Close Home Forum Sign up / Log in

advice for preparing viva?

M

Ah, then visit Cinémathèque Française Film Center in Paris, 51 rue de Bercy 12th arrondissement...
Take some photos... could be useful for your viva... :-)

V

Wow I consider my department/university as very efficient? I submitted my thesis on 26th March, they sent me an email saying thesis are in examiners' hands and viva date is agreed this morning. The viva date will be 8th July !! Now I can plan things better. :)

V

Quote From MeaninginLife:
Ah, then visit Cinémathèque Française Film Center in Paris, 51 rue de Bercy 12th arrondissement...
Take some photos... could be useful for your viva... :-)


Good idea! :D

M

Hi Vivicov,

I also submitted 26th March! I've just had a mock viva and thought I'd share the questions as we'll probably be preparing at about the same time. So, here's what I was asked:
1 What is it about?
2 Rationale for sample choice
3 Ethics and anonymity
4 Trustworthiness and credibility of analysis
5 Explain the theoretical framework. Was it relevant?
6 How did you analyse data?
7 Influence of gender

I was advised to make a table with bullet-pointed answers to likely questions and the pages where the information can be found - it saves wading through umpteen sticky notes & (in my mind) looks a little classier!

I hope you get a viva date soon.

The very best of luck, Mog

A

Quote From vivicov:
Wow I consider my department/university as very efficient? I submitted my thesis on 26th March, they sent me an email saying thesis are in examiners' hands and viva date is agreed this morning. The viva date will be 8th July !! Now I can plan things better. :)
Good luck with your viva...I submitted 3 weeks ago and mine is on the 2nd July...it all seems to be going too quickly but I am glad to see someone who is going through similar things as me :)

V

Quote From ailicec:
Quote From vivicov:
Wow I consider my department/university as very efficient? I submitted my thesis on 26th March, they sent me an email saying thesis are in examiners' hands and viva date is agreed this morning. The viva date will be 8th July !! Now I can plan things better. :)
Good luck with your viva...I submitted 3 weeks ago and mine is on the 2nd July...it all seems to be going too quickly but I am glad to see someone who is going through similar things as me :)


So you are having your viva earlier than I do! Good Luck! Hope to know the good news soon from you :)

V

Hi everyone! some amazing advice on here i wish i had a while ago. my viva is due in three weeks, i am absolutely stressed about it. my phd experience has been terrible, i had almost zero guidance from my first supervisor, who is very intelligent but never speaks clearly. when i started my phd she told me to read some papaers and books, and when i went to ask her questions she just blabbered on about incoherent math. she did not guide me at all and towards the last two months of my submission kept telling me that i needed another few months but i cant afford to take the time. my second supervisor was never around for the three and a bit years, although he is much more understandable, he said i have done more work than his recent phd students and that he is absolutely confident that i will pass. i already found many mistakes in my thesis after submitting, only english mistakes, but im really worried. i have two supervisors who contradict eachother and i have felt misguided by them.if anyone else has had a similar experience please let me know, and good luck to all the phd candidates here.

vic

M

Hi Vivicov,

Just wanted to wish you all the best for Monday. I hope you get a chance to enjoy the weekend sunshine! Let us know how you get on.

Best wishes, Mog :)

D

Hi Vivicov,

You may want to follow my thread "I passed with very minor corrections" it has all the details of the pre-exam-post.

I happen to submit my thesis on the 27th of March. Mock viva was held 28th of June and main viva was held on the 2nd of July.

PM me if you want a copy of questions and post viva revision notes from my examiners.

Just to say that I had 3.5 hours of intellectual debate with my examiners, though challenging I was able to demonstrate my extensive knowledge of my subject area. These were the words of my external. My internal thanked me for giving him a very interesting piece of work to read.

My advice is that you should be able to demonstrate through your answers what your thesis argued. For example "given the data that you have used and the conclusions that you have reached, if someone who was not familiar with your work was given the exact data would they arrive at the same conclusion?" How would you answer this question? Give it a thought and we could debate about this. This was one of the questions thrown to me by my internal.

Another question is this "Would XYZ (i.e/ e.g. an established expert which you've referenced and criticized in your field) agree with your point of view?" This is another opportunity to discuss some of your findings and about three or four of your chapters and then draw a conclusion by saying that those who strongly follow the school of thought of what you have criticised would probably agree with XYZ, however those who agree with your point of view or lay concept would agree with you. So it's not a matter of one person agreeing to a particular framework, but a matter of what perspective they are viewing it from. Another question might be "so what have you contributing then to your field?". This is also where you have the opportunity to reiterate your conclusions. All these answers demonstrate that you have written your work and know it inside out without actually opening it, they know this because they have read your work...

V

thanks for everyone's suggestions, this is the final weekend, I cant wait to get it done!

V

Hi Dgold

Thank you! Your suggestions are great! I will keep them in mind. I've seen your thread before you mentioned it actually! Well done :)

V

Quote From Vicmath:
Hi everyone! some amazing advice on here i wish i had a while ago. my viva is due in three weeks, i am absolutely stressed about it. my phd experience has been terrible, i had almost zero guidance from my first supervisor, who is very intelligent but never speaks clearly. when i started my phd she told me to read some papaers and books, and when i went to ask her questions she just blabbered on about incoherent math. she did not guide me at all and towards the last two months of my submission kept telling me that i needed another few months but i cant afford to take the time. my second supervisor was never around for the three and a bit years, although he is much more understandable, he said i have done more work than his recent phd students and that he is absolutely confident that i will pass. i already found many mistakes in my thesis after submitting, only english mistakes, but im really worried. i have two supervisors who contradict eachother and i have felt misguided by them.if anyone else has had a similar experience please let me know, and good luck to all the phd candidates here.

vic


Hi Vic
I've heard many people said that if you spot errors in your thesis after submission, do not worry, it is only NORMAL to have some, especially they are only English mistakes. What the examiners really care is the content, not how great a proofreader you are.

And if your second supervisor has so much confidence in you, you should have more in yourself as well!!! My supervisors are very supportive and kind to me, yet no one has ever said something like what your second supervisor has told you....(which implies that you work much harder than most of the PhD students under his supervision)... you should be proud of your hard work and trust yourself that you have done what you can.

V

Dear Mog
Thank you so much! Have you had your viva? Hope all is well with you !
There is a music festival close to my place, although I do not go, but the atmosphere (I can hear the music hahahha!) certainly helps to make me feel like I do enjoy the sunshine over the weekend!

M

Hi Vivicov,
I passed with minor corrections which I've now submitted, so all is good!
I really hope Monday goes well; it is an enjoyable experience once the initial nerves have settled, since it really is your chance to talk about what you know best with people who are genuinely interested & want the best for you.
Good luck! And I look forward to checking in to see how you got on.
Very best wishes, Mog

V

Quote From Mog:
Hi Vivicov,
I passed with minor corrections which I've now submitted, so all is good!
I really hope Monday goes well; it is an enjoyable experience once the initial nerves have settled, since it really is your chance to talk about what you know best with people who are genuinely interested & want the best for you.
Good luck! And I look forward to checking in to see how you got on.
Very best wishes, Mog

thats great news Mog! Well done :D
I will update the result here :)) thank you again for your kind encouragement ~~

24247