I think you need to put these questions to your supervisor/department, since there is variation in viva practice (eg some departments will have a chairperson and some won't). I haven't heard of a viva being audio recorded, although in saying that there are plenty of vivas on YouTube, so it must happen!

As others have said here, academic judgement can't be appealed, no matter how subjective and peripheral to your work the feedback may seem. I am dealing with this post-PhD viva, so I can sympathise. I think the only thing for it is to get the qualification and move on.

I have an Asus Zenbook which I've had for a year. It seems pretty robust and fast and does everything I want it to. It has a few quirks (I find that controlling the trackpad isn't an exact science with it, and it sometimes does things I don't want it to, eg I try to click on something and it brings up a drop down menu instead!) but on the whole it is a decent laptop.

Hi Nesrine

From my own experience, one thing to watch out for (if it can be discerned from their published work at all) is whether they have a strong angle on any of the areas where your work overlaps with theirs. For example, my external was selected on the basis of having used similar methods to mine, but it turned out in the viva that she's now highly critical of these methods - something I couldn't have known. If there is anything in their writing that indicates a particular stance, though, I'd say it's worth paying attention to that.

Good luck, and try to get some relaxation before your viva if possible - I think that as long as you have a good handle on your own work, that is the main thing you can do in terms of preparation.

Congratulations, umma08. I hadn't seen your story before - your PhD is well deserved after all that work.

I think it is something that's generally asked, as I kept coming across it in viva prep stuff I read, although the opportunity wasn't there in my viva.

Thank you, TreeofLife - yeah, it hit me like a ton of bricks and I did not want to tell anyone about it. Glad to hear you moved on so well from your viva experience though - we need examples like that :-)

I'd blow the whistle through whatever channels you can. This is unacceptable.

Mine was horrible too. It feels very rough, doesn't it, after the years of hard work and the feedback from your supervisors saying you're nearly there, it's very good, we're looking at minor corrections, and then you walk in and get such a sour end to things. My external doesn't want to see my thesis again, but I've been given corrections, a couple of which may tighten things up a bit, but the majority of which just reflect the external's particular interests and not mine.

I've found myself in the weird position of having passed my PhD and not wanting to tell anyone. I've been trawling through old threads and I think there are a few of us in this boat, and it looks to me like people just grit their teeth and get the corrections done, and eventually move to a better place with it all. With you in spirit on this one - it is grim and unpredictable and makes you feel robbed of something just at the most stressful point.

I have a chronically unwell pet whose needs dictate when I can leave the house, and I have found everyone to be very accommodating of this so far (and if they weren't, it would be too bad, as I can only do what I can do!). I guess you can give as much or as little information as you feel comfortable with when explaining why you can't do overtime etc - it's perfectly reasonable just to say you can't as you have other commitments.

I hated being asked which authors had influenced my work to date. My PhD was going to be on a completely different topic to anything I'd done thus far (which I'd imagine is a fairly common thing) and there were no suitable examples I could give - I ended up saying people the interviewers hadn't heard of.

Could this be a late-in-the-day bout of impostor syndrome?

From your posts here, I have the impression that you have worked on this so diligently that I would be very surprised if it's as much of a disaster as you're thinking. It's probably a sign of your diligence that you're going on thinking about it and finding new literature and new angles for the analysis. I think there's always something new we can add, and this contributes to feelings that we haven't done enough.

It might also be worth remembering that you have a much more in-depth knowledge of your work than your examiners, and that folk say the thesis is far from being the best research you'll ever do - I get the impression that quite a few people end up not liking their thesis very much!

I really would be amazed if you didn't pass this. I hope you can give yourself a bit of a break and do some stuff to help with your anxious feelings.

I agree with the others - I would just say 'the graduation is on day X' and leave it at that, having chosen whichever arrangement you think is best. You've worked so hard for this, and the main thing is that you enjoy your day!

Welcome, SU3AD :)

Pjlu, sounds like you're nearly there! Best of luck with it. I'm just waiting on my viva date now.

Hi Missy

We've spoken about this before and you know my thoughts on this stuff - there are times in our lives when we're not ready or able to make the big leaps that other (usually well-meaning) people think would be for our own benefit. At the end of the day, your PhD is going to be awarded on the basis of your thesis and viva, not on anything else. I'd put money on the fact that your uni would rather see you join the 'completed PhD' stats rather than the opposite!

Honestly, unless you have some intrinsic motivation for wanting to do presentations, or are banking on a career that needs you to have this skill, I would try my best to kick this into the long grass for now. You're in your final year, on the home stretch, and between the pressures of final year and the fact that you have a diagnosis of anxiety and depression, I think you have every reason to say you will not be doing conference presentations at this time.

All the best, and don't give up.

I agree with others here that this isn't how it should be (but probably is) - it is also a big turn-off from academia for me.

If you want my honest opinion, mental health/education/inequality is such an important area that you should only go for this if your heart is in it completely. If the concern about the university and prospects is looming larger, perhaps this project belongs to someone else.