In seven days, I sit my viva voce, that part of the PhD candidate’s self-imposed intellectual insanity aimed at determining whether s/he has personally created sound original research that contributes something to the academic dialogue. If the viva is successful (given the varying degrees of ‘successful’), the candidate passes and forces everyone s/he knows to call him/her ‘Doc’ for at least a month. We won’t think about what happens if the viva is not successful.
Like any good academic exercise, there are books (and books), presentations and other resources dedicated to helping the hapless student pass this oral examination. But rather than blindly trawl through those and get myself in a tizzy about this choice, I’m going to follow my friend Thea’s lead and reach out to people who have personal experience of the process.
So, if you have any recommendations on how to pass a viva, please please please do pass them on.
Before I offer up the titbits of advice I’ve already received, though, I am in search of specific advice from anyone who’s gone through this process in the UK already: I have had conflicting recommendations on whether I should mention my work with BBC2’s Digital Revolution. Some suggest that I should avoid talking about it at all costs, others recommend mentioning it (but not dwelling, obviously) to demonstrate my continued participation in the field of research. Please do let me know what you advise.
And now, here are the pieces of advice that have already come my way:
From Twitter
- t_basi Try this – it helped me prepare and I had only one paragraph of corrections. http://bit.ly/t83bj
- RenZephyr remember you are the expert :)
- tomabba Tag thesis with post-its. Remember to breathe and repeat questions aloud before you answer – gives you time to think.
- austin heap …enjoy it!
- Kiteaton …Think: It’s just another weird ol’ meeting to go to.
There are others that have, unfortunately, been lost in the bytes of time…
via email
- From Dr. Dad: …It’s a bit like an initiation, basically exploring the limits of your knowledge, so it’s a bit anxiety-provoking…When they ask a question, take a breath, then answer it. If they get to the limit of your knowledge, ask them to go on to something else (giving them the option of coming back to the subject); after all, what else is there to do?
- From Dr. Mom: …Do something wonderful and relaxing the night before so you are put into a positive frame of mind.
From a conversation on a train in New York (with Dr. Mom):
Create a power point presentation for yourself with the following information:
- Background: 4 points on ‘Why was the research undertaken?’
- Hypotheses: what were the Research Questions to answer?
- Method: 3-4 points on why the particular location of study (in my case, Second Life) was useful, what were the ethical issues, what were the challenges of the environment?
- Outcomes: results for each study (but don’t break each down: give a general outcome of the whole thesis and how each study’s outcome fit into this), plus the important features in each
- Implications of the findings: 4 points
Look at each examiner’s POV: what will they see as important? Relate this to the Implications
Consider the following questions:
- Why choose this methodology?
- Have you considered other factors that may have contributed to the outcomes?
- Are there any other interpretations of the results?
And finally, here’s a PP presentation Mark Eyles passed onto me a long time ago. I’m awfully glad I kept it around for now:
Comments
It’s normal to get anxious and anxiety can help focus the mind, but only if you’re fit to be anxious. The most important preparation for stressful situations is 6 to 8 hours of good quality sleep a night! If you have an exercise regime, don’t skip it. If you don’t then it’s probably time to do a little bit during the day. And get a regimented sleeping pattern quickly. Ultimately you want to be able to sleep (without drug inducement) even though your brain is racing.
Firstly, have a good answer to hand for softball questions like “tell us about your thesis” so you can start off in a confident way. Secondly remember it should be a discussion not a defence so there’s no need to be defensive. If suggestions are made, try to suggest that you could incorporate them in future research (so you don’t have to change the thesis itself). And lastly, don’t panic – take a towel if necessary…
Aleks! Good luck on the 23rd. Enjoy every second. My viva was at 11am and I got a cut and blow dry from 9:00-10:30 near to the office to relax. My supervisor’s advice was that it was the chance to ‘strut my stuff’ and that I was on show. It’s not so much a defense as it is a performance.
As for Dig Rev, mention it only if it is relevant to a question that they ask you. I wouldn’t mention it for the sake of mentioning it. If it’s not in your thesis – you shouldn’t really be talking about it. For example, should you get asked a question and you use something you learned in Dig Rev to demonstrate your answer, they will wonder why it’s not in the thesis. You are there to demonstrate that the thesis has been argued as tightly as possible.
Above all, enjoy it. I woke up the morning of my viva feeling like it was Christmas and I was going to get the best present ever. Have fun – no one knows your thesis as well as you do so get excited that someone actually wants to listen to you talk about it.
Fingers crossed,
Tina
Re your involvement with BB, it really depends on who your external examiner is and what their background is. I assume that you have alread done a thorough search on them and read some of their relevant work. If they have spent their career in Academia they might see ‘media’ work as too lightweight and not taking research seriously. Having said that, it does show you are aware of the real world implications and applications of your work, which in your field is vitally important.
I would say good luck, but you won’t need it.
Make sure you bookmark your copy of your thesis thoroughly, in particular marking all the diagram pages. When asked a tricky question, you can flip to the appropriate diagram and refer to it in your explanation. If there’s a whiteboard, you may want to use it as this will allow you to stand up and wave your arms around, changing the dynamic in the room.
No need to mention your TV work unless your interviewees said something that relates to your thesis (hopefully not calling any part of it into question!).
My viva (for a PhD in Chemistry) was definitely more of a discussion than a defence. Essentially, we just worked through my thesis chapter by chapter discussing each one as we went and exploring implications and limitations of the work. The examiners also asked for clarification on any points they thought were a bit iffy or that I hadn’t articulated very well.
I prepared for my viva by rereading my thesis (the viva was about 5 months after I finished writing up) and then just checking up on important references or any background stuff I thought I’d be asked. I did annotate my thesis and put post-it note placemarkers in it, but ended up not needing them (apparently after studying for it for so long and actually writing the bugger I knew my way round it fairly well). On the advice of one of the post-docs in my lab, I also prepared a list of corrections to present to the external, but they didn’t seem at all bothered by this. I wouldn’t mention the TV work unless it is directly relevant to what is being discussed; it is only your work within the thesis that is being examined. I read once that the only point in the viva was to check you’d done the work yourself.
Basically, you know your work better than either your internal or external (especially as they’ll have only started reading it on the train that morning/night before…) so you should be able to argue your way out of any corners. Your work will be good enough to pass, otherwise your supervisor wouldn’t have let you submit your thesis, so just relax and enjoy the arguments. I think the viva is about the only enjoyable bit of a PhD!
Good luck, do enjoy yourself. Don’t be disappointed! These days it would be highly unusual NOT to be asked to make “corrections” (i.e. things the examiners would like to be included) and the whole system is pretty “kooky”, more like an initiation into an academic field than anything. It depends so much on the external examiner and what they think. Only one tip – if you think you are right argue hard, but if they have a point cave in immediately and suggest how you might include it. :-)
A thesis is just a very long (book length) answer to an exam question you have set yourself, in order to prove you are the world’s greatest expert on something nobody else is interested in.
By now you should know it wordfor word and heartily sick of it, no post-its required. Either the examiners have read it and approve it, or they haven’t in which case you certainly know more that they do. For the sake of form they will probably invent some minor corrections.
CONGRATULATIONS, Dr. Aleks! See, I told you you’d make it!!!! Lots of Love,
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