The PhD Viva: Questions, Process, and Outcome

Ever wondered what it looks like to do a PhD? Find out by watching my channel. Click here to subscribe: / @emmacolephd . Expand this box for links and further information!
In this video I reflect upon my PhD Viva, and explain the types of questions I was asked and the elements which I struggled with. If you'd like to hear more about my viva, then check out the Episode 52 of the Viva Survivors podcast, in which I was interviewed: viva-survivors.com/2015/12/epi....
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Catch up on my previous video here: • The Durational Theatre...
Check out my KZbin channel here: / @emmacolephd

[@mohammedalhmmas]

Congratulations Dr Cole, and wish you all the best.

[@clairet188]

I love the way you give your advices!!! congratulations Dr.Cole (with a little delay)

[@Loveall79]

A key point of this video is the candid and clear sharing of Emma's personal experience during the oral exam (as we call it here in Aotearoa New Zealand). As I am about to take my own oral exam in a couple of weeks, the video helps me visualise the scenario. Thank you for this Dr Cole.

[@manpreetsohanpal]

I think we should have you doing these vlogs again in 2020. Thumbs up if you agree.

[@remyattig2765]

Thanks for this. My examiners have my thesis and are reading in some mad-scientist-esque castle somewhere, or so I imagine to be the case, and hearing positive experiences is helping me pass the time between now and the viva (or defense as we call it in Canada).

[@eloscuro7]

Hi Doctor! I've just discovered this channel, after googling advice for preparing for a viva. Some of the advice you give is really very useful, even though I'm working in a very different field. If you have some interesting content about the life of an ECR, then I for one would like to see it!

[@officer2718]

Congratulations Dr. Emma

[@ahsanqureshi3467]

I am 1 year away from Viva. Appreciate your support and sharing knowledge 🙏

[@SarahMawby]

Hi Emma, Firstly, congratulations on passing your viva! Hearing about your experiences has been really helpful and I'm sure I'll revisit this video as I prepare for mine in 2017. As for what content you should continue to make, I've been loving the format you've been using so far i.e. daily vlogs and then also some videos about specific PhD topics. I've really enjoyed the collaborations you've been doing with other academics as well, so more of those would be lovely. Generally I think documenting your experiences as you continue with an academic career would be really interesting to watch. Videos about teaching, writing, submitting funding proposals, outreach work, etc. would all be fab! I'm looking forward to joining you as a PhD vlogger in the new year but, until then, I hope you have a wonderful Christmas!

[@EmmaColePhD]

+Sarah Mawby Hi Sarah, thanks for all the suggestions! The daily vlogs are my favourite type of video to make so I'm glad there is still an appetite for those. I might try and daily vlog for the first week of next term to show how different my weeks now look from when I did my last daily vlog series back in June. Good luck starting your own vlog - perhaps we can do a collaboration sometime in the future! Merry Christmas x

[@shawnukumar5900]

God bless you Dr.

[@TheEgggggggggggggggg]

Congratulations Dr.Cole.... am about to submit my phd thesis for viva

[@olebogeng7558]

Congratulations Dr Cole!!!!!!!

[@EmmaColePhD]

+Olebogeng Selebi thank you :)

[@sahabhosseini730]

thank you genuinely you deserve it.

[@TheYKTShow]

Thanks! It is quite helpful especially where you stress on relating the specific paragraph pointed by the examiners to the overall context of research. Many Congratulations on passing your PhD viva Dr Cole!😊

[@EmmaColePhD]

Thank you :)

[@TheYKTShow]

+Emma Cole 😊

[@academiclearner2707]

Hi Dr Cole, you are an inspiration. :)

[@Sweetkitty68]

Thank you Emma for this inspiring video, and for sharing your experience. Congrats on earning your PhD! I've just started my phd, and still a bit struggling with refining my research questions. I am most likely to use an exploratory and perhaps a mixed research method in the social sciences. What are your suggestions regarding the 'wording' and structural sense of a GOOD research question? Thanks

[@salemgheit2293]

Simply amazing Emma.

