Hey Ady! What would you call the chapter if you published it as a lit review? That might be a place to start! Mine was along the lines of "The impact of X on Y: A systematic review". I suppose that's quite formal, perhaps you're looking for something a little more punchy, but I just gave my chapters the same names as they were published/submitted for publication with. Best, KB

Hey Phdbug- yeah, I passed with minor corrections last week (did them this morning!). Was a really tough viva but was chuffed with the result- just 4 sentences to add to my thesis in total. Just added this post because whilst my best mate and I were working on similar topics, our vivas were very different in terms of length, content, attitude of examiners etc. Best of luck with yours. My examiner has also seen me present at a conference, but that was before I knew she would be my examiner, so there wasn't so much pressure! Hope the prep goes okay- both myself and my mate found that a week doing prep was plenty, so take your time and don't panic! Best, KB

Hey Ingenieur. My PhD was relatively straightforward until the last 6 months or so, where my supervisor made my life very stressful and difficult with her temper tantrums and inappropriate behaviour (which bascially amounted to verbal abuse at times) and it had a really big effect on me. I already have bipolar disorder anyway, but ended up seeking additional support from my uni counsellor and mental health advisor as a result of her behaviour. A couple of months ago I made the decision to move on from the team when I had finished my PhD, to escape the situation, although originally I had really wanted to stay on here. I had to bite my tongue an awful lot over the last couple of months, but I managed to hold my nerve, and passed my viva last week with minor corrections (which I did this morning). I have also managed to secure a post-doc position at a different uni, and am looking forward to making a new start. I don't think my situation was as difficult as yours, but it was really tough. If you can just keep going and work hard, with a bit of luck you will be able to escape the situation at the earliest opportunity and move on. Nine days post-viva and I am beginning to calm down and feel back to normal. So yes, there is life after the PhD. If you want to move on and get a post-doc somewhere new then I would advise trying to publish a few papers as you go along- that's what got me interviews at other unis for post-doc jobs. But in the meantime you need to look after yourself as best as possible. Best, KB

Hey everyone!

After my rather traumatic viva last week (albeit with a great outcome), I thought I would post a positive viva experience to reassure people facing their vivas that the process can be very different for different people. I didn't want to scare people by saying how difficult my experience was, but I didn't want to patronise anyone either by saying it had been a really easy couple of hours etc.

My best mate (from the same team as me) passed her viva this morning with minor corrections. The viva took just 40 minutes and was a very different experience than mine- the external asked all of the questions, with virtually no input from the internal, and was actually a reasonably pleasant experience for her. The questions were all pretty predictable and there were no questions that she hadn't been able to prepare for. It was pretty much by the book!

Just wanted to share that! We did a similar topic with a similar population, and had quite different questions and different corrections. Even though my viva appeared to be a lot rougher than hers, we have the same outcome- the experience really does seem to be created to a great extent by the examiners. For the record, she only spent a few days preparing for the viva, as she is now on a practitioner doctorate course so is pretty busy. And I'm delighted than my best mate and I can now celebrate together!

Best, KB

Hey! I have come across a few fellow PhD students who were like that. At the beginning of my PhD I would just hang out with them anyway, but they got quite competitive and bitchy, and started to make derogatory comments about other people's projects (including mine) in front of me. To my mind they just demonstrated their narrow-mindedness and a complete lack of understanding/regard for types of research that differed from their own. So after a while I just stopped hanging out with them and socialised with the people whose company I enjoy and am relaxed in....when I have time away from work I prefer to enjoy it, not spend it putting up with offensive and ill thought out attacks on fellow students' work. I don't mind a friendly debate now and again but the atmosphere was laced with nastiness. But then they were probably a true reflection of academia to some extent! I would just hang out with people you like and gradually stop spending time with those you don't. Life is too short! Best, KB

Hey all! First off, Ady- you are soooo nearly there! Even if you submit the end of next month instead of this month, that means you have just 6 weeks of work left after about 175 weeks or whatever it is...you're so close to the finish line. I think you might also get to the point where you need to call time on the changes you are making, and just get it handed in. My sup was whining (sorry- 'making constructive comments') about my discussion until the day I handed it in, and I didn't even get a single question or comment on it in my viva- it was absolutely fine. So do what you can and what you agree with, but be clear with yourself and your supervisors about when you will stop making further changes and prepare it for submission in terms of formatting, binding etc.

