Expecting Examiners

There are general expectations of all viva examiners and specific expectations for yours.

In general, examiners are experienced academics with training to examine a PhD thesis. They’re supported by their institutions and colleagues. They invest time in preparing for your viva, want you to succeed if you can and want to do their part well.

There are no good cops, no bad cops, no gotcha questions – but there might, because of the nature of the viva, be challenging questions that they have to ask as part of the exam.

Any examiners could be expected to fit the description above – but you don’t have any examiners.

Your examiners might follow your preferences in their selection. You could suggest a person or kind of person to fill the role and your supervisor might follow that suggestion. When they’re approved, you can get a sense of what you might expect from them by finding out more about them.

You can read their most recent publications to have a sense of their current or recent focus. You can look at their pubic staff webpages to know where their general interests lie. You can consider what all this means for what they might do specifically at the viva.

To really know what to expect from your examiners you have to consider the general and the specific as you get ready for your viva.