Has anyone tried this? Taken from the book 'Authoring a PhD'

"Your supervisor can be an important help to you in preparing
an effective defence in depth. Nowadays it is worth asking
them to phone or e-mail the examiners informally a few days
before the oral exam, in order to sound them out on any major
issues which they have. If your supervisor calls too early the
chances are the examiners may not have read the thesis yet. But
equally, ringing the night before the exam is not much help,
because then you have too little time to think through or
research a response. Some very traditional examiners still
believe that a doctoral candidate should enter their oral exam
completely ‘cold’, and should then have to respond to whatever
issues get thrown at them, ‘thinking on your feet’. However,
most modern examiners can see the value of alerting doctoral
candidates to any main problems or points of concern they
have, so that you can anticipate a rough agenda for the oral
exam and think through some considered responses to the key
issues. Some very conscientious examiners may even release to
your supervisor (never to you directly) a copy of their preliminary
report on the thesis, to give you time to prepare a fullyfledged
‘defence’ case. But this is still a very rare occurrence.
Once your supervisor has some intelligence about the examiners’
reactions, you should meet with her to discuss what the
possible problems are and how they can best be handled. Again
this is most useful a day or so before the oral exam rather than
on the morning itself."

Yes I believe so. There was a very interesting french scientist named Corentin Louis Kervran who tried to demonstrate that living organisms do this all the time. He wrote extensively on it -- biological transmutation -- and was even nominated for a nobel prize by a Japanese professor. His ideas have of course been widely dismissed, largely because they don't align with our modern understanding of physics. However, if there is a way to do this then it seems plausible to suggest that life, somewhere, has figured it out.

So you're only a second year! You really ought to respect your elders dear bugs-bugs...

"Covered too much material" is fixable. Work harder than ever to write up; if you can submit something in 6 weeks it will probably pass! Don't give up now the finish line is too close....

Agree with Bilbobaggins. I tried Zotero and didn't like it. Feels much more secure to have references stored locally with standalone software. I prefer LaTeX + JabRef or Word + Endnote.

So you're in the same field too... we really are in the same boat!

"FEE FI FO FLUBS, I SMELL THE SMELL OF PHD BUGS!" bellowed the enormous troll.

"Oh no!" shrieked the AFKABs, as they scurried towards the doors and windows in a bid to flee the impending doom of the Omni Bus. The troll acted quickly -- sweeping its foot into the air, it brought its enormous clog crashing down onto the bus, crushing it like a child would a soda can.

The flattened omni bus was now wrapped about the troll's clog, its contact with the floor evoking a satisfying robotic CARUNCH-CARUNCH sound.

The troll walked about gleefully, CARUNCH-CARUNCH, CARUNCH-CARUNCH, then put on its best robocop voice: "Dead or alive, you're coming with me!"

"Serve the public trust, Protect the innocent, Uphold the law!" the troll continued, laughing uncontrollably.

"Astala-vista, baby!" declared the troll triumphantly in its best Terminator voice.

The novelty shortly wore off as the troll noticed a strange smell. Looking down at the flattened remains of the omni bus, a viscous yellow fluid was seen oozing out, leaving a glistening trail over the landscape.

"Beeltejuice??" exclaimed the troll.

"Beetlejuice!" wailed a voice from the unflattened edge of the Omni Bus.

It's a crime to crack a joke now?

I've heard glaciology is a field that's dripping away and may not exist in a few decades...

someone3 -- i'm in the same situation (viva in a couple of weeks)

Somebody recently posted a link to an online book about getting a phd which covered the viva voce. I skimmed through it and it was very helpful -- anyone have a link please?

Probably. Thought I'd sneak in a comment before the next set of pomodoros!

======= Date Modified 25 Nov 2009 20:24:57 =======
Interesting points. People in other jobs also have depression -- only difference is we're subordinate to a supervisor and they're subordinates to a boss. Same thing different name.

Lazy, lazy students encouraging other lazy, lazy students.

======= Date Modified 24 Nov 2009 22:52:47 =======

Haha good one. (up) Yeah hollandaise sauce seems less offensive to 'human sensibilities' too.

You must eat so many lemons.