Hi there,

Just a little bit of friendly advice. I had my viva a few weeks ago and like you I felt completely unprepared. I had quite a long gap between submission and my viva and was worried that it would not go well. I was in floods of tears even 30 minutes before I went in, shaking like a leave (basically a complete mess!) and was really contemplating not doing it. Needless to say that I had scared myself silly reading about other experiences on the internet and trying to read everything that I googled on 'preparing for PhD viva' . I now wished that I hadn't bothered. I passed and the whole thing was over within 2 1/2 hours. I can't say that it was one of my favourite experiences of all time but when you get in there your examiners should hopefully put you at ease. Obviously the viva is not supposed to be easy but you have to try to have some confidence in your abilites (you have made it this far!). I know that nothing anyone says will really make any difference (it didn't for me anyway) but try to take some of the pressure off yourself. Read over your thesis (I stuck post its all through mine) and be familiar with the main references that you used, you need to know what you did and why you did it and then some idea of what else you might like to follow your work on with. Be positive. In the exam I didn't know the answer to every single thing they asked, but I also didn't pretend that I did. If you don't understand what they are asking you then ask for the question to be clarified, thats ok too. Other than that I had a copy of my thesis to refer to and took a pen and pad and made notes of suggestions that the examiners made. Try to get a good nights sleep before the viva (easier said than done I know) and just think at least it will soon be over. So hold your head up high, walk in and show them what you've got! Good Luck with it all. xx