THREAD:

I want to address something I've seen floating on #PhDChat #AcademicChatter #AcademicTwitter circles around the doctoral defense.

@evalantsoght coordinates a fantastic set of interviews on experiences of other scholars with their PhD defenses (or, in the UK, "vivas")

I am sure you're going to find lots of useful stuff about the final doctoral examination on @ThomsonPat and @thesiswhisperer websites.

Here's the thing. A LOT of doctoral students ask me "when do I know that I am ready to defend?"

Other PhD advisors can chime in, but ...

... here is when I knew that I was ready to defend:

I CHALLENGED MY PHD ADVISOR.

CONSISTENTLY.

I reached a point where I basically said: "no, THIS is exactly my argument, and THESE are my empirical chapters and how it all fits together".

I went from PhD student 2 colleague

Now, my experience with my PhD students has been very similar. Not that they contradict me or challenge me, but they have their entire argument formulated in their head with such consistency and fluency, that they know they're going to ACE their PhD defense.

My students usually

... tend to know how to push an argument against me without blatantly contradicting me:

"professor Pacheco-Vega, I know you use X typology of conflicts, but I developed a different one that I'd like you to consider".

THIS is exactly the moment I seek with ALL MY STUDENTS.

The point where their writing goes something like this:

"ok, this is as far as Dr. Pacheco-Vega has gone with X topic, and LOOK, HERE IS HOW I BUILD ON HIS WORK and extend it in Y, Z ways".

This happens to me with Masters and undergrad students too, but given the...

... original contribution component of the PhD, I wanted to explain how my students reach that moment.

The point where they say: "I loved how you frame water insecurity in Pacheco-Vega 2017, BUT, hear me out... here's a framework I developed to explain it in X, Y, Z ways"

For me as a PhD advisor, that AHA, EUREKA moment is the one that I love the most (well, that and seeing them defend their PhD dissertation).

Anyway, in response to those who ask me "when will I feel ready?" I think it comes down to "when you dominate your argument/empirics"

Posts of interest:

Preparing for the doctoral dissertation defense (the "viva") http://www.raulpacheco.org/2019/03/preparing-for-the-doctoral-dissertation-defense-the-viva/

Preparing the core elements of the PhD dissertation towards the thesis defense http://www.raulpacheco.org/2018/01/preparing-the-core-elements-of-the-phd-dissertation-towards-the-thesis-defense/

What is a PhD? What does doing a PhD entail? http://www.raulpacheco.org/2018/11/what-is-a-phd-what-does-doing-a-phd-entail/