Dunni- I know what you mean about all the uncertainty and uprooting etc. I've just spent a few days in the area I will soon be moving to, to have a look round and start thinking about houses etc, and it's going to be a big change from where I am. I'm hoping to hand my corrections in next week (I'm a week after viva and haven't done a thing on them yet), so I'll be waiting for the outcome of that and I'm still waiting for a start date for my new job. Good luck with the move :)

Corinne- I'm with you on what you say about post-submission and post-viva. I didn't feel anything when I submitted and a week after my viva I am still waiting for it to hit me. I'm thrilled to have passed etc, but I think I'm just too exhausted to feel how I expected to. I suppose I'm stressing about moving away etc as well, but it is a strange feeling! Think I'm still quite stressed and haven't quite had the time to unwind either, hopefully that will come with time!

Best wishes all, KB

Hey! I've just finished my PhD and have been hunting around for jobs, and it's really tough out there. I have managed to get a post-doc position but it is only for one year, and I'm having to move about 150 miles for it. I'm hopeful (as are my new employers) that it will lead onto a longer-term contract, but there are no guarantees. I also applied for RA jobs and if I'd been offered one, I would have taken it. From what I can gather, a lot of post-phders are taking up RA posts at the moment, and many people with PhDs aren't even getting interviews for those positions. So, yes, I think she should take it! It is pretty normal to be writing papers up once you've moved on to a new position, but she wouldn't actually be under any obligation to do so I don't think. I'll probably be writing up more papers from my PhD after I've started my new position, but that's for my own academic record/CV rmore than anything. Best, KB

As I said, I don't know much about your subject or any kind of consultancy work that you might wish to take up, but in the 3 years since I started my PhD things have got a lot tougher, and most people come out of PhDs (no matter what the subject or which university it was) with no job. Some people do manage to get a job, but many struggle in terms of either academic or non-academic jobs, and people can go for years even without finding something. I have just managed to secure a 1-year contract for a post-doc, for which I will earn just over £30k. But I would not want to be losing £400 per month on top of rent and other living costs....it might just about be possible, but it would be very tight. Best, KB

Hey Tim! Personally I just wouldn't go there. The job market is very tough, as I'm sure you know, and there is absolutely no guarantee of a job after your PhD. I don't know much about anthropology, but it will be one of the tougher subjects to get a job in afterwards, since most of the jobs/funding are geared towards science subjects, and even the jobs in those subjects are horribly tough to get. I think you'll end up being under an awful lot of pressure to pay that back, probably with no income, at least for a while. But others might have different opinions! Best, KB

Hey Runner, I actually submitted my thesis 2 weeks ago and had my viva last week, but I can remember very well what those last 6 weeks were like so I just wanted to wish you the best of luck with it- you will get there! KB

Hey Hiccup! It does depend on what type of project you are doing, obviously, but by 8 months (as far as I can remember!) I had completed my first literature review and submitted it for publication, started my second lit review, completed a detailed protocol for the project, obtained School and NHS ethical approval and associated approvals/documentation, and had started to test and recruit my participants. Other people who didn't need NHS ethical approval had started collecting data earlier than I did, but many others who had to recruit through the NHS didn't start collecting data until second year. Best to just work as efficiently as you can without wearing yourself out too much, and not to compare yourself unfavourably to others- each project has different challenges and timescales. As long as you can show that you have been working hard for 8 months you'll be fine! Best, KB

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I think a mock viva is a personal decision- what is helpful for some people may be off-putting for others. I didn't actually have one planned, but a supervision meeting turned into one as we had discussed everything else we needed to. It was both useful and scary at the same time for me. As for the 'big five', of course I prepared very thoroughly for these questions, which I assumed would come up. In fact, we spent less than about 10 minutes in total dealing with these questions, and most of them weren't even asked, I guess because I had already covered them in my discussion section. But I know most people do get asked these questions, so it's definitely a good idea to prepare for them. Most of the time in my viva was spent talking about conceptual issues, due to the nature of my project. If I had had more time to prepare for my viva, I would have definitely used that time to do more prep, but my honest opinion is that more prep would not have made any difference to my performance in the viva. The changes I have to make were not affected by the answers I gave- they are just four very minor factual points (one sentence each) that I should have included in the thesis but overlooked for whatever reason. However, everyone's revision strategy is different and people should do whatever makes them feel comfortable and confident. For me, the main thing was to think clearly on the day and hold my nerve. Best, KB

