Yes I agree. Your final conclusions despite the personal circumstances were "potentially very capable", "worked really hard", "impressive", etc.

======= Date Modified 02 49 2009 22:49:14 =======
Hi,

I have my viva in a few weeks and I'm feeling pretty apprehensive. I've been thinking about some of the comments my supervisors made when I went to submit the thesis a few weeks ago. My primary supervisor is more familiar with the work and its merits than the second:

- My primary supervisor remarked that my thesis was definitely not a heavyweight, and the amount of data was below average, however it was "high quality". I guess this is true -- I had some pretty major personal problems during my PhD and could have done more, but at the same time I feel just as capable as any other PhD student.

- My secondary supervisor asked my primary supervisor if they should order some champagne. My primary supervisor didn't reply and looked like he was thinking of a response. I said "well that's assuming I'm going to pass!" and my primary supervisor looked almost grateful, as though I said what he was thinking.

- My secondary supervisor said not to worry as I got a publication and it was refereed by 3 different Professors who all ok'd it. My primary supervisor basically pointed out that there are different criteria which need to be met in order to pass, and being published just ticks one of the boxes (i.e. the work is worthy of publication in a peer-reviewed journal).

On the plus side, I'm fortunate in that the one paper we published was picked up by the media, newspapers, New Scientist, etc. However, my primary supervisor does seem to want me to be aware that there's a question mark next to the question of whether the work is 'substantial'. There is scope to publish another paper from the thesis, however my supervisors want to hold on to the data so we don't get "scooped" (the follow up experiments are pretty obvious). As it stands, therefore, there is just one publication though it is a pretty good one.

Failing is really not an option, I have a postdoc lined up and have no plan b - in fact I can't imagine doing anything else. It would be a complete disaster as I've spent 4 years on it and would be horrified to get anything other than a PhD. What exactly does substantial mean anyway - is it just defined by the examiners? If they fail me I will march up to the vice-chancellors office and create a scene I swear.