An Invitation
Your examiners are invited to be at your viva. Like most invitations they can decline if they need to or want to. A viva is a much bigger commitment than the hours on the day for an examiner. If they...
examiner expectations
Your Questions
The viva is a discussion but as your work and capability is being assessed most of the questions will flow from your examiners. Their questions will prompt response and the discussion that follows. You have the opportunity to ask questions...
Exploring Objections
It’s reasonable to expect that examiners might object to something in a thesis. In all the many words you’ve written – the ideas, results and conclusions, and the chapters, methods and formatting – in all of this there’s a chance...
Preparing For Examiners
When you know who your examiners will be, start your preparations for meeting them by reflecting on three questions: Why have these people been chosen? How does your work connect with what they do? What do you need to do...
Aware, Not Expert
It’s good to know about what your examiners do but you don’t have to know all about them to be prepared. At a minimum, if you don’t know much about them you can read a few of their recent papers...
Motivations & Questions
There are three things your examiners have to do in your viva: Explore your significant original contribution; Unpick the hows and whys of your research; Examine your capability as a researcher. They have to do this. There’s a lot to...
Reflecting On Your Research
What are the best parts of your work? What are you most proud of? What was a challenge that you overcame? And what do you like to share with others about your research? The viva is not a platform for...
Look For Connections
A small part of viva prep is to make sure you have a little familiarity with your examiners’ work. You might read that and think, “Of course I know about my examiners! I cited them ten times!” That’s not always...
No Understatement
Before your viva, reflect on the best of your work, your results and your thesis. How can you communicate the value of what you’ve done? What are the words that will share how good your thesis is? Write summaries, capture...
Apologise Or Acknowledge?
Your thesis isn’t perfect. It’s almost certain you have typos or passages to correct. There are likely other approaches you could take in your methods. Your recollection or knowledge might have gaps. And you can’t have done every possible thing...