The Responsibilities

Your institution has a responsibility for communicating the regulations and processes of the viva to you.

Your supervisor has a responsibility to guide you and provide appropriate practical support.

Your examiners have a responsibility to be fair but to ask questions. These could be difficult questions at times. Your examiners have a responsibility to help the viva work well.

Your independent chairperson, if you have one, has a responsibility to ensure that the viva is fair.

You have a lot of responsibilities. Many of them follow from the same basic principles you must have been following for a long time though. You have to show up, engage well and continue to do what you do: be a good researcher in whatever way that means for your discipline.

Whilst the viva isn’t easy, your responsibilities shouldn’t be too hard to fulfil. You’ve been on this track for years.

A few more hours. Keep going.