phd thesis oral defense

Preparing For Your Dissertation Defense

13 Key Questions To Expect In The Viva Voce

By: Derek Jansen (MBA) & David Phair (PhD) . Reviewed By: Dr Eunice Rautenbach | June 2021

Preparing for your dissertation or thesis defense (also called a “viva voce”) is a formidable task . All your hard work over the years leads you to this one point, and you’ll need to defend yourself against some of the most experienced researchers you’ve encountered so far.

It’s natural to feel a little nervous.

In this post, we’ll cover some of the most important questions you should be able to answer in your viva voce, whether it’s for a Masters or PhD degree. Naturally, they might not arise in exactly the same form (some may not come up at all), but if you can answer these questions well, it means you’re in a good position to tackle your oral defense.

Viva Voce Prep: 13 Essential Questions

• What is your study about and why did you choose to research this in particular?
• How did your research questions evolve during the research process?
• How did you decide on which sources to include in your literature review?
• How did you design your study and why did you take this approach?
• How generalisable and valid are the findings?
• What were the main shortcomings and limitations created by your research design?
• How did your findings relate to the existing literature?
• What were your key findings in relation to the research questions?
• Were there any findings that surprised you?
• What biases may exist in your research?
• How can your findings be put into practice?
• How has your research contributed to current thinking in the field?
• If you could redo your research, how would you alter your approach?

#1: What is your study about and why did you choose to research this in particular?

This question, a classic party starter, is pretty straightforward.

What the dissertation or thesis committee is assessing here is your ability to clearly articulate your research aims, objectives and research questions in a concise manner. Concise is the keyword here – you need to clearly explain your research topic without rambling on for a half-hour. Don’t feel the need to go into the weeds here – you’ll have many opportunities to unpack the details later on.

In the second half of the question, they’re looking for a brief explanation of the justification of your research. In other words, why was this particular set of research aims, objectives and questions worth addressing? To address this question well in your oral defense, you need to make it clear what gap existed within the research and why that gap was worth filling.

#2: How did your research questions evolve during the research process?

Good research generally follows a long and winding path . It’s seldom a straight line (unless you got really lucky). What they’re assessing here is your ability to follow that path and let the research process unfold.

Specifically, they’ll want to hear about the impact that the literature review process had on you in terms of shaping the research aims, objectives and research questions . For example, you may have started with a certain set of aims, but then as you immersed yourself in the literature, you may have changed direction. Similarly, your initial fieldwork findings may have turned out some unexpected data that drove you to adjust or expand on your initial research questions.

Long story short – a good defense involves clearly describing your research journey , including all the twists and turns. Adjusting your direction based on findings in the literature or the fieldwork shows that you’re responsive , which is essential for high-quality research.

#3: How did you decide on which sources to include in your literature review?

A comprehensive literature review is the foundation of any high-quality piece of research. With this question, your dissertation or thesis committee are trying to assess which quality criteria and approach you used to select the sources for your literature review.

Typically, good research draws on both the seminal work in the respective field and more recent sources . In other words, a combination of the older landmark studies and pivotal work, along with up-to-date sources that build on to those older studies. This combination ensures that the study has a rock-solid foundation but is not out of date.

So, make sure that your study draws on a mix of both the “classics” and new kids on the block, and take note of any major evolutions in the literature that you can use as an example when asked this question in your viva voce.

#4: How did you design your study and why did you take this approach?

This is a classic methodological question that you can almost certainly expect in some or other shape.

What they’re looking for here is a clear articulation of the research design and methodology, as well as a strong justification of each choice . So, you need to be able to walk through each methodological choice and clearly explain both what you did and why you did it. The why is particularly important – you need to be able to justify each choice you made by clearly linking your design back to your research aims, objectives and research questions, while also taking into account practical constraints.

To ensure you cover every base, check out our research methodology vlog post , as well as our post covering the Research Onion .

#5: How generalizable and valid are the findings?

This question is aimed at specifically digging into your understanding of the sample and how that relates to the population, as well as potential validity issues in your methodology.

To answer question this well, you’ll need to critically assess your sample and findings and consider if they truly apply to the entire population, as well as whether they assessed what they set out to. Note that there are two components here – generalizability and validity . Generalizability is about how well the sample represents the population. Validity is about how accurately you’ve measured what you intended to measure .

