Hello All,

I have one year to complete my phd, I got chance to share my research with my nominated external examiner - he suggested some 'book chapter' publications - luckily one book chapter approved straightaway and second book chapter is under review and chances of approval are very high, I am also planning to publish a couple of journal papers with him in near future, he is very keen to help also asked to make him my 3rd supervisor which I am doing as he is contributing and helping a lot.

By doing so, (coauther and my 3rd external supervisor), he is not eligible to be my examiner. My 1st supervisor is keen to have him as examiner so that I get passed as my 1st supervisor is extremely supportive in all aspects and I respect him a lot. I am very confused, we have not completed any publication yet; but if my nominated external examiner is removed from coauther list, he won't like it and may be will not work with same passion as he currently do. I am very much worried, I am inclined toward publications and my 1st supervisor is keen to him have as my external examiner so that I get pass easily.

anyone in similar situation, help please.

Regards

It really depends on the rules and regulations of the universities.

In some universities (Australia?), you may not be allowed to know the examiners.
In some universities, you are allowed to know the examiners such that you can cite the works of the examiners. However, you are not supposed to communicate with the examiners.
In some universities (US?), collaboration with examiner is fine.

For your case, you may want to check if delay publication is possible. It is also possible that the reviewers suggest major revision; it may require more than one year to publish your works. That is, it also depends on the nature of your paper.

Thanks for the reply,

yes you are right, but in our university we are not allowed to do any collaboration,

what you think what should I do at this stage? avoid publication and keep him as examiner; I think If I could get 4-5 publications, chances of getting a pass is very certain, and my focus should be on publications, but sametime, keeping my supervisor happy is important.

It seems that you still have one more year to submit your thesis, so just revise and improve your papers first.
Keeping him as examiner is a good choice; you may get very good comments for your thesis.

However, there could be 'ethical' issue. Your friend may report your collaboration with the examiner... your supervisor and you may get into trouble.
However, some universities may allow collaboration with examiner which is not 'directly' related to your thesis.