Well Known
Read your examiners’ recent publications to check that you know how or if their work connects to yours. Find out what they are interested in and what you know about those topics. Read your thesis and be certain of what...
examiners
When To Cite Examiners
Cite examiners in your bibliography before you consider them for examiners. Cite examiners because their work is relevant. Cite examiners because you’ve used their results, conclusions or ideas in some way for your own research. Don’t cite people if their...
Who’s There?
There are three types of people at your viva: those who will be there, those who might be there and those who may be there only if you agree. Your examiners WILL be there. Every candidate in the UK has...
Agreeing
The viva is a discussion. Questions are asked to prompt and probe; responses are given to move the conversation along. Your examiners ask questions and make comments to explore your research and your capability. If your examiners disagree with you...
Who Is It For?
Your thesis is not written for your examiners. You have to write it for your PhD and your examiners have to read it to examine you. It’s not written for them – the goal is to make a contribution to...
Linked
As preparation for the viva read three recent papers by your internal examiner. Read three recent papers by your external examiner. Look for links between your work and their work. Look for connections between your interests, methods and the kinds...
Tell Them
In my earliest academic days I was given the following advice for structuring a presentation: tell them what you’re going to tell them; tell them; tell them what you told them. “Them” in this case was the audience. Over the years...
My Examiner Criteria
A long time ago, my supervisor asked me to think about who could be a good external examiner for my PhD. He suggested initially that I go to conferences and look for people who did the same sort of work...
Professional Interests
One of the things I love about the kind of work I do is that after twelve years helping people with their viva I still get delightfully-phrased questions I’ve never been asked before. I was recently asked about examiner motivations...
Thank Your Examiners
During a recent webinar I was asked if it was appropriate to send a thank you note to examiners after the viva. There must have been a strange mood in the postgraduate researcher hive mind because the next day someone...