To ace this part of your dissertation defense, make sure that you’re very familiar with the concepts of generalizability , validity and reliability , and how these apply to your research. Remember, you don’t need to achieve perfection – you just need to be aware of the strengths and weaknesses of your research (and how the weaknesses could be improved upon).

Need a helping hand?

#6: What were the main shortcomings and limitations created by your research design?

This question picks up where the last one left off.

As I mentioned, it’s perfectly natural that your research will have shortcomings and limitations as a result of your chosen design and methodology. No piece of research is flawless. Therefore, a good dissertation defense is not about arguing that your work is perfect, but rather it’s about clearly articulating the strengths and weaknesses of your approach.

To address this question well, you need to think critically about all of the potential weaknesses your design may have, as well as potential responses to these (which could be adopted in future research) to ensure you’re well prepared for this question. For a list of common methodological limitations, check out our video about research limitations here .

#7: How did your findings relate to the existing literature?

This common dissertation defense question links directly to your discussion chapter , where you would have presented and discussed the findings in relation to your literature review.

What your dissertation or thesis committee is assessing here is your ability to compare your study’s findings to the findings of existing research . Specifically, you need to discuss which findings aligned with existing research and which findings did not. For those findings that contrasted against existing research, you should also explain what you believe to be the reasons for this.

As with many questions in a viva voce, it’s both the what and the why that matter here. So, you need to think deeply about what the underlying reasons may be for both the similarities and differences between your findings and those of similar studies.

#8: What were your key findings in relation to the research questions?

This question is similar to the last one in that it too focuses on your research findings. However, here the focus is specifically on the findings that directly relate to your research questions (as opposed to findings in general).

So, a good way to prepare for this question is to step back and revisit your research questions . Ask yourself the following:

• What exactly were you asking in those questions, and what did your research uncover concerning them?
• Which questions were well answered by your study and which ones were lacking?
• Why were they lacking and what more could be done to address this in future research?

Conquering this part dissertation defense requires that you focus squarely on the research questions. Your study will have provided many findings (hopefully!), and not all of these will link directly to the research questions. Therefore, you need to clear your mind of all of the fascinating side paths your study may have lead you down and regain a clear focus on the research questions .

#9: Were there any findings that surprised you?

This question is two-pronged.

First, you should discuss the surprising findings that were directly related to the original research questions . Going into your research, you likely had some expectations in terms of what you would find, so this is your opportunity to discuss the outcomes that emerged as contrary to what you initially expected. You’ll also want to think about what the reasons for these contrasts may be.

Second, you should discuss the findings that weren’t directly related to the research questions, but that emerged from the data set . You may have a few or you may have none – although generally there are a handful of interesting musings that you can glean from the data set. Again, make sure you can articulate why you find these interesting and what it means for future research in the area.

What the committee is looking for in this type of question is your ability to interpret the findings holistically and comprehensively , and to respond to unexpected data. So, take the time to zoom out and reflect on your findings thoroughly.

#10: What biases may exist in your research?

Biases… we all have them.

For this question, you’ll need to think about potential biases in your research , in the data itself but also in your interpretation of the data. With this question, your committee is assessing whether you have considered your own potential biases and the biases inherent in your analysis approach (i.e. your methodology). So, think carefully about these research biases and be ready to explain how these may exist in your study.

In an oral defense, this question is often followed up with a question on how the biases were mitigated or could be mitigated in future research. So, give some thought not just to what biases may exist, but also the mitigation measures (in your own study and for future research).

#11: How can your findings be put into practice?

Another classic question in the typical viva voce.

With this question, your committee is assessing your ability to bring your findings back down to earth and demonstrate their practical value and application. Importantly, this question is not about the contribution to academia or the overall field of research (we’ll get to that next) – it is specifically asking about how this newly created knowledge can be used in the real world.

Naturally, the actionability of your findings will vary depending on the nature of your research topic. Some studies will produce many action points and some won’t. If you’re researching marketing strategies within an industry, for example, you should be able to make some very specific recommendations for marketing practitioners in that industry.

