I've spent the last few weeks reading for my viva. I feel that I have improved as a researcher far more than I had fully appreciated when I finally submitted the thesis. I've picked up papers I pidgeon holed half understood 3 years ago and been able to understand every part of them.

I've been prepping for the viva for a few weeks now, these questions make me realise I'm still not ready. Will I ever be ready!!!!!!!

Tiggs

I should probably add that my fiancee and myself only met up on the weekends. I worked on the PhD all week 8.30 until after 5 (normally closer to 7) and spent the weekends with her. I think I was just really lucky to meet someone who could accept those restrictions on our relationship.

Tiggs

Personally I'd be really happy to be told I'm an average PhD student. If you work harder you could do better. Most of the time I feel like Im a less than average PhD student and that I'm going to have to work really hard to produce something thats just average.

Tiggs

I was told that a PhD was a passport to research, a bit like a driving licence. Once you have it you can go on to reserach anywhere, perhaps this is to ensure that you have that freedom.

Tiggs

That would have been really useful when I was writing my thesis! Grrr.

Tiggs

Thanks hums,

I have the book you recomended on order from amazon. I'm hoping it will be here on time. In previous mock vivas with just my supervisor I've found the attacks rather personnel and thats made things more difficult. In my most recent mock viva I went to peices completely under a brutal assault from my second supervisor. I've sort of abandoned hope of getting thought the viva unscathed I'm hoping to limit the damage to major or minor chanages.

Tiggs

I met my fiancee in the second year of my PhD. She was a shop girl, but things have worked our really well. For the last 2 years we've lived seperatly, over the last year I've worked as a lecturer full time, wirtten up my thesis and bought a house. We moved in on Saturday. Also over the last year my fiancee has started a course at university and has been dedicating alot of time to that. I think I warned her at the begining that the PhD consumed alot of my time, but as its always been the case its never been an issue.

Tiggs

Hi,

I'm hoping to submit this Thursday, I'm aready really nervous for the viva. I've been doing some prepreation, making crib sheets etc. I get really nervous before big things like this and I'm just praying I don't go to peices. At the moment despite the fact I'm working full time as a lecturer I'd be happy to pass with major corrections. To be honest comming out of the viva without crying or passing out would be kind of acceptable.

Tiggs

The sad thing is that the students still comming to university are no longer the brightest and the best. Now the majority are the ones who don't know what else to do. The smarter ones have gone into employment and are apprentice engineers or builders. As the graduate market becomes over saturated the smarter students pick up on this and focus their attentions else where.

Tiggs

I dont think the system alone is responsible. The attitue of universities is not helping. Universities appear to measure themselves by size alone and think nothing of taking more students than they can accomodate, with a result students doing get the requried support and drop out. I myself was taught at an insitutuion with a stack 'em high mentality. The result was a 70% drop out rate in the first year.

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Staying motivated is hard when your really concerned about the work. I found that taking calming stuff helped as once the panic subsided I was able to think clearly and work on talking one problem at a time.

I know how you feel, my supervisor tells me everything is ok and that my work is up to standard. I have my doubts, sometimes I worry that I might be dead wrong. I've just about finished making corrections to the thesis (its taken me a year and around 50 revisions,) I've started making sure of everything and trying to head off any nasty questions in the viva.

cont..

Having a final read through of the thesis before submission, I've just realised I don't have a title for it yet. At present the title just says 'Thesis'

Tiggs

Though it helps to be passionate about what your doing for your PhD. I think you can get though just by being determined to finish it on time. From very early on I knew that the area my research was in was unlikly to generate a career opportunity. However a PhD is a bit like a passport to research, it says you can do it. The research you get into after that is up to you, Ive known a number of researchers produce a paper or so after their PhD in an area where there was a shortage of research or avalible funding and move into that area on the strenth of that paper.

Tiggs