Hi looking for advice and support really. I have my viva in early jan 2014 and I am wondering if by doing a good viva I can convince examiners to give me another shot at writing my PhD. I submitted after a drama of losing work on a laptop and just running out of time to complete my phd - so only 3/4 of it was done.
Plus to boot its in a real state - my supervisor never saw it and I had to submit or fail. I feel like the viva will just be hours of humiliation as the writing was poor and not fit for a phd, is there any way a viva can convince examiners to give time to do a full rewrite and submit again or is it a case of forget it and I will walk into the viva only to be told thanks for coming but you have failed. Any advice or support much appreciated, I feel pretty much alone with this problem. Thanks

A few questions for you however feel free to not disclose as it is your privilege, I am just asking for clarity's sake.
1. How long have you been in your PhD program?
2. Losing your laptop aside, why did you run out of time?
3. Why has your supervisor never seen your work?

In your shoes, I would also feel like my viva was merely a institutional formality before issuing me a fail. I will reserve further comments until further clarity is given to your circumstances if possible.

I ran out time through taking on lecturing job and just being maxed out at work, and I had no more time left as had an extension and couldn't have another
My supervisor retired then I got another one , I had moved city by then and just never saw my new one

Ok I gotcha. Well if you set the tone of the viva by preemptively outlining the real state of your research and your desire for an extension I think that would be acceptable. Others with more experience can chime in. I would have had this conversation with the new supervisor before the Christmas holidays. Is he/she still reachable? Will you have time for an informal yet frank conversation before the viva?

I would hate to think its a matter of telling you that you failed and better luck elsewhere. Is an MPhil attached to your PhD?

Most importantly you have to have a frank conversation with yourself, and ask yourself what amount of time would you realistically need to complete your research, also with all the delays do you still give a damn about your research? You say you have a lecturing job so I assume you are an academic at heart.

I'll end by saying that you can reasonably negotiate your way to an extension barring any severe breach of the University's protocols. Best of luck and let us know if all went in your favor.

Hi Papercloud,

I'd recommend spending the time between now and the viva reading your thesis and writing a comprehensive list of the amendments that you think are necessary to get it up to the required standard. You should also try and formulate a timeline stating what needs to be done and realistically how long each amendment would take.

By doing this you'll be prepared to fight your corner in the viva, demonstrating that you could indeed submit a PhD quality thesis within 12 months if a resubmission verdict is given to you.

I know that you must be so stressed, but if you believe your contribution is original then I genuinely think you deserve to give yourself the best chance possible of getting this PhD in the end.

I'm facing my viva in March and am petrified of getting an MPhil or failure verdict. I am not happy with what I am submitting next week, so you are not alone :)

Good luck

just wanted to say a thanks to everyone who has replied to this post- your time and advice is valued and much appreciated - will keep you updated

viva is next week- tues 7th - I am very nervous

Papercloud how did it go in the end?