Hi folks,

Some of your thoughts would be most appreciated here...

I didn't pass my upgrade. I can see why, I don't think I am ready yet. Although I have a lot of words done, they are from the latter part of the thesis - not those in which the framework is worked out. I am only now writing chapter one and formulating things. In addition to this gap in my knowledge, I was not sure of myself in my responses to questions at the interview, probably precisely because there is a gap in my knowledge.

The thing that is p'ing me off though is that, aside from the valid points I mention above, the prof who interviewed me is veeeeerrrry critical of my stuff, but not in a constructive way. He seems to be almost fabricating reasons to knock my work, twisting things I've written, while he seems to deliberately mis-understand me at every possible opportunity etc. And this is not just at the upgrade thing, he has done this publicly at a conference in front of the whole department when he seemed to miss the entire point of my paper and made aggressive comments about it, when quite a few other people in the audience said my point was abundantly clear right from the word go - and a couple defended me during the discussion.

I feel quite uncomfortable around this person and this effects my confidence when answering his questions, although I am getting better at that, I was quite confident by the end of the upgrade interview and I'm finding that a useful way of learning to perform under pressure. However, I do not want this person to make decisions about the future of my PhD. Does anyone have experience of changing an examiner in these situations? Answers to this and any thoughts would be most welcome. Thank you!

Hi there,

I understand your position and frustrations. I too failed my first year upgrade. Whilst I had done vast amounts of research, a detailed literature review chapter and methodology chapter by this stage one examiner took offence to the lack of theory I had. My line of argument was that I did not want to tailor my research to a particular theoretical approach but rather let the research dictate the angle hence why the theory side of things hadn't yet been explicit - he implied I was naieve.

While I was very annoyed at the decision and saw it as a complete waste of my time to rewrite an upgrade report i bit my tongue and did it - btw, my supervisor was not happy with the outcome and agreed it was a waste of time but needed to be done. I was subsequently upgraded.

Last week I passed my Viva with very minor corrections (a few typos)! My examiners loved my research, did not mention theoretical approach once, even though my end thesis was not very rooted in theory - i had decided that my research benefited more from an explicit methodology discussion.

My point is take this as a very valuable learning curve early on in the process and most importantly as a sign of how important it is to choose your internal and external examiners for your Viva very carefully! Please don't take it as a reflection on your ability, it is a reflection of the egos involved in academia.

All the best!

Hi Wolfie! Thank you for that lovely, encouraging response. Yes it does feel like a valuable learning experience, in a lot of ways. I just hope I can get another internal examiner - we are a very small department. I think there is just one other person who can do it, I hope they are better!

Is upgrade equivalent to doctoral progression? I too had to go through this twice, even though the changes were essentially cosmetic and the assessors agreed my project was good and that I was capable of delivering it. They also tried to get me to change direction, which I refuse to do. So don't get discouraged, it sounds like you're on the right track.

Thank you Docinsanity! Both the replies I have had to this have been very encouraging to me... I am now seeing this whole thing as a relly valuable tool for getting my thesis ready for the harshest criticiam to come in the outside world. The feedback from my examoner has made me realise just hw controversial my work is... and how much it could challenge certain people, so I need to get it ready for that. If I can pursuade my awkward examiner, then I can pursuade anyone. My supervisor loves my stuff, he was really excited in the run up to the panel, so I guess I am intellectual marmite, and I will have to learn to live with that.