Just about to submit my Thesis

[ajb]

The deadline for my submission is almost here. I am about to get my thesis bound and hand it in. Hopefully all the hard work will pay off.

 

Then it is the viva. Any advice on that would be most welcomed!

[DrP]

Ask your supervisor what to brush up on for some general revision. On the whole you're pretty much home now. The viva is just confirmation that your thesis is your own work and that you understand it. Well done ajb - I rekon you'll breeze through it! Unfortunately, however you you get told that the viva is just a formality - you still get really nervous an hour before. All you have to do is sit there and answer their questions - you can't expect to know everything, so don't panic if they ask you something you don't know - just tell them the truth and tell them you are going to make an educated guess (rather than taking a guess and hoping they don't see that you don't really know the answer).

 

Good luck - just go and nail it!

 

 

Any advice on that would be most welcomed!

 

Crack open a bottle of your favourite and enjoy it with some friends. Well done!

[swansont]

I assume you've placated the margin lady

[Severian]

Who is your external? I have done quite a few vivas (I am external for 3 this year) so I can give tips if you like.

[ajb]

Who is your external? I have done quite a few vivas (I am external for 3 this year) so I can give tips if you like.

 

My external is Andrey Lazarev of the University of Leicester. I know him, we have spoken a few times and he did offer me a postdoc last year. Unfortunately, I was not able to finish in time nor could he extend the start date far enough.

 

Any advice is always welcomed.

[ajb]

My viva date is fast approaching, the 11th December.

 

Feeling ok about it right now, but I am sure the butterflies will appear soon...

[Zolar V]

Just stay relaxed, when you answer answer with your gut, its always right. and stay relaxed

 

personally when i take test i just take it and dont care about the consequences. i dont study either i just game and relax and take the test(i always pass so im not worried). if you know the material as you would since you wrote it then you wont have any problems with it. but staying relaxed is quite litterally the best thing you can do.

[insane_alien]

Zolar, thats some crap advice right there. that may work fine at high school level but it doesn't work at all at the level ajb is at.

 

the only bit of good advice you gave is to try and stay relaxed.

[Severian]

Coincidentally, I am external examiner of a PhD exam on the 11th of December.

[Sisyphus]

when you answer answer with your gut, its always right.

 

 

Are you a cable news commentator? I hope you're not designing bridges or something.

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Consecutive posts merged

And, um, good luck, ajb! If you understand your own work, stay relaxed, and answer honestly, you'll be fine.

[ajb]

I have been doing the usual thing,

 

1) reading the thesis for typos and obvious mistakes.

2) preparing answers to why I did it, how I did it, what are the consequences and where does it fit in the grand scale of things.

3) found a few more examples of something, could bring these up.

4) trying to find weaknesses in some of my arguments.

5) possible future work (I have already done some things since submitting).

6) thinking about possible references I may have missed.

7) decided the things I am most happy with, I'll try concentrate on these given the freedom.

8) have in mind a 20mins overview talk.

 

Staying calm, relaxed and enjoying it are also part of my goals!

[DJBruce]

Best of luck ajb. I can't really give you any advice as I am nowhere near your level, but I am sure you'll do fine.

[Mr Skeptic]

I've heard they always try to make you sweat a little. Is that true?

 

Anyhow, good luck ajb.

[hermanntrude]

Congratulations in getting this far, ajb! It's easy from now. Generally they'll ask you to change a couple of minor things and perhaps write an extra paragraph somewhere. Don't fret!

 

In my viva they told me I hadn't written enough about molecular wires and that I should write an extra chapter on them. I told them it wasn't relevant but i'd do it if that was what they wanted for me to get a PhD. They said yes it was. So I wrote a short paragraph and labelled it as a chapter. They passed it. It's all just hoop-jumping.

 

PS my thesis was 89 pages, double spaced. Length being proportional to chance of passing is a fallacy.

[ajb]

Congratulations in getting this far, ajb! It's easy from now. Generally they'll ask you to change a couple of minor things and perhaps write an extra paragraph somewhere. Don't fret!

 

I have already started to write a few extra paragraphs in my introduction. In hindsight I have missed a few references and some more general comments on the ethos. I have now corrected this, but still expect a few more minor changes on their suggestions.

 

 

PS my thesis was 89 pages, double spaced. Length being proportional to chance of passing is a fallacy.

 

I got 124 (may change by a page or so in the very final version) including appendices etc. This seems to fit well with the other pure mathematics thesis I have seen. More applied and statistics related stuff seems longer in general.

Edited November 26, 2009 by ajb
Consecutive posts merged.

[hermanntrude]

I have already started to write a few extra paragraphs in my introduction. In hindsight I have missed a few references and some more general comments on the ethos. I have now corrected this, but still expect a few more minor changes on their suggestions.

 

 

 

 

I got 124 (may change by a page or so in the very final version) including appendices etc. This seems to fit well with the other pure mathematics thesis I have seen. More applied and statistics related stuff seems longer in general.

 

I knew a fellow who wrote a thesis in archaeology. it was 4 volumes. yuck.

[ajb]

I knew a fellow who wrote a thesis in archaeology. it was 4 volumes. yuck.

 

In mathematics and physics the examiners would hate you for that.

 

I have seen a statistics thesis that was 2 volumes. I think it did have lots of data and graphs etc.

 

I think the template and macros that are issued my my university make it difficult, but not impossible to write more than one volume. You get issues with page numbering and referencing etc if you use it as it comes. I am sure this is quite intentional.

 

I think one or two good ideas well explained will beat many ideas poorly thought out and presented badly.

[ajb]

I passed subject to minor corrections, typos mostly and I need to add a few clarifying sentences here and there.

 

The viva lasted less than one hour.

 

The internal said the thesis was very impressive.

 

So, I am as you would expect quite happy.

[insane_alien]

congrats dude!

[npts2020]

Way to go ajb!!! Seems like you passed with flying colors. I don't think anyone here would have expected any less from you.

Edited December 12, 2009 by npts2020

[Mr Skeptic]

Congrats.

 

What do you plan to do now?

[toastywombel]

Congrats.

 

What do you plan to do now?

 

I want to go to Disney World!

 

Just joshin' ya. But congratulations, do well, do good.

[Severian]

I passed subject to minor corrections, typos mostly and I need to add a few clarifying sentences here and there.

 

The viva lasted less than one hour.

 

The internal said the thesis was very impressive.

 

So, I am as you would expect quite happy.

 

Congratulations!

 

As a matter of interest, don't you feel short changed that it was just an hour? I did one (as external) yesterday, and although he was quite good, I kept him in there for four hours. My longest so far is six and a half.

[Zolar V]

congratulations! thats awesome

[ajb]

As a matter of interest, don't you feel short changed that it was just an hour?

 

It did seem a little too smooth, there was no real challenges to anything I had done. A few questions just to clarify a few points, but nothing more than that. The corrections are really just to clarify a few things. Nothing major.

 

I was unsure what that meant. Was there really no holes in any of my work? Or was there nothing in it and I would fail?

 

I was expecting much more of a hard time. So, yes in a way I feel short changed. However, the end result is the same and what I expected.