My viva was today, and ..... I did it :) on PostgraduateForum.com

stressed
16 years ago

A second Dr K. - this is just so brilliant - as Ruby says, even though we don't know you, don't even know your names beyond Dr. K it gives such incredible encouragement. I'm only just starting, getting ready for my first supervisory board and it seems such an incredibly long and hard road ahead, seeing people succeed and make it to the end is just a real boost - better even that coffee and a bar of galaxy for encouragement.

A

aloha
16 years ago

Well done!

T

thelonelyroad
16 years ago

Congratulations to you! Well done. I have submitted and I am now awaiting my viva date. Hopefuly I can be in a similar mood come end of January!

K

K
16 years ago

Thank you all for your lovely words.

K

K
16 years ago

Quote From thelonelyroad:

Congratulations to you! Well done. I have submitted and I am now awaiting my viva date. Hopefuly I can be in a similar mood come end of January!

I wish you all the best in your viva. Try as much as you can to be relaxed the day of the viva, you have done the hard work and submitted (up). Try to prepare by reading the thesis a few days before the viva to make sure it is still fresh in your mind, and relax the night before the viva.

K

K
16 years ago

Quote From krashty:

Congratulations Dr K. I am another Dr K. What a coincidence! I also passed my viva today. I was utterly terrified beforehand and have been dreading it for a while but after 1 hour 15 I was congratulated and given minor corrections and 3 very minor edits - a couple of sentences to add for each. All up I can do this in half a day. After 4 years of extreme stress, sometimes severe frustration, a number of extra kilos..... I'm there. It has been a really tough journey and I nearly gave up so many times.

Keep the faith everyone. I really never thought I'd see this day. If I can do it, I'm sure you all can too!

Dr K (the second) :)

Congratulations Dr K (the second), well done (up). It is really a good coincidence, by the way my real name does start with a K and I was doing Computer Science research, were you doing science related research as well :)
I relate to everything you described about the journey, specially the EXTRAAAA KILOOOOOOOOSSSS :-)

K

K
16 years ago

Quote From stressed:

Wow, sounds brilliant - congratulations Dr. K, you must be very proud :-) Is the view good from up there in the world of the postdocs?

Many thanks, yes I am proud and happy. The view from my room is still the same :) I live in the ground floor and mainly it is blocked by trees. I think I need some time to understand all that has happened.

C

Caz
16 years ago

Congrats Dr K (and Dr K II)! That's great news :-)

K

K
16 years ago

Quote From missspacey:

Well done K!!! ..well Dr. K now :)

A 1h 30m viva sounds very nice! I hope mine is that length. Obviously, your thesis must have been so well written you did not need to defend in any great detail.

Many thanks :) I think what helped me in the viva is that the aim, objectives and contributions in my thesis were clear. I took me the time polishing the thesis, I even panicked before submitting and rewrote a large section of the literature. No one can produce a perfect thesis, so when you feel that your thesis is 90-95% ready submit it. Each person looks at the work from a different point of view, so the examiners will look at it in a different way than you or your supervisors. So it can't be ever polished 100%

Best of luck

W

Wookie
16 years ago

Congratulations to the two Dr. K's. There has been so much good news around here lately, I hope some day I can share in these feelings of success and completion. :-)

K

K
16 years ago

Quote From 404:

congratulations (up) And it is really encouraging to read that your PhD process wasn't a straight-forward one. Thank you for sharing that with us. Good luck with whatever you decide to do next.

Many thanks 404, most PhD's are not straight-forward, it is rare in my experience to find someone whom had an "easy" PhD. But many people don't share their experience, so it might be assumed that they had an easier experience, good luck (up)

T

thelonelyroad
16 years ago

I wish you all the best in your viva. Try as much as you can to be relaxed the day of the viva, you have done the hard work and submitted (up). Try to prepare by reading the thesis a few days before the viva to make sure it is still fresh in your mind, and relax the night before the viva.

Thanks for that bit of advice. I am trying to read over and stay calm - it is not easy. :)

L

Lara
16 years ago

thats brilliant. well done you!!! congrats Dr K!

R

rjb203
16 years ago

Congrats Dr K,

It is nice to know there is light at the end of the tunnel. I am very seriously considering jumping back into the fray ( dropped out of my first one ( supervisor problems and a rather boring project didnt help!!!) so it is nice to hear about people like you,

well done

rjb

K

K
16 years ago

Quote From Lara:

thats brilliant. well done you!!! congrats Dr K!

Thanks Lara, I hope soon we will call Dr. Lara :)