How to Survive Your Viva: Defending a Thesis in an Oral Examination

"How to Survive your Viva demystifies an opaque rite de passage ... familiarity with the rules and rituals is of critical importance for all doctoral students wanting to pass first time. PhD supervisors, examiners and viva chairs will find it a useful preparation for their roles too."
John Wakeford, Head, Missenden Centre

The oral examination is a very specific communication event. It requires the highest standard of communication skills. Writing a thesis or dissertation requires students to pull their ideas together into a unified whole; oral examinations take it all apart again.

Typical questions, and strategies for answering them, are provided in order to help participants prepare and practise. The book features:

• Examples of questions and answers
• Narratives of experiences
• Planning tools
• Preparation framework
• Verbal strategies to use in the viva in order to do justice to the thesis
• User-friendly writing style
• Reading list

How to Survive Your Viva, Second Edition, builds on the strengths of the previous edition, with additional questions and exercises as well as information on trends and developments in the field. It provides comprehensive coverage of the viva and is an essential handbook for all involved in oral examinations: students, supervisors, tutors and examiners, including undergraduate, Masters and doctoral examinations.