To help you flesh out points for this question, look back at your original justification for the research (i.e. in your introduction and literature review chapters). What were the driving forces that led you to research your specific topic? That justification should help you identify ways in which your findings can be put into practice.

#12: How has your research contributed to current thinking in the field?

While the previous question was aimed at practical contribution, this question is aimed at theoretical contribution . In other words, what is the significance of your study within the current body of research? How does it fit into the existing research and what does it add to it?

This question is often asked by a field specialist and is used to assess whether you’re able to place your findings into the research field to critically convey what your research contributed. This argument needs to be well justified – in other words, you can’t just discuss what your research contributed, you need to also back each proposition up with a strong why .

To answer this question well, you need to humbly consider the quality and impact of your work and to be realistic in your response. You don’t want to come across as arrogant (“my work is groundbreaking”), nor do you want to undersell the impact of your work. So, it’s important to strike the right balance between realistic and pessimistic .

This question also opens the door to questions about potential future research . So, think about what future research opportunities your study has created and which of these you feel are of the highest priority.

#13: If you could redo your research, how would you alter your approach?

This question is often used to wrap up a viva voce as it brings the discussion full circle.

Here, your committee is again assessing your ability to clearly identify and articulate the limitations and shortcomings of your research, both in terms of research design and topic focus . Perhaps, in hindsight, it would have been better to use a different analysis method or data set. Perhaps the research questions should have leaned in a slightly different direction. And so on.

This question intends to assess whether you’re able to look at your work critically , assess where the weaknesses are and make recommendations for the future . This question often sets apart those who did the research purely because it was required, from those that genuinely engaged with their research. So, don’t hold back here – reflect on your entire research journey ask yourself how you’d do things differently if you were starting with a  blank canvas today.

Recap: The 13 Key Dissertation Defense Questions

To recap, here are the 13 questions you need to be ready for to ace your dissertation or thesis oral defense:

As I mentioned, this list of dissertation defense questions is certainly not exhaustive – don’t assume that we’ve covered every possible question here. However, these questions are quite likely to come up in some shape or form in a typical dissertation or thesis defense, whether it’s for a Master’s degree, PhD or any other research degree. So, you should take the time to make sure you can answer them well.

If you need assistance preparing for your dissertation defense or viva voce, get in touch with us to discuss 1-on-1 coaching. We can critically review your research and identify potential issues and responses, as well as undertake a mock oral defense to prepare you for the pressures and stresses on the day.

Psst... there’s more!

This post was based on one of our popular Research Bootcamps . If you're working on a research project, you'll definitely want to check this out ...

14 Comments

Very interesting

Interesting. I appreciate!

Really appreciating

My field is International Trade

Interesting

This is a full course on defence. I was fabulously enlightened and I gained enough confidence for my upcoming Masters Defence.

There are many lessons to learn and the simplicity in presentationmakes thee reader say “YesI can”

This is so helping… it has Enlightened me on how to answer specific questions. I pray to make it through for my upcoming defense

Lovely to hear that 🙂

Really educative and beneficial

Interesting. On-point and elaborate. And comforting too! Thanks.

Thank you very much for the enlightening me, be blessed

Thankyou so much. I am planning to defend my thesis soon and I found this very useful

Very interesting and useful to all masters and PhD students

Wow! this is enlightening. Thanks for the great work.

Thank you very much ,it will help me My Master Degree. and am comfortable to my defense.

Submit a Comment Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

• Print Friendly

• PhD Viva Voces – A Complete Guide
• Doing a PhD
• A PhD viva involves defending your thesis in an oral examination with at least two examiners.
• The aim of a PhD viva is to confirm that the work is your own , that you have a deep understanding of your project and, overall, that you are a competent researcher .
• There are no standard durations, but they usually range from one to three hours, with most lasting approximately two hours .
• There are six outcomes of a PhD viva: (1) pass without corrections (2) pass subject to minor corrections, (3) pass subject to major corrections, (4) downgrade to MPhil with no amendments, (5) downgrade to MPhil subject to amendments, (6) immediate fail.
• Almost all students who sit their viva pass it, with the most common outcome being ‘(2) – pass subject to minor corrections’.

What Is a PhD Viva?

