Hi all,

Had my final viva yesterday, and as the title of the post says, unfortunately I received R+R, but there were many positives (which I'm trying to cling on to).

Firstly, they said my viva performance was excellent, and that I alleviated most of their concerns through my defence.

Secondly, they said the content is generally fine, but the restructuring required resulted in an R+R decision rather than major amendments, but it was almost toss a coin for them to decide between the two.

So - my question is - have I technically "passed" my final PhD viva? This is the part I'm struggling to comprehend. I guess by the letter of the law, I have no longer submitted my PhD, but bizarrely seem to have "passed" the final viva part of it? They were adamant that no second viva will be required, and that they will both simply look at it once I'm done.

They also said it won't take the 12 months for R+R, and that if I put my mind to it, it can be a 2-4 month job easily.

If I apply for academic posts between now and resubmission, how do I classify myself? As it is so similar to major corrections, do I state that I've been viva'd and am awaiting the thesis to be "signed off", or do I have to claim I haven't even submitted yet?

Finally - after this resubmission, given that they'll provide a detailed report, is it like major/minor amendments in that the thesis is signed off, or can there be a FURTHER delay by them then passing it with minor/major the second time round?

Part of me is positive, but the other part of me is devastated and wondering where I'll get the energy from.

Anyone got any experience of timescales for this sort of thing? I had my heart set on graduating in July next year with the rest of my year group, but I fear that this is slipping away.

Sorry to hear about your viva result MrDoctor. It's really difficult when the examiners say one thing and do another. If they think it will take 2-4 months, then why don't they give you major revisions, so you can get 6 months, rather than 12 months R&R? It doesn't make sense to me.

I think you can say that you have passed, because you don't need another viva, but it is possible that you submit the revisions and more might be required (I know that's happened to at least one person on this forum).

As for graduating in July, you will probably need your corrections signed off first. This is different in the case of minor corrections, where my uni states students can graduate even if they haven't finished them, but for major corrections or R&R, they have to wait until their corrections have been signed off.

I don't know how you should state this on your CV when applying for jobs. Maybe say that you have R&R and are working through the corrections? Maybe check with your supervisor. Someone else on here might be able to say how they approached it on their CV.

At least you don't need another viva, and they thought your performance was excellent. This is an achievement in itself, even if it doesn't feel like it now, so well done!

That's the one thing I'm holding on to! I never have to sit through another viva. I enjoyed it, but that's done now!