PhD candidates! Do you ever wonder what your thesis examiners actually *do* to prepare for your viva? Let me tell you what I have been up to for the last couple of days...

#PhDchat #ECRchat #AcademicChatter

Here is a thesis I’ve just finished reading. Every orange tab is something that I would like to discuss at the viva. The purple tabs are little mistakes we don’t need to discuss, but that the candidate might like to change before final submission (like typos)... 2/15

In practice, we have to prioritise so probably only a third to half of these points will get discussed. My co-examiner will also bring a list of things to discuss and will also not get to discuss every single one. 3/15

It takes me about a day to read your thesis in detail... 4/15

(This will usually include reading key papers that you have cited but that I am not familiar with, and sometimes looking up methods that I don’t know.) 5/15

2 hours to read key bits again and write my preliminary report... 6/15

30 minutes to agree a plan with my co-examiner (which we usually do right before the viva, unless there are serious concerns)... 7/15

3 hours for the viva... 8/15

(Even as an examiner, I get nervous about attending vivas. They’re really interesting and a lot of fun, but hard work. The person in the room who knows the most about the topic is the candidate, so the examiners do have to concentrate in order to keep up!) 9/15

15 minutes to agree the outcome... 10/15

30 minutes to an hour to write our joint report... 11/15

And usually an hour drinking Prosecco out of plastic cups! 12/15

Though I’m not sure what the etiquette is in the era of the Zoom viva. Do I keep my own bottle behind the laptop? 13/15

This time, I am the external examiner, but when I am the internal examiner I will then read the corrected thesis *again* to check that all the requested changes have been made before I sign off on it. 14/15

Yes, it’s a lot of work, but it’s also an honour and a privilege to be with a scientist as they make the transition from student to Dr. We want you to succeed! /thread