Hello,

Congratulations to everyone who has had their viva and passed.

I'm new to this forum and just want to ask for some help/information/reassurance about what happens after the viva.

I had my viva on 15 March and passed with minor corrections. The viva was quite short, an hour and a half, and I was told at the very beginning that it would be OK, which was a great relief.

I did not have to defend my thesis as such - I was just asked a few questions about it, presumably just to make sure that I knew what it contained, and to ensure that it was my own work.

I had thought, naively, that once the viva was over everything else would happen quite quickly. I was told at the end of the viva that there was one typo (a date) to be corrected, a sentence to be included, and four additional references to be added to my bibliography. I assumed that would be it, and that I would be sent the list of corrections pretty quickly. My supervisor had told the examiners, at the viva, that they should send the list of corrections to me within two weeks (i.e. by the end of March).

Both examiners kept their copies of my thesis, and I am now concerned that they have been going through them, adding still more corrections to be done. Does anyone know what the normal practice of examiners is in this respect? Am I being too impatient? Or expecting too much?

Hope someone knows the answer to this!

M

I doubt they will read you thesis again in as much detail as they did the first time. I don't know why they kept them though because they gave me their copies along with the list of corrections at the viva. Even if they do add a few more corrections to the list (spot more typos etc) then thats even better for you

I would recommend you speak to your supervisor about this, although I haven't been through viva yet, if they promised to send you the corrections by the end of March then they should have done. Easter has probably wiped their memory so I'd get your sup to give them a nudge.

Congratulations, anyway! (up)

Thanks for the comments and the advice. My husband has been telling me to contact my supervisor about this, but I haven't liked to be a nuisance.

A strong possibility is that they've sent the corrections in as promised and they're sat in an administrator's in-tray, because that person has taken two weeks off for Easter and has not arranged any cover. A lot of the time, the paperwork surrounding vivas has to go via a graduate school or examinations office and cannot, however frustrating, be sent direct to the candidate or supervisor. I imagine it's to cover the university, so they can prove correct procedures were followed.

Have contacted my lead supervisor who said I should have received the examiners' report and the corrections list by now. Was advised by him to contact the University Registry, which I have now done. I hope to hear back from them in a day or two.

Thank you to all of you. Everyone of you gave correct and helpful advice. My second supervisor confirmed that examiners do not go through the thesis more than once - they don't have time to do so, and they are not well-paid for doing the job anyway. He told me that the likelihood was that my examiners wanted to keep the thesis copies for a while because they were so interested in the contents!

I was referred by my primary supervisor to check with the Registry - and the letter, with report and list of corrections was found sitting on the desk of a new member of staff. She missed sending it off in the post yesterday but has most helpfully scanned the letter etc., which I received this morning - panic now over. Corrections are minimal and I have a weight off my mind.

I have found this forum most helpful - I just wish I had found it sooner! As an OAP, who has been working in almost total isolation, and at some considerable distance from my home institution, I might have benefitted from some online conversations with others who were going through the same process.

M:-)

Glad you got it all sorted in the end! Your uni sounds much like mine (perhaps it is the same one?!) - they do their best to make every administrative step as stressful and difficult as possible, just for the fun of it! Think they secretly enjoy torturing all the anxious PhD students ;-)

Agreed! :-)

Ah, yes! The paper work and bureaucracy is a whole other layer in this experience! (LOL!)

So glad you took the initiative to ask what was going on, and that the problem's resolved.

I am absolutely thrilled - I have just received confirmation from the Internal Examiner that my minor amendments were acceptable and that I have now got my PhD. I had my Viva just short of my 65th birthday so it just goes to show that one is never too old to learn! What's next I wonder!!

Fantastic news, congratulations! Ironically, after my previous comments I fear I am now going to be in the same position - my viva was on Monday and sounds very similar to yours (i.e. very short, a few minor corrections mentioned, examiners kept copies of thesis). They told me they would get back to me in the next day or so as they had the list of corrections already done. So far I have heard absolutely nothing from anybody! I know it's only been a few days but they assured me I would be completely done in a week or so and I just get the feeling that this is going to turn into a similar tale to yours.... In fact, I am more convinced than ever that we are/were at the same uni ;-)

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My University requires the reports to be sent in to the Registry/or to the student within a fortnight of the viva. The final report, when it finally arrived, was dated the day after my viva, but it took 4 weeks (included Easter), and an email from me to the Registry, to get the thing sent to me.

Anticipating that there might be a further delay after sending in my amendments by email to the internal examiner (as instructed), I gave it three or four days and then contacted the Registrar to find out how long it would take before the examiner approved them - and who would tell me, the examiner or the Registrar. I did not receive an immediate reply, but the next day my amendments were confirmed approved by email from the examiner. That was probably coincidence.

In my university handbook, the one given to students at the induction course at the beginning of the degree, it did say that students should be pro-active in contacting people: administrators/supervisors with any queries. I don't think I did this early enough during the course of my degree - it took admin 6 (nearly 7) months to formally confirm my upgrade in registration from MPhil to PhD.