Anything but daunting (once the viva started)

Diana Oliveira, a PGR from the Department of Mechanical Engineering, passed her viva before Christmas, and shares her experience and advice with us here. Congratulations to Diana!

Throughout my PhD, I have always been intrigued about the viva experience. Questions such as “Will I be able to remember all the details of my thesis to answer the examiners’ questions? What if what I have done is not to the examiners’ satisfaction?” did linger in my head, especially during the months prior to the viva. Regardless, the day where you finally defend your research is something to look forward, and such an experience stays with you forever.

Diana celebrating her viva success with her family.

My viva happened during the midst of the Coronavirus pandemic, in December 2021. The prospect of doing it online had never occurred to me before, but after almost two years of this pandemic, remote working and virtual meetings were the “new normal”. During my thesis submission, I was not sure if an online viva would be better or worse than an in-person experience; in fact, I had heard pros and cons of doing an online viva, so I was determined to not let myself be biased and approach it with an open mindset.

Defending my PhD via Skype

In this post, April-Louise Pennant, a PGR from CoSS, describes her recent experience of having her viva conducted online.  Congratulations to April-Louise for passing with minor corrections!

A viva is one of the biggest days of your life, a day you will remember for the rest of your life and the day you defend years of your hard work. If like me, you had to wait 6 months for this day (instead of the usual 2), the prospect of it being cancelled or even postponed – despite a surreal global health pandemic like the Coronavirus – is going to irk your soul.

When it looked likely that a national lockdown was imminent and everything began to move online, I waited with bated breath to hear news about what was going to happen to my viva. Scheduled ages ago for Wednesday 25 March, it was firmly marked in my diary and my mind, and for the last 6 months I had been preparing vehemently. Eight days before my viva, I was informed that it would still go ahead but that it would take place online via Skype.

Viva la examination

When deciding whether to award a research degree or not, the examiners have two things at their disposal:  the thesis and the viva.

You may feel anxious about the latter because you have never experienced an examination of this type before, and you are uncertain about exactly what you expect.  You may also feel that the viva requires skills that you don’t use regularly – but in this you would be wrong.

The viva experience – dispelling the myths

Image credit: Safarrin

Just over a month ago, I successfully passed my viva voce examination. Needless to say, the elation, after years of sacrifice and hard work is unparalleled. However, I felt it would be worth sharing my experience and perception of the process with the hope it may provide a sigh of relief, especially to those who feel anxious about facing this final PhD hurdle.