A viva voce , more commonly referred to as ‘viva’, is an oral examination conducted at the end of your PhD and is essentially the final hurdle on the path to a doctorate. It is the period in which a student’s knowledge and work are evaluated by independent examiners.

In order to assess the student and their work around their research question, a viva sets out to determine:

• you understand the ideas and theories that you have put forward,
• you can answer questions about elements of your work that the examiners have questions about,
• you understand the broader research in your field and how your work contributes to this,
• you are aware of the limitations of your work and understand how it can be developed further,
• your work makes an original contribution, is your own and has not been plagiarised.

Note: A viva is a compulsory procedure for all PhD students, with the only exception being when a PhD is obtained through publication as opposed to the conventional route of study.

Who Will Attend a Viva?

In the UK, at least two examiners must take part in all vivas. Although you could have more than two examiners, most will not in an attempt to facilitate a smoother questioning process.

One of the two examiners will be internal, i.e. from your university, and the other will be external, i.e. from another university. Regardless, both will be knowledgeable in your research field and have read your thesis beforehand.

In addition to your two examiners, two other people may be present. The first is a chairperson. This is an individual who will be responsible for monitoring the interview and for ensuring proper conduct is followed at all times. The need for an external chairperson will vary between universities, as one of the examiners can also take on this role. The second is your supervisor, whose attendance is decided upon by you in agreement with your examiners. If your supervisor attends, they are prohibited from asking questions or from influencing the outcome of the viva.

To avoid any misunderstandings, we have summarised the above in a table:

Note: In some countries, such as in the United States, a viva is known as a ‘PhD defense’ and is performed publicly in front of a panel or board of examiners and an open audience. In these situations, the student presents their work in the form of a lecture and then faces questions from the examiners and audience which almost acts as a critical appraisal.

How Long Does a Viva Last?

Since all universities have different guidelines , and since all PhDs are unique, there are no standard durations. Typically, however, the duration ranges from one to three hours, with most lasting approximately two hours.

Your examiners will also influence the duration of your viva as some will favour a lengthy discussion, while others may not. Usually, your university will consult your examiners in advance and notify you of the likely duration closer to the day of your viva.

What Happens During a Viva?

Regardless of the subject area, all PhD vivas follow the same examination process format as below.

Introductions

You will introduce yourselves to each other, with the internal examiner normally introducing the external examiner. If an external chairperson is present, they too are introduced; otherwise, this role will be assumed by one of the examiners.

Procedure Explained

After the introductions, the appointed chair will explain the viva process. Although it should already be known to everyone, it will be repeated to ensure the viva remains on track during the forthcoming discussion.

Warm-Up Questions

The examiners will then begin the questioning process. This usually starts with a few simple opening questions, such as asking you to summarise your PhD thesis and what motivated you to carry out the research project.

In-Depth Questions

The viva questions will then naturally increase in difficulty as the examiners go further into the details of your thesis. These may include questions such as “What was the most critical decision you made when determining your research methodology ?”, “Do your findings agree with the current published work?” and “How do your findings impact existing theories or literature? ”. In addition to asking open-ended questions, they will also ask specific questions about the methodology, results and analysis on which your thesis is based.

Closing the Viva

Once the examiners are satisfied that they have thoroughly evaluated your knowledge and thesis, they will invite you to ask any questions you may have, and then bring the oral examination to a close.

What Happens After the Viva?

Once your viva has officially ended, your examiners will ask you to leave the room so that they can discuss your performance. Once a mutual agreement has been reached, which can take anywhere from 10 minutes to an hour, you will be invited back inside and informed of your outcome.

PhD Viva Outcomes

There are six possible outcomes to a viva:

• Immediate award of degree: A rare recommendation – congratulations, you are one of the few people who completely satisfied your examiners the first time around. You do not have to do anything further at this point.
• Minor amendments required: The most common recommendation – you obtain a pass on the condition that you make a number of minor amendments to your thesis, such as clarifying certain points and correcting grammatical errors. The time you have to make these changes depends on the number of them, but is usually one to six months.
• Major amendments required: A somewhat uncommon recommendation – you are requested to make major amendments to your thesis, ranging from further research to collecting more data or rewriting entire sections. Again, the time you have to complete this will depend on the number of changes required, but will usually be six months to one year. You will be awarded your degree once your amended thesis has been reviewed and accepted.
• Immediate award of MPhil: An uncommon recommendation – your examiners believe your thesis does not meet the standard for a doctoral degree but meets the standard for an MPhil (Master of Philosophy), a lower Master’s degree.
• Amendments required for MPhil: A rare recommendation – your examiners believe your thesis does not meet the standard for a doctoral degree, but with several amendments will meet the standard for an MPhil.
• Immediate fail: A very rare recommendation – you are given an immediate fail without the ability to resubmit and without entitlement to an MPhil.

