Learn About Examiners

An effective strategy for feeling better about the viva is to take steps to know more about the academics examining you.

• Ask your supervisor about them. Find out why they are good choices for your viva.
• Research their recent publications. Find out more about their specific research interests.
• Search on YouTube to see if there are recordings of their conference talks. This can help remind you that they are real people!

It will also help to read the regulations and remind yourself what your examiners are there to do. They have training to be examiners and they want to do the job well. They’re there to examine, not tear your work apart or break you down. They’re focussed on finding the good, not amplifying the bad.

Find out a little more about them and you can encourage yourself towards a good viva.

Many thanks to Sarah F from Bristol who shared the idea of searching YouTube for conference videos at a recent webinar!