Hi there,

Sorry I am studying in Australia and am not familiar with the term Viva...

a PhD here entails in general around 100.000 words, plus and you also try to get into journals /conferences as you go. I have done one journal article and about 6 conferences in the last 3.5 years. Is the same as viva?

it comes from Viva Voce. Viva is the voice/in-person examination where you get to defend your thesis to external and internal examiners and answer their questions. At the end of this (usually around 3 hours) session, they decide whether you pass or not. In some cases, they decide before you do the exam but they test their decision with this exam. I thin in some countries there are public presentations instead of vivas. I don't mean the usual conference presentations.

we do not do those in Oz, my thesis is going to three places overseas after it has been checked by the university (plus supervisor) so I hav ethree overseas examiners only. Thanks for the expanation 404

Vivas are more of a discussion than an examination, though you are assesed. It is a means where the examiners are able determine how you have structured your thesis, get more insight into various methods you have employed. It is also an avenue to learn how you have increased the knowledge-base of your field to an extent, something new and unique, through your research.

This lasts about 2-3 hours

wow, that's tough and do you also send it off to be examined? You might not sleep over the Viva we cannot sleep because of the examiners.... it takes sometimes 3-6 months before you know if you are there...and there sometimes are disputes. You do not have a say to whom it goes the university board decides...

i still prefer the uk system - excruciating yes, but at least you don't wait for an entire 3 to 6 months only to get pages of corrections. usually you have your viva in about 2 months of submission and say you get pass with minor corrections, you just need another month to do the corrections. so no disputes. its all a done deal on the day of the viva. that means that you can forget all about the thesis sooner. i must admit though that the possibility of not having a viva is quite attractive. how come nobody told me that before i registered . enough of that!

As long as we get there.... seem well on the way Jojo

Well, i don't fancy waiting 3-6 months to know but the idea of not having a viva sounds attractive