Hi all,

I'm starting to get a little worried as my first pick for an extern declined due to work-load issues, which was fairly devastating. We contacted my second pick a few days ago but he has not responded as of yet. Has anyone else had experiences like this? Did your first choice say no? And how long did it take for your extern to respond to your request? I'm also wondering if we left it too late to ask - how long before submission is the 'norm' to contact examiners?

Thanks so much in advance!

I'm only in my second year, so I haven't approached any potential examiners yet, but I was advised to start asking at least 6 months before my completion date. It could be because my field is reasonably small and therefore I have less choice.

My supervisor was a 5th choice external examiner recently and was chosen entirely because thy knew she was available at short notice. I haven't submitted my thesis yet but I am supposed to contact an external 6 months before submission because it can take time, so don't worry if it is taking a while. Also, you can't really ask too late, if you don't have an external it just delays your viva.