Tome Reader ©

Level 6: Viva (Las Vegas?).

(Equipment: Being totally focused and being aware that you know everything there is to know about your subject)

1. Admin will rear its head again. You will get to know the Administration staff well as you follow a paper trail trying to get the viva organized. You should not being doing this. The supervisors should sort this lot out via a Graduate School, probably. Hopefully it will actually be very straightforward. Just be warned as several people reported glitches here
2. The mock viva. Some people feel it is useful to have one. I can see why, in that one may gain familiarity with the process, but see no. 3, below. I am therefore forced to question the value of it. (I am sure that there is an L & T project in this for someone).
3. Who knows what they'll ask you in a viva? No-one, that's who. Read around, ask people what they were asked, and familiarize yourself with what the examiner has written recently. It is worth a try.
4. You will be very fraught. You are now so close to the thesis that any level of critical thought may be impossible (so it may be a mock viva is a useful tool after all. Hmmm...)
5. You are the expert, really, you are.
6. The examiners should know something about the subject area. (This should be obvious, but sometimes may not appear to have occurred to anyone). In truth, your thesis may be so new and exciting that there is no one except you who knows the field.
7. The supervisors will try to ensure that the examiners are both sympathetic and critical. However, the viva may be rather a bumpy ride if they are very much more critical than sympathetic. (See also nos. 5 & 6 above, and Level 4, no. 7). In such a case, however, if you pass, you can be confident that the thesis has been judged by those who have no bias in your favour. This may make you feel a bit better about it all.
8. Examiners want to pass you (but see nos. 6 & 7 above) and they may also want re-writes. The two things are compatible (but this knowledge will not make you happy).
9. Have the examiners given you any guidance on publishing and or conferences? Do they help you network? They should.
10. Sticking cheese, or anything else, in your ears will not help you in a viva. Take notes from their verbal feedback if you can, as, if it comes to re-writing it will help you understand what you need to do.
11. You can have your supervisors with you in the viva, but it is not compulsory.
12. A viva, being a defence, is unlikely to be a stroll in the woods. However, some are better experiences than others are. Get some T. L. C as soon after the event as you can. You may want a hot bath.
13. People will congratulate you on passing. You will not understand what they are on about, as you know that there is another level to Tome Reader^TM and may well have to go through it.