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Nathan

What They Wrote, What They Do

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It can be useful as part of viva prep to read your examiners’ recent publications. A little time invested exploring their recent work can help give a little perspective on their research interests, the questions, methods and topics they are focussed on or just tell you a little more about them.

You don’t need to read everything. You don’t need to include them in your thesis (unless of course there is a really good reason to). You don’t need to become an expert in what they do, because you’re an expert in what you do.

With the right framing, an hour or two of reading could give you a little boost for how you feel about engaging with your internal and external in the viva. What they wrote helps you to see what they do. What they do helps you to reflect on what might be coming up in your viva.

Nathan

Scripted

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There are a lot of questions that could be asked in a viva. There are lots of resources that share typical questions you could use to prepare for the viva. If you wanted, you could write down key points and perhaps try to memorise them. A mock viva could help you to get a sense of what the viva experience might be like too.

But none of them can give you a script to prepare for and follow.

Instead questions, if used well to prompt practice and discussion, can help you to stretch a little. Exercise your ability to respond to questions, to think on the spot, to dig into a topic and listen and reflect and talk. All of this can build your confidence for the viva much better than rehearsed lines for you to read out or recall.

You need rehearsal for the viva, but you don’t need a script.

Nathan

Consider It Now

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An examiner could gently challenge you on why you didn’t use a certain method. Or they might wonder what would happen if you did X instead of Y. What if you had tested for this instead of that, and so on.

It’s reasonable to expect that kind of a question in the viva. It’s not unreasonable to say, “I’ve not considered that before,” or perhaps, “I don’t know, I’ve not thought about that…”

…but it’s better to say, “Let me think about that now,” and then consider and give the best response that you can.

It might not be the full picture. It might not be an answer. It could be that you can’t say everything you might want to. But for any question or line of discussion that you’ve not considered before, you can consider it now.

Take the time. Show what you know, show what you can do. If an examiner has asked you a question, it’s not to trick you or trap you: they’re giving you an opportunity to demonstrate something.

Not considered it before? Consider it now, then talk.

Nathan

Lockdown Limits

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In the last few months I’ve been asked the following many times at webinars: is it acceptable to tell my examiners that “lockdown(s) slowed me down when I was doing my research” if I’ve had to change my plans or not been able to accomplish as much as I wanted?

And my response would be, “Of course!”

If over the last year or so your work has had to change direction, or if you’ve had to do less in some way, then it’s fair for you to emphasise that. We live in exceptional times – your PhD has been completed in exceptional circumstances.

It’s fair to tell your examiners about the challenges you’ve faced in your viva. Beforehand, consider how you can best communicate that. How personal do you want to be? What details do you want to share? How can you communicate the paths that you would have taken? And how do you share what steered your choice in the new directions you had to go?

Nathan

Who Chooses Your Examiners?

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Verbs matter. You don’t choose your examiners.

  • Your supervisors nominate potential examiners, and more often than not these nominations turn out to be your examiners.
  • Your supervisors nominate, but your faculty or graduate school have to approve the nominations.
  • The nominations are approved, but your examiners have to accept the requests and agree to examine your thesis.

Your examiners have to accept, after your institution has approved the nominations made by your supervisors.

Where do the ideas for these nominations come from? From the judgment of your supervisors. From the research in your thesis and the work you’ve done. From your suggestions – you are allowed to share your opinions on who would be good examiners with your supervisors. Consider your preferences, what criteria do you think a good examiner would have to satisfy? Then think about which academics you know of might meet those criteria and share your ideas with your supervisors.

Then you wait for the nomination, the approval, the acceptance – but you don’t choose your examiners.

Nathan

Answers and Responses

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An answer is a kind of response. An answer is grounded in truth or a compelling argument. An answer could be what you offer after a question…

…if the question is part of a quiz. But the viva isn’t a quiz. It’s not an interview. It’s not even a question-and-answer session.

The viva is a discussion, steered by the questions of your examiners and the responses you offer. A response could be an answer depending on the question – but it could also be an opinion you offer, an idea that you share, a question to clarify a point or a hunch that you feel. There’s a place for answers in the viva, but you might not have an answer for every question.

However, given your knowledge, your skills, your work and your experience, it’s reasonable to expect that you could respond to every question.

Nathan

In This Together

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Who’s in the room? You, your internal, your external and in some cases an independent chairperson.

Everyone present will be prepared. Everyone present will have done the work. Everyone present will have different roles in the viva, but ultimately you all have the same goal: for the viva to go as well as it can.

The value of the outcome is different for each person, but everyone present wants your viva to be a good one.

Nathan

The Pros & Cons of Examiners

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Or, to be more specific, the pros and cons of different kinds of academics who could be your examiner. Almost every good quality that you could value in an examiner, might be a negative for someone else.

An expert in my field!

“They’ll really understand what I’ve done!” versus “…they’ll… really understand what I’ve done… Oh… Hmm…”

Someone I cited a lot in my thesis!

“They can see what I did with their work!” versus “…what if they don’t like what I did with their work?!”

And so on. There’s no right or wrong really. Qualities you find helpful are your preference. Think about them and get a list of criteria for what a good examiner would be for you. Then think about who might match the list you have. You don’t get to choose, but can suggest names to your supervisors. They’ll probably have their own criteria and ideas too, so it’s worth preparing for a conversation.

Nathan

Being Right

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“What if I’m wrong?” asks the concerned PhD candidate, getting ready for their viva.

Typos are a kind of wrong. Not quite meeting expectations with the thesis is too. Not knowing something is a flavour of wrong, but can be fixed.

You could be wrong when you respond to a question. Your examiners could know something, or have a different opinion, or a different belief… But perhaps they’re not right either. Perhaps you’re in a situation where there are lots of good “right” opinions. That could be interesting

Most of the time, considering the work you’ve done, the time you’ve spent, your talent, your knowledge and your thesis, you will be right.

That might be the easy part. Now you have to share what you know with others. That might be harder, but again, considering the work you’ve done, the time you’ve spent, your talent, your knowledge and your thesis, you’ll rise to that harder challenge when you need to.

Am I right?

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