How to Survive Your Viva

THE PH.D. VIVA – AN ORAL EXAMINATION

How do you prepare for any exam?

PREPARATION AND PRACTICE

What is the purpose of an oral exam?

·  Ascertain that it is your own work

·  Make sure you understand what you did

·  Contribution to knowledge – worthy of a PhD

PREPARATION

Revision and Summaries

·  Re-read critically

·  Review each chapter and summarise in bullet points

·  Focus on what you did, why you did it, what you found and the implications

·  Remember it is a defence of your research - so use vocabulary of research design

·  Make sure you’re very familiar with the literature and your theoretical framework, your methodology, and the justification for doing it

It’s also an open book exam – highlight text, use post-it markers, notes, maps, etc.

Don’t forget emotional preparation!

·  Take time to relax and build up your confidence

·  Plan and practise stress management strategies

PRACTICE

Physical practice

·  Anticipate questions and sample answers

·  Practise with peers and other academics

·  Mock viva with your supervisor

·  Use viva strategies - e.g Define-and-illustrate; Being specific; Elaborating; Saying ‘I’; see Murray (2003, pp. 90-97)

Mental practice - Rehearsal strategies

·  Ask yourself questions and try to mentally (or verbally) answer them, first referencing your notes and then try to do it without notes.

·  Look up pictures of your examiners! Imagine the room the viva will take place in. In your mind’s eye see yourself expertly and confidently answering the questions.

Your viva will probably start with general questions and then move to more specific. Possible questions include:

Why did you choose this topic?

Why was it important to research this area?

Would you summarise your thesis?

What is your justification for your research approach/methodology?

What is the contribution of your research?

What is the theoretical framework for your study?

What are the implications of your findings?

What are the limitations of your research?

What possible future research?

What publications have you considered?

Resources

Murray, R. (2003). How to survive your viva: Defending a thesis in an

oral examination. Maidenhead: Open University Press.

Phillips, E.M. & Pugh, D. S. (2000). How to get a PhD: A handbook for

students and their supervisors, 3rd ed. Buckingham: Open University.

Twigg, D. (1997). Preparing for the PhD Viva. Retrieved from http://www.sussex.ac.uk/Users/dt31/phdviva.html on 21 April 2008.

www.tcd.ie/Graduate_Studies

http://www.cs.cf.ac.uk/Bncod16/grimson.ppt

http://port.igrs.sas.ac.uk

Student Learning Development March 2010

Student Counselling Service, TCD