc. That will get your corrections through ASAP and get you graduated.

Thank you, that is what I wanted to check. I have a document outlining the corrections I have done, and where they can be found in the thesis, and both examiners are intending to check them. I will await feedback and the possibility of further corrections if I have not done them as they wanted them. I'll also wait to see what the graduate school say.

To anyone giving Phd corrections, please please please be explicit in what you are looking for. vagueness is not in anyway helpful.

I started this Phd 6 months before the pandemic, it has not been an easy situation to navigate and my department was not very supportive at all. I will be very very glad to be finished with it.

@shrodingersvaccine I found out what to do from Phd friends!

"If you're unclear on your supervision the School has failed. You will have a primary and secondary supervisor in the system somewhere, it's not possible to viva and graduate you without them!"

I guess we will find out if this is possible. Perhaps there are names written on a piece of paper somewhere, held in a special box that only the chosen are allowed to open.

@LCM001a have you got some sort of online portal where every year you have to rematriculate? It will be the same one as the undergrads/taught postgrads. At my uni its where we also log visa info (meetings etc), and courses you're registered on etc. Your supervisors should be on there! Sounds like you've had a terrible time and best of luck with getting it done and the next stage of your career!

Definitely don't attempt to publish if you're not keen on vague reviewer comments 😅

It seems your supervision, viva and corrections haven't been handled very well, your internal examiner usually signs off minor corrections (although if both want to see them, they would have to agree to this and write it into the report I think).

My experience is that most examiners want their say in the vivas and reports, but with minor corrections would be looking to immediately accept them unless they were very wrong. I haven't heard of them being rejected ever (even major ones) and I've taken quite a lot of PhD students through the process in various roles.

That said I see why you are nervous. Do you know the internal examiner very well? Could you speak with them?

It sounds like the whole thing has a made-up protocol and that's what's left you nervous- nearly there now though!

Thanks everyone who has replied. I think I am worried that I will get this terribly wrong and will 'fail" when in reality the worst that will happen is another round of corrections, if at all.

I agree @Alwaystimeforacupoftea the usual protocol is not in place, and now I am about to submit my corrections I am feeling anxious. I feel reassured that it is not normal for them to be rejected, and I believe that I can't have got them that wrong.

I am waiting on the graduate school, and I am planning on sending the corrections next week, they are not due for 2 weeks, so plenty of time to get clarification on all of this.

Thanks again, I think I was having a wobble. I have learnt so much about how to support Phd students from this experience. My supervisor was wonderful, but it seems should have followed protocol more.

Which academic field is your PhD in, OP?

It's a massive achievement on your part!

I'm in social sciences

I am very proud, I can't believe I actually achieved it for many reasons, some of which would be too outing to say. But thank you for your comment. Any Phd is an achievement but collecting data from a specialist sample group during a global pandemic was epic

indeed, well done!

a little idiosyncrasy... at my uni, supervisors are not formally involved in any of the revision work beyond a reasonable "check" - scope to xheck what your programme handbook states regarding fair contact / involvement post viva.

C'mon - tell us if you're corrections were accepted!

I did exactly as Callmemummynotmaaa described for my (like you minor but lots of) corrections.

When I submitted them, I don't even think the chair even looked at them - I got a response within an hour saying 'well done, approved' and that was that. Got my PhD certificate in the post a week later.