Your PhD Viva and Beyond

The Practice of Social ResearchNicholas Gane

An oral examination that comes after the submission of your doctoral thesis

It does not happen immediately as the examiners have to read your work and prepare a report

Can often take a while to pin down experts in the field – but usually the viva takes place within three month of submission

Depending on the circumstances, it can last anything up to three hours

The viva voce

Normally one internal and one external (who often play slightly different roles)

In some cases (where you are employed by the University) you will have two externals

You will have an input into the selection of your examiners (there are some restrictions)

This is a crucial choice, and something to talk about in detail with your supervisor

Start thinking about this well in advance of submission

Examiners

You will tend to be examined on what is on the page, but if your examiners are unsure the viva is your chance to shine and to talk persuasively about the value of your work

Hence: be prepared You can practise ahead of the day by doing a

mock viva with your supervisor or a friend Don’t get lost in detail – think also about the

thesis as a whole Remind yourself what is really at stake, what the

key research questions are and how you have addressed them: be consistent

The viva: preparation

Mark up a copy of your thesis – post-it note or tabs are particularly useful to find your way around this lengthy document under pressure

‘Go through “generic viva questions” and think up answers’

‘Make a list of questions that frighten you the most…’

‘Get a good night’s sleep’ (pp.176-7).

Other points from Petre and Rugg

‘To satisfy the requirements of the degree of PhD, a thesis must constitute a substantial original contribution to knowledge and is, in principle, worthy of peer-reviewed publication. The thesis shall be clearly and concisely written and well argued and shall show a satisfactory knowledge of both primary and secondary sources. It shall contain a full bibliography and, where appropriate, a description of methods and techniques used in the research’.

A reminder: the PhD

The examiners will have written a report about your thesis in advance of the viva

They will usually meet on the day of the viva to discuss their reports and to co-ordinate different lines of questioning

They will often have a recommendation in mind (sometimes they will tell you this but most likely not)

For the viva your supervisor is not usually present

The viva: on the day

There are some standard lines of questioning that tend to open PhD vivas (but this is not guaranteed!)

Could you briefly summarise in lay terms what this work is about? The examiners may refer to the title of the thesis so choose this carefully!

How did you become interested in this area? What are the main research questions that

this thesis tries to address?

Opening gambits

The examiners are likely to have different areas of expertise and they will co-ordinate to ask you about different aspects of your thesis

They will tend to move from broad opening questions to more specific questions about particular things in the thesis that have caught their attention

But they are also likely to ask general questions about structure, running order, method, extent and range of literature covered and so on

Main body of the viva

Keep calm! Speak clearly and slowly Keep your answers brief-ish and to the point (ie

not usually longer than 5 minutes) – this is supposed to be a dialogue

Don’t speak over your examiners – give them the opportunity to ask questions and to follow these up

Don’t be too dogmatic or aggressive in your answers but at the same time show that you have mastery over the material in question

Presentation of self

What to do if you find yourself on the back foot?

Don’t panic! Bring the conversation back to things that

you know well Take the examiners to points in your thesis

that illustrate your position and which you can talk about with confidence (there are often pivotal passages that frame the argument of your PhD that you should be able to talk about in detail)

Coping mechanisms

Buy yourself some time Think before you speak! Don’t rush into an

answer when you don’t know where it is going

You can ask the examiner to repeat their question and to explain any parts of it that are causing you trouble (a good tip also if you are faced by a difficult question at a conference) – sometimes they will end up answering their own question or giving a clue as to how it might be answered

Coping mechanisms (cont’d)

Be clear about the choices you have made through the course of your research: remember this is your PhD (for example literature covered, scope of study, methodological techniques, extent of data)

Only talk about things that you have covered in the thesis – the danger otherwise is the question – ‘why isn’t this in your thesis?’

Try to show consistency of argument throughout your work and that you have answered your research questions

General advice

A. That the degree be awarded. B. That the degree be awarded, subject to

minor amendments or corrections. C. That the degree be not awarded, but that

the student be permitted to submit a revised thesis. The examiners must set a deadline for resubmission of the thesis, within a maximum of 12 months from official notification by the University.

D. That a degree of lower status be awarded. E. That no degree be awarded.

Possible outcomes

Don’t be dismayed if you have to do some corrections – this happens in the majority of cases

Try to get these done and dusted so that you can move on: many jobs rest on the award of the PhD

Have some kind of plan for what you want to do post-PhD in advance of submission of your thesis

Often your PhD examiners will write you references for your first job (if things go well)

Beyond the PhD

If you want to work as an academic in HE after the PhD:

Think about further funding streams Try to build academic networks by presenting

your work at workshops and conferences Travel to major events (to see speakers and stay

in touch with major developments in your field) Work through your disciplinary associations Have an awareness of the expectations for

publishing research within your respective fields

The academy

Understand the importance of metrics in the contemporary academy

For example, the ‘h-index’ which reflects both the number of publications and the number of citations per publication

Burrows and Kelly : ‘the h-index functions to instantiate academic “value” in the individual researcher or research group’ (p.362)

But the main audit measure in the UK is the Research Excellence Framework (REF)

Burrows and Kelly

The REF has just taken place (2008-2013) It was previously called the Research

Assessment Exercise The REF slightly is scored as follows:

Research outputs (65%), impact (20%), environment (15%)

A major factor in the hiring academic staff – something to be aware of

RAE/REF

For a wonderful reflection on the PhD viva and how to prepare for it, listen to the following podcast by Les Back (Goldsmiths College):

http://magiclantern.gold.ac.uk/podcasts/graduateschool/ThePhDViva.mp3

A further resource