PhD Viva

[soappyblue]

Those of you who have sat a PhD Viva, did you get any hints from the examiners whilst they were asking you questions that made you think they will have passed you?

No although I could tell that they were enjoying talking to me. Also no one really should fail. You will pass with no/minor or major corrections. If you think you might fail you should talk to your supervisors as it should not have got to that stage.

Good luck

No hints but it was actually really enjoyable and the only time in my life that I was able to talk non stop about my research for two whole hours lol. I did hear some good advice from one of my assessors before the viva that in general, examiners will usually contact your supervisor prior to the viva if your thesis is not ready or they do not think they can pass you (to give you time to improve on it). This happened to one of the researchers in my group so it probably is true. Good luck!

My examiners told me that I had gathered and analysed rich empirical data. They seemed interested in my explanation and application of theory. It felt more like a conversation than an exam.

I quite often examine PhDs and if we are minded to pass it, we usually try to make that fairly clear to the candidate at the start of the viva so that they can relax and "enjoy" it.

No, not at all, but they did go through their Q's in page order so I knew when they skipped the chapter I thought was most problematic I might be ok!

@oatmy thanks for this, as an examiner would you pass a thesis that has original/new data however, has some descriptive parts in the findings and conclusion chapters?

Thanks everyone!

It's really hard to say because it really comes down to the individual thesis, but I would say that NO thesis is perfect and plenty of theses that pass are "good enough" so try not to worry! Good luck and I hope it all goes well.

My examiners had a row in the middle of the viva. The external was a fright of a man, chosen by the new professorial HoD, and was a very poor fit with my research area, but at least the internal examiner stood up for my work.

The same external was also wearing a shirt too tight for his girth and one of the buttons came unfastened revealing his hairy gut. It was most disconcerting while trying to focus on the minutiae of forensic data analysis (that he didn't really understand).

It all turned out all right in the end though, i.e. I was awarded my PhD

@WinterCrow wow that would have been very awkward 🤣🤣🤣

I have memory problems post stroke so I am extremely nervous

Nope.
It wasn't a pleasant experience, but I passed.

@soappyblue Have you thought about telling the examiners about your memory problems? As an examiner I would welcome that information.

@oatmy my examiners are aware and I have reasonable adjustments in place. I will be given a set of questions two hours before the viva and I get time to type up answers. I will then go into the viva and discuss my answers followed by a few more questions by the examiners. I will get 5 minutes to type up answers. I mean this is all very helpful, but I still feel I am really going to struggle because I can't always think propely

Ah that's good to hear. Try not to worry too much, a viva isn't a memory test, they are likely to be more interested in the overall arguments than every tiny detail, and you can always look it up in the thesis if you need to.

@oatmy would it look bad if I take in lots of notes or questions I have prepped beforehand and look at these when answering the questions? Or is there any other way I could go about using my notes? Thank you so much for your help really appreciate it

It’s fine to take in your notes. I took in a copy of my thesis with post it notes on pages I thought they might have questions about too. My viva lasted around 3 hours. I wouldn’t say I enjoyed it, but it wasn’t as much as ordeal as I was expecting and they didn’t ask the questions I thought they would either! I passed with minor corrections, but had no idea what the outcome would be until they told me at the end. Good luck!

At my viva, the first thing the examiners did was tell me that I had passed. We then had three hours of the richest, most wonderful discussion. My thesis was far from perfect - and I did have to make some minor corrections - but it still ranks as one of the best days of my life.

When is your viva @soappyblue ?

I have some cognitive issues and had adjustments though one of my examiners seemed to frequently forget... one question was very long and I couldn't process it, asked her to simplify it and she made it longer, I still couldn't understand so she gave up! Do not be afraid to say you don't understand or you don't know.

I found Tara Brabazon's viva vlogs on YouTube the most useful advice.

Are you able to do a presentation? I was and I found this incredibly useful for prepping for some stuff that I thought I might find hard to articulate off the cuff.

With regard to your original question, I had really mixed messages, early on one examiner said about my thesis that he "couldn't put it down" but the rest was quite brutal and unpredictable (even my very experienced sup who sat in was surprised), and I very much had to defend my work, which is the point, of course, but it was tough.

Good luck!

@PolterGoose bless you, that must have been difficult for you. Did you manage to pass? My viva is in 3 weeks

@soappyblue yes! Very minor corrections so it was all done and dusted very quickly.

My own viva was 20+ years ago and I've now examined 20+ PhDs myself.

We are told that we can't explicitly say "you've passed" in the viva but will normally start out saying the PhD is good interesting work etc.

Do have notes and use them. And ask for an extra few minutes to think if you need it.

My viva was 20 years ago but I don't think there was any real fear of failure? It shouldn't get to that stage without your supervisors being contacted in advance.

I don't think I particularly enjoyed it, but then i didn't really love my research either. Was glad to have it done.

Just make sure you know your thesis - use bookmarks etc for any important figures you may need to explain etc.

The point of the viva is to check that it's genuinely your work and you understand its value and limitations. Not to trip you up.

@parietal thank you so much for the advice. I wish you could skim through my thesis and tell me I will be okay 😶‍🌫️ it's such a frightening experience because of my health issues 😩

The viva is part of the PhD so it’s rare we can give hints.

Just enjoy the rare opportunity to talk to the 2 other people in the world who have read your thesis and are there to engage with it in detail . It likely wont happen again in your career! You’ll be lucky if your colleagues read your books ….

I had a typo on my title page and forgot why I used a particular method, which wasn't ideal (!), but passed with no corrections (although I did obviously correct the typo) after a 1.5 hour viva. They were very kind about memory lapses. In my defence, I had completed a PGCE and done a term of my first teaching job before I had my viva, so I'd had time to forget...