Categories: phd
Date: 17 March 2011 21:13:47
I'm not quite coherent about this yet, but wanted to put some thoughts down before they flit away. So here, in list form, are some viva thoughts, in somewhat random order:
* the two hours beforehand are HORRIBLE.
* not wearing a watch is a good idea - it was about an hour and a quarter long, and felt like half that. It went SO quickly.
* they told me at the start it was a PhD thesis (which is like saying it passed without actually using those words). So the discussion was to clarify a few things and help them decide on the category of pass.
* I was really surprised by some of the questions. Some things I expected weren't even mentioned, and other things I didn't expect were discussed at length.
* I was really surprised they didn't seem to notice how much less good chapter 6 is in comparison to the rest of it.
* I was really pleased they seemed to agree with me about the thesis 'contribution to knowledge'. They want me to bring one aspect of it out a bit more in the conclusion.
* they worked really hard at putting me at my ease - it was OK when they asked me a question (about figures, comparing the figures I'd quoted with the UK) and I didn't know off the top of my head.
* there was a sentence in the thesis I remember blogging about a few months ago which they picked up on and I thought of this blog straight away (I had blogged something along the lines of reading a sentence I'd written in an earlier draft which sounded great but I had no idea what I had meant. And then a short time later I read something in another book which shed light on it, and meant that I could rewrite it in a way that I could remember what I was talking about). They told me that was one of the main original contributions of the thesis!
* it is worthwhile cultivating supervisors who understand that providing chocolate for the wait between finishing the viva and waiting for the examiners to tell you the result is the best thing they can ever do for their student (I know it's Lent, but I plead special dispensation. Frankly, it was beautiful and delicious and possibly the best bit of the whole day).
* people react differently whilst waiting and once the result is known. My friend O had her viva a week ago, and was apparently pacing up and down like a caged lion, and ecstatic afterwards. On reflection, I think my main reaction was looking gormless throughout! I was happy, obviously, but I didn't feel any need to wear it all on my sleeve. I've been a bit smilier today :)
* adrenaline rushes can be considerably delayed. I hardly slept at all last night.
So that's that. I have minor corrections, mainly expanding some sections/points, moving a couple of others and bigging up my contribution a bit more in the conclusion, and then correcting some typos and references. I have a month to do them, which means providing the corrections are accepted then I can go ahead and graduate in June! Sadly Glasgow don't do silly floppy hats for their PhD graduates, which is most disappointing - after all these years of anguish and drama queenery the least they could do is give us an afternoon of looking ridiculous!