All done. 1hr 40m of very nice intelligent discussion about my work. Just a list of typos to do (could do them in an evening). If I get it back to them next week I can graduate in December!

Started Sep 2007
Submitted Oct 2010
Viva Nov 2010
Graduate Dec 2010

Couldn't have gone better :)

I've been a lurker here since the beginning. haven't posted that much, but got some good advice, so thanks to all. Am happy to answer any questions about the viva in return!

Congratualtions and well done, Dr. Barnaby.

Well Done Dr Barnaby! Would love to know what kind of areas you discussed at the viva. 1hr 40min viva with minor typos would be amazing, I long for a result like that. Congratulations.

Well done! Delighted for you :)

Congratulations! All the best for the future.

Many congrats. But come on... details ? highs and lows ? (although sounds like there were low lows :-) )

Be fab if you could take some time out to spill the beans while you still remember.

Well done again. Chuff

Well done Dr. Barnaby and all the best

Preparation: fairly minimal (lack of time). Although did re-read thesis thoroughly, thought about answers to usual questions like contribution, what would you do differently, any weaknesses, why choose topic etc.

Went in, external said she really enjoyed reading it, and it was a very good thesis. I didn't mention my huge list of typos I'd found.

Some general questions from both about why I chose the topic.

Then about an hour and 20 mins of discussion about my work. Imagine you get stuck in a room with two people who happen to have read your thesis, are genuinely interested, and simply want to know more about your work. That was it exactly. There were a few methodological questions like why did you choose to do x this way and not this way? And a couple of times I had to say 'actually, there is no reason, the other way would have been better come to think of it'. We had a really nice discussion about one result which was unexpected but interesting, and we literally just brainstormed the problem until we came up with a possible answer (which I am now going to test).

The issue of typos came up, and I said I'd found a lot, but I didn't actually hand them my list or anything.

At the end, it was obvious it had gone well, but I had to actually ask what the result was. I said 'so, does this mean it's minor corrections' and the external just said 'oh yes, just correct these typos, it's an excellent thesis'.

Then they asked if I had any questions, and I asked about publications, so we discussed suitable strategies for 20 mins.

It simply could not have been better. I only say this because nobody knows what it's going to be like, it's impossible. And if you search online, you only tend to find the horror stories.

Sounds brilliant! Huge congratulations, very very pleased for you and best of luck for your future career Dr Barnaby (up)

Well Done Barnaby, (up) Its amazing that you finished in 3 years from start. What subject area was it? I'm in social sciences and its not often we hear that time scale for a finish. (viva in Dec. so back to prep)

Thanks for the story Barnaby, almost like being there. Very well done again. 

Could I ask about your literature review, did they query who you'd included, excluded etc ?  did they challenge your presentation of others' work ?  I only ask because I'm currently looking at my literature review before ( hopefully) submitting in a few weeks - sup timing permitting - and I feel my literature review is the least "interesting" bit of my thesis. 

I wonder if you should feel like that ?   I think my bit is much more interesting ( :p )

What do you guys think ? Did you / do you feel like that ? Chuff

@Sheena - Linguistics. Ours are usually between 3 and 4 from what I can gather, but depends on the area. I must admit, for my kind of research, 3 years is pretty speedy :)

@Chuff - not really. I had a large lit review cos I was combining 3 distinct areas in my research. A couple of general questions on it (more of a comparison between my findings and someone else's) but nothing too specific.

Well Done(up) Congratulations :-)

Congratulations :)

Well done dude for passing 8-)(up)