Many congratulations on passing your viva :-)

Congratulations!!!! (up) That's fantastic! Now enjoy your lie-in and holiday!

Congratulations.... well deserved! (up)

Congratulations! I'm expecting my viva will be next summer (I have to submit by the end of March), so it's getting closer, and it's always incredibly encouraging to hear from someone who got through successfully.

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Thank you very much everyone. I am still trying to sink it in. I have some proofreading corrections to make in a couple of weeks but am so pleased with the result , I can do the cortrections in one hour 8-)





I was so worried I slept at 2 am and got up just read my own work. I met my supervisor an hour earlier as we agreed and he was very encouraging, showed me the room, then I was left there. It was very quiet and I had some water which helped me calm down. I had a chocolate just before the panel (could not have proper breakfast). I don't know why but I rushed to the computer cluster for 20 minutes and checked a couple of ideas so they remained fresh in my mind..and luckily, I was asked a question where I could put them to use.



The examiners were friendly but spared no effort to challenge my ideas. They started with an open easy question 'what have you learned yourself from your research' then I was asked why I choose this Theory as opposed to other theories, what I did that made my research better than other studies in the same field (I still described the stregnths of those other studies). I was nervous at the start but then just felt enthusiastic to talk about it. They asked me to clarify a couple of ideas and to explain a diagramme. There were a number of quite challenging questions but I was very knowledgeable about the subject. It was hard to remember that one of the examiners knew nothing about the theory itself and so I had to be clear and unpack my answers (which is great to avoid having long gaps in my reply). In general, I took a couple of seconds to decide which reply would be best etc...



The Viva lasted one hour and a half. I withdrew to my supervisor's office...and needless to say that was the longest wait ever....but well worth it.



I was told that it was 'highly intellectual' and that I answered various questions that required high competence ...to be honest, I heard 20% of that...just wanted to run out and call my OH and family .....spent last night telling the world


It is a relief and your help guys was brilliant (Sue and Bilbo and Heifer and every single person who took the time to reply or encourage me)


Best of luck to all those still on the way ... just believe in yourself, this is how others believe in you (yes, look who's saying that!) :p

Well done, you deserve it:) all your hard work paid off.

Well done! I'm so pleased for you. did they ask you about future research plans in the end? enjoy your rest and then blitz those corrections!