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Hey Mackem! Yeah, I think every experience is different. I wasn't trying to promote a lack of preparation- I worked very hard in the time that I had and of course so soon after submission I knew my material inside out. The examiners said that I gave excellent and very well though out answers to their questions, although at the time it didn't feel like it! If my viva had been 3 months later I would have had to spend a lot of time going over things again to remind myself. But for me, the questions that the internal threw at me were extremely challenging, and completely unpredictable even for the most prepared person. I had a practice viva with my sup and she gave me some very tough questions, but even she hadn't picked out the ones that the internal came up with. I think there are some differences as well according to subject area. Sometimes in Psychology there is no right or wrong answer, just many shades of grey, and this can promote a lot of debate. My topic is quite controversial and conceptually very demanding, and many of the questions focused on this aspect of my project. Had the topic been less demanding in this sense then the viva would have been much more straightforward! I really do think that it is the examiners who create the viva experience, be it a pleasant one or not! Best, KB

Hey Dunni, me too- glad to hear it's normal! I still feel a bit anxious and wound up even though it's all over, and keep replaying bits of it in my head thinking about what else I could have said. It's pointless- the changes were minimal and weren't related to anything I said in the viva, they're just a few things that need clarifying a bit in the thesis regardless of my answers to the viva questions- but I can't help going it again and again. Of course I'm delighted, but I don't feel like I thought I would. I guess I just need to unwind! KB

Hey all!

Just thought I would write a bit about my viva- I know it helped me to read about previous students' viva experiences and there are a few people here coming up to submission!

It took two hours. My examiners didn't give me much of a clue at the start about what the outcome was likely to be, as I know they sometimes do. They said that they enjoyed reading it, asked me to talk about the thesis for a few minutes, and then got stuck into the questions. The external examiner led the questions, but frequently invited the internal to ask questions that she had as well. It was probably 60% of questions from the external and 40% from the internal. They pretty much went in the order of the thesis, flicking through it as they went. They didn't ask many of the questions I had anticipated...they basically asked me things that weren't in the thesis and didn't really ask me to repeat anything that was already clear from what I had written. I suppose that makes sense, but I had expected the usual standard questions that most people seem to get! Most questions were quite broad- they didn't pick at many very specific things in the thesis. The questions from the internal examiner were really tough. On reflection, they were things that might be quite obvious to ask if you didn't know much about the topic (which wasn't remotely close to her speciality), but things that you either don't think about or just take for granted when you're immersed in your own research topic. Questions from the external were a bit more predictable, and were mostly things that I had already given some thought to. Even so, there was an awful lot of thinking on the spot. Some questions were a bit provocative, whereby they would make a statement that they disagreed with some aspect of my work (a bit rudely in the case of the external) and then they would just wait for a response. Basically, it was really hard going, and pretty stressful.

They sent me out after 2 hours, and called me back in about 10-15 minutes later. They congratulated me but didn't tell me the extent of the corrections, so when they started reading them out I had absolutely no idea how long the list was going to be, and whether it was minor/major etc. I was delighted when they stopped so quickly!

Points for people coming up to viva:
1) It is very difficult to revise for. I only had 6 days, but I couldn't have done anything more even if I'd had 6 months.
2) Keep as calm as possible and do not panic if you think it's going badly- it probably isn't!
3) Don't rise to the bait if provoked, and if they've made a good point then there's no harm in admitting that maybe you could have given that more thought/explained things better in the thesis etc. I did that a few times and it was fine.
4) Don't worry about typos etc- they didn't even notice most of mine, and they didn't mention the ones they did notice in the viva- they just added them to the list of corrections.

Hope that helps a bit!
KB