well the viva day has finally arrived (this friday) and i literally have not slept for weeks, having had a unsupportive supervisor (long story) who has since i submitted been emailing me reasons why im going to fail i am a complete wreck, and convinced therefore i am going to fail. Ive had several people say to me that in science vivas the main focus is your work and your work only, not all literature published since leaving, even though this is what my supervisor has led me to believe, how did anyone get through this time? does anyone know how common it is to fail outright?

Your examiners will not be expecting perfection and they will not be seeking to fail you. All they will be looking for is an appropriate level of originality and research competence. I'm not sure about PhD failure statistics, but I wouldn't worry about it, I'm sure you'll do fine.

hi scaredgirl
pls try not to worry. Personally I dont know anyone who's failed their phd.

Dr_man_boobs: I think your handle is funny and catchy. Are you very fond of boobs, why do you use this handle :-)
HAHAHA

smiles! satchi

Hi Scaredgirl, my viva is coming up soon too and I am also very scared. But I'm sure you'll do fine, I haven't heard of anyone ever failing (and have even seen some people who seemingly didn't have a clue pass too).

Best of luck for Friday. I'll be re-reading a chapter of my thesis in your honour this week.

There are some pretty good tips for how to handle the build up to the viva on this forum and on the www. I often read them to find reassurance/solace. Do let us know how it goes.

======= Date Modified 04 Jan 2010 21:07:56 =======
Hi Scaredgirl, your supervisor sounds like a right a******e and I can only second what has already been said here, and send you my good vibes for Friday. I'm sure some science people will be able shed light on the publications/viva situation.

In my experience, idiots who treat people the way your supervisor is treating you have some issue with insecurity/can't handle some situation in their lives, so they like to make themselves feel big in the only way they know how - and that means picking on someone who they think won'tf/can't ight back. You'll be free soon, and one day all this noesense will be a distant memory. Also, don't worry too much about passing, I know loads of thick people with PhDs, so I'm sure you'll be alright! Sorry to all the thick people with PhDs, no offence meant...

======= Date Modified 05 Jan 2010 09:52:58 =======
============= Edited by a Moderator =============
Hi Scaredgirl. Firstly, your supervisor sounds like an a**e and should know better than to be acting like that. But it's not uncommon from reading some of the posts on here, sadly.

More productively, it's very rare to fail outright at this stage - it's actually a LOT of hassle for them to fail a PhD and , the idea goes, anyone who is allowed to get to the viva stage should really have work capable of passing a PhD. The main focus will be your work and your contributions but you'll be expected to at least know generally what is going on in your area although at my uni the guidelines stated you could not be asked about anything since submission of the thesis. If you've done a good literature review, you should be fine.

Just remember YOU are the expert of your thesis. Have you got another academic you can ask to give you an opinion on it? And as long as you have a good understanding of your work and made a 'novel' contribution, you really should be fine. I would be tempted to say ignore any emails from your supervisor until the viva is over but that wouldn't be very professional of me ;-)

And best of luck, let us know how it goes!

Hi Scaredgirl,
I do hope the viva went well for you today; I felt exactly as you did beforehand (although I didn't have a dreadful supervisor like you have, you poor thing!), but all the fears I had came to nothing! I really hope that was the same for you, and I'm sure it's been ace - you know your work best!
xx

well it got 'postponed' which makes the stress even worse!