Well done you! It's a good feeling isn't it :)

Thanks so much everyone! I had a holiday booked for a week starting the day after my viva so it was all a bit hectic having to pack with a bit of a headache the next day so totally worth it! I'm starting to feel properly relaxed for the first time in about 5 years I think!!

Chuff, you mentioned questions, so I'll try my best! I was really lucky I think, with really lovely examiners. I started viva prep about 2 weeks before, with roughly a day on each chapter (3 days in the intro) making notes of typos etc, and marking sections where I thought something wasn't clear and then going back and checking up on these bits, writing clarifying sentences or little notes for myself in the text. I found this very helpful actually as it showed where there were any weaknesses in my arguments, and I was able to see inconstancies much easier without having to read my thesis several times over again. When that was done I just had a few days to briefly read over any new literature published in my field and read around general current science topics in case any came up. Two days before I went over my key results a bit more, and against everyones advice I spent the day before the viva flicking through it, and checking up on anything I felt unsure about. I had an awful feeling something bad was going to happen, like a gut instinct which is why I did it, and I'm glad I did as I found a bit where I had mentioned including some results which actually weren't in the thesis, so I was glad I had found it and was able to get the results before the viva in case it came up. So I'd say trust your instinct people!

The day of the viva, when I went in the examiners were very friendly and chatty, and just spent a few minutes talking about the structure of the thing and how they were going to work it. My external led it mostly, with the internal saying bits and pieces when necessary. There were a few comments at the start on the typos (I didn't have a list, just lots of little page markers of where there were mistakes) which was fine, and then they went through page by page basically. There were some of the expected questions, such as what was the public application of my work, why did I chose this topic and this method, the main significant findings and the future avenues for research. As they were going through the thesis, my external was asking questions about my opinions on certain aspects or why I thought certain things might work the way they did, not directly related to the thesis per se, but mostly as if they wanted to see my thought process or how I problem solved and worked through hypotheses. At the end, I was asked what I would change if I was to do it again, and if there had been any major problems during the project. Then I was asked to leave the room, and after about 5 minutes I was called back in and they said that it was a very good thesis and I had done a very good viva and I had only a few minor corrections and congratulations :)

So that's about it! It was nowhere near as scary as I'd imagined it, but I felt so much better going in knowing that I had prepared well for it, and that I knew the weaknesses and I was confident I was able to defend what I had done. One thing I'd say is it's also important to be humble, and accept that you may have made mistakes somewhere, or that you could have done something better; don't talk yourself into something that you can't get out of, if you can see that you have been wrong or there is a better way, admit it, and show that you've thought about it, and that you recognise the limitations of your research, but that it's still PhD worthy work and you should be proud of it!

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Congratulations Dr AQ! I'm so happy for you! I've not been on here for ages and just popped on to see everyones progress - how pleased I was so to see your post! :)

It sounds like your viva went really well and with just afew minor corrections you'll be free in no time!
Enjoy your holidays! A pleased as punch Dr AL xx (We did it! :) (up))

Well done AQ, good to hear of your success!!

Thanks Joyce and Al, can't believe we finally got there eh?! ;D

Congratulations Algaequeen! Glad to see you made it :)

Yay for forum old timers completing ;)