[@marybatoul633]

Congratulations! (although I am late). I liked this video and it is helpful in my preparation for my viva right now. Please, I would like to know about the kind of modifications to be done on a PhD thesis to do a book proposal? what is the role of the members of the jury in that? How to choose a publication house?

[@awazier6526]

congrat. for your new PhD. I hope you can share about PhD accomplishment more..

[@chikeluokeyfelix6032]

Nice and timely

[@bubbyheart]

I'd definitely love more videos about being an ECR. Those vlogs sound great! Other videos more about specific challenges about being an ECR such as balancing time commitments, getting grants or other funding, and maybe something more for people just starting out with teaching in different forms (how do you prepare, what sort of structure do you use for seminars or small group classes) would all be very interesting. Thank you!

[@EmmaColePhD]

Thanks for the suggestions! I'm really pleased to hear you're interested in teaching-related videos, as I've learnt so much since starting my job and transitioning from teaching 1-2 hours a week at the end of my PhD, to now lecturing 7+ hours a week as an academic. I'll definitely make some pedagogy videos in the new year.

[@bubbyheart]

+Emma Cole And I totally forgot to say congratulations on passing the viva and becoming Dr Cole!! Can't wait for pedagogy videos - I've just started teaching a little nearing the end of my PhD and am constantly still wondering about how I can improve.

[@barrjohnm]

Thanks! A came along your channel and it’s great 👍 I would be interested in hearing if getting a PhD or even going to graduate school is different in which field your studying? It’s my first semester in graduate school (Physics) I know research and making an original contribution to your field is what graduate school was is all about. However if math and computer programming is a major component of your studies you will approach it very differently than say psychology. Thanks!

[@cesarsinchiguano3076]

lovely just lovely!!!!!!!!! Cheers!!!!!!

[@Crystallinesonic]

Dear Emma, Thanks so much for these videos, which I enjoy tremendously. I'm definitely interested in seeing how you go about turning your thesis into a book, and all the back and forth with editors that that entails. Also, is there another video where you discuss the psychological hurdles of doing a PhD (low self esteem, feelings of being overwhelmed, alienation from others, loneliness, etc.)? I'm especially susceptible to these, and have no idea how you manage to stay so upbeat all the time!

[@EmmaColePhD]

+Daniel D Thanks very much for the feedback and suggestions! I will definitely take them on board, and will try and get some colleagues together and create a group video on the psychological hurdles of a PhD in the new year. Thanks again :)

[@karlditz8631]

Two hours? My Viva was an hour! The key is to research what your examiners specialize in...it was a great help for me.

[@sebfox2194]

An hour? My friend's viva was 7 hours. The length of a viva is highly dependant on the examiners, and that there is a huge amount variation in their individual choices. I've heard of vivas lasting anywhere from an hour to over 7 hours. 2-3 hours is probably the average in my department, and the length of the viva is not necessarily dependant on the quality of the work. Sometimes if the work is particularly novel, or of great interest to the examiners, they may want to discuss it for longer.

[@chrislewis5530]

Congrats!

[@ahsanqureshi3467]

Congratulations 👏

[@absidd]

I'm late to the party but many congratulations!

[@academiclearner2707]

Inspiring..!!

[@muhammadislah1702]

Hi Doc Emma, who would be our audience during the Viva Voce ?

[@kannusingh2677]

Hello Dr. Cole. Congrats for your phd. Currently i am studying my masters in structural engineering from India. Is there any chance that i could get scholarship for my phd. If yes please tell me how to apply for it. :)

[@lengceng]

Thanks

[@EduwithMAQ]

Good

[@nathansuka5302]

Me watching this 2 weeks before my viva: ....sure

[@sabrinawebster]

Hi Nathan how did yours go? I have mine in a month