Congrats...I haven't been on the forum for some time and it was great to see this message :)

PS...depends on how long you have till your viva I would suggest to RELAX! take a holiday...do something else :) I had about 8 weeks between submission and viva...took a 1 week holiday at the start and l did not look at my thesis for the 1st 4 weeks or so (was also looking for jobs during this time). I had my lists of questions and answers done and my presentation done at the start and then took a break from it :)

Congrats :)

I second what metabanalysis said. The part of my preparation which helped me most was the mock viva with my supervisors...my boyfriend also asked me random questions from the list of questions I had (e.g. what are you most proud of, what is the work's weakness etc.)...it is not to answer exactly as on the sheet but more to get used to answering questions. And also prepare your presentation well if you have to (see how long it needs to be...but I would suggest shorter is better...mine was planned for around 15mins but then took around 10mins cos I was stressed so forgot stuff I should have said but it was OK anyways)...Best wishes

What are you writing your thesis in? In my case (Science/chemistry) my methods chapter was around 5000 words...and none of my chapters were 15000 words (the most was 10000)...I think this is quite normal in science (in my results and discussion chapters I then discussed the method development process etc.).

I used powerpoint, but I think you can use whatever you are most comfortable with.

Congrats...so happy for you :)

Good luck for Monday :)

Congrats on the second interview... I focussed on the networking as the job had a big part which involves working with industry and building partnerships...I had no contacts I could bring to the team (it is a different country and a different area...but I moved countries for my PhD so I mentioned how I worked to start out in a new country and why changing countries with no contacts is something I can do...so it is more the skill I bring to the table (I did not have much else :S). Re why I focussed on the soft skills, the main reason was that I was moving to a new area of which I had no prior experience...so all I could bring to the table were the soft skills (and I also quite enjoy talking and meeting new people).

Other questions included things such as how do I feel about teaching and how do I plan to get involved in the department.

Good Luck

Hello...congrats on the interview...I recently had a similar situation with an interview for a position in quite a different field (I am an analytical chemist and they wanted an engineer with knowledge of a field I have no experience - I work with water but now I am moving to renewable energy) but as with you the project was very multidisciplinary.

I only had a 10min interview where I had to say what I can contribute to the centre and I focussed on how I can learn the area quickly (evidence from my PhD where it was very multidisciplin. and I had no prior knowledge of many themes) and what new perspectives I can bring to the group which they do not have. What I did not mention (but they then asked in the follow on questions) was how the technical skills I have to date could translate to this 'new' area and what my focus would be...in this case I focussed on my analytical chemistry knowledge (in general and not specific to my PhD as such) and how a knowledge of analytical chemistry can help them understand the chemical basis of the processes they are seeing.

What I did (and I think it might help you) is to not forget your soft skills...In fact my presentation was mainly focused on my experience of networking/project management - your PhD is a project/collaboration etc...which would be useful across the board. I did not have too many technical skills to offer in the direct area and so had to sell my other skills.

.I got the job so it seems I did something right...Good LUCK.

Hello all...just a short message of thanks to all on the PhD forum. I have used it on and off throughout my PhD experience and especially in the beginning stages got some invaluable advice :). Anyways I had my PhD viva yesterday and it all went well :) Have some minor corrections to do but it should be OK. Thanks to everyone :) I can give more details on the viva experience if you think it might help you.

Hello...did any of you have to do a presentation for your viva? How long was it (time)? My viva in next week and i have heard anything from a 15 minute overview to 1hour presentations.

Thank you

I have a relatively interdisciplinary background and my PhD has been quite interdisciplinary...BSc in Chemistry and Biology, MSc in Biology by Research and a PhD in Environmental Science related to water (included 2 chapters on analytical chemistry, 1 chapter on a questionnaire I did and 1 chapter on the development of a decision tool with a number of in-depth interviews). When looking for jobs I felt that my interdisciplinary background was quite helpful as I had a range of jobs I could apply to which was very important as I was restricted to a particular area. I think you need to figure out what transferable skills you get from the various disciplines and see how these translate to the job. I recently had an interview for a position in a field I know next to nothing about (still environmental field). However I could understand that what they need is someone who can project manage and talk to industry/SME companies and network (something which I enjoy). At the interview I admitted that my knowledge of the research field is limited but I focussed on how my broad knowledge (chemistry, bio, some social science) will allow me to understand and get to grips with the science of the field relatively quickly and have the knowledge of engaging with industry and academic partners (was a critical headache in my PhD...basically my instruments kept breaking down so I had to go myself to talk/beg other Unis to allow me to use their instruments and added the questionnaire/decision tool chapters to make up for the reduced instrument time, which involved in-depth interviews with stakeholders). What I focussed on (which is all I could do) was that I have the transferable skills to do this job and showed how I can fit my knowledge to their research (was asked what research angle I would take in this field). I have now been offered the position (after who knows how many rejects)...I found I got more confident with each application and interview I went to.

Thank you very much for this. I really appreciate it (this is my viva external examiner's work so I want to know it well)

Does anyone have access to any of these papers?

Occurrence and removal of emerging pharmaceutical, personal care compounds and caffeine tracer in municipal sewage treatment plant in Western Greece Nikolaos K. Stamatis & Ioannis K. Konstantinou
Journal: Journal of Environmental Science and Health, Part BVolume 48, Issue 9, September 2013, pages 800-813

Determination and risk assessment of pesticide residues in lake Amvrakia (W. Greece) after agricultural land use changes in the lake's drainage basin Anna-Akrivi Thomatou, Ierotheos Zacharias, Dimitra Hela & Ioannis Konstantinou Journal: International Journal of Environmental Analytical ChemistryVolume 93, Issue 7, June 2013, pages 780-799

I would really really appreciate it

Thank you