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Nathan

Who Are Your Examiners?

Daily Post, Sabbatical

Once you know their names, check them out. It’s useful to check recent publications to get a sense of their own knowledge and research focus. It’s useful to follow that up with a look at their staff pages to see what else you can find out. What are their research interests? What teaching do they do?

It is also really useful to be aware of what they are like as people. Have you met them at conferences? What do you know about your internal? What do their students say?

Knowing their research may give you insight into questions they may have, but knowing about them helps create a picture that these are real people coming to talk to you. Not faceless strangers, unknowable and uncaring: they are humans like you.

Knowing a little about them can help your confidence a lot for the viva.

 

Viva Survivors Summer Sabbatical: I’m taking July, August and September off from new writing to concentrate on other creative projects, so will be sharing a post from the archives every day throughout those months. Today’s post was originally published on September 26th 2019.

Nathan

Who Are Your Examiners?

Daily Post

Unless they are both well-known to you before you submit your thesis, take some time in your viva prep to find out more about both your internal and your external.

  • Ask friends and colleagues what they know of them. What work do they do? What are they known for?
  • Explore their recent publications to get a sense of their interests and research focus. Is their work similar to yours or very different? Are there interesting connections between your areas?
  • Talk to other academics about the role of the examiners. How do they approach the task? What do they look for in a good thesis?

Your examiners, whoever they are, are not just two random people. They are chosen for particular reasons. Explore that choice with your supervisors, explore your examiners’ work and explore the role of the examiner to well-prepared for meeting them in your viva.

Nathan

Who Are Your Examiners?

Daily Post

Once you know their names, check them out. It’s useful to check recent publications to get a sense of their own knowledge and research focus. It’s useful to follow that up with a look at their staff pages to see what else you can find out. What are their research interests? What teaching do they do?

It is also really useful to be aware of what they are like as people. Have you met them at conferences? What do you know about your internal? What do their students say?

Knowing their research may give you insight into questions they may have, but knowing about them helps create a picture that these are real people coming to talk to you. Not faceless strangers, unknowable and uncaring: they are humans like you.

Knowing a little about them can help your confidence a lot for the viva.