What’s Your Contribution?
A fundamental assumption of the viva process is that a PhD thesis has a contribution to knowledge.
What’s yours?
How do you define it? How do you explain it? What do you highlight for others?
What does someone else need to know to understand what you’ve done?
What do you hope your examiners take away from reading your thesis?
Reflecting on your contribution ahead of the viva will help you to unpack and explore it with your examiners. Taking time to read your thesis, write summaries and rehearse can all help you talk confidently and respond to your examiners’ questions.
Start simple.
What’s your contribution?