Finding a PhD has never been this easy – search for a PhD by keyword, location or academic area of interest.

What Is the Pass Rate for Vivas?

Based on an  analysis of 26,076 PhD students  who took their viva exam between 2006 and 2017, the PhD viva pass rate in the UK is 96%; of those who passed, about 80% were required to make minor amendments to their thesis. The reason for this high pass rate is that supervisors will only put their students forward for a viva once they confidently believe they are ready for it. As a result, most candidates who sit a viva are already well-versed in their PhD topic before they even start preparing for the exam.

How Do I Arrange a Viva?

Your viva will be arranged either by the examiners or by the chairperson. The viva will be arranged at least one to two months after you have submitted your thesis and will arrange a viva date and venue that is suitable for all participants.

Can I Choose My Examiners?

At most universities, you and your supervisor will choose the internal and external examiners yourselves. This is because the examiners must have extensive knowledge of the thesis topic in order to be able to examine you and, as the author of the thesis in question, who else could better determine who they might be than you and your supervisor. The internal examiner is usually quite easy to find given they will be from your institution, but the external examiner may end up being your second or third preference depending on availability.

Can I Take Notes Into a Viva?

A viva is about testing your competence, not your memory. As such, you are allowed to take notes and other supporting material in with you. However, keep in mind that your examiners will not be overly impressed if you constantly have to refer to your notes to answer each question. Because of this, many students prefer to take an annotated copy of their thesis, with important points already highlighted and key chapters marked with post-it notes.

In addition to an annotated copy of a thesis, some students also take:

• a list of questions they would like to ask the examiners,
• notes that were created during their preparation,
• a list of minor corrections they have already identified from their viva prep work.

How Do I Prepare for a PhD Viva?

There are several ways to prepare for a PhD viva, one of the most effective being a mock viva voce examination . This allows you to familiarise yourself with the type of viva questions you will be asked and identify any weak areas you need to improve. They also give you the opportunity to practise without the pressure, giving you more time to think about your answers which will help to make sure that you know your thesis inside out. However, a mock viva exam is just one of many methods available to you – some of the other viva preparation methods can be found on our “ How to Prepare for a PhD Viva ” page.

Browse PhDs Now

Join thousands of students.

Join thousands of other students and stay up to date with the latest PhD programmes, funding opportunities and advice.

Reference management. Clean and simple.

How to prepare an excellent thesis defense

What is a thesis defense?

How long is a thesis defense, what happens at a thesis defense, your presentation, questions from the committee, 6 tips to help you prepare for your thesis defense, 1. anticipate questions and prepare for them, 2. dress for success, 3. ask for help, as needed, 4. have a backup plan, 5. prepare for the possibility that you might not know an answer, 6. de-stress before, during, and after, frequently asked questions about preparing an excellent thesis defense, related articles.

If you're about to complete, or have ever completed a graduate degree, you have most likely come across the term "thesis defense." In many countries, to finish a graduate degree, you have to write a thesis .

A thesis is a large paper, or multi-chapter work, based on a topic relating to your field of study.

Once you hand in your thesis, you will be assigned a date to defend your work. Your thesis defense meeting usually consists of you and a committee of two or more professors working in your program. It may also include other people, like professionals from other colleges or those who are working in your field.

During your thesis defense, you will be asked questions about your work. The main purpose of your thesis defense is for the committee to make sure that you actually understand your field and focus area.

The questions are usually open-ended and require the student to think critically about their work. By the time of your thesis defense, your paper has already been evaluated. The questions asked are not designed so that you actually have to aggressively "defend" your work; often, your thesis defense is more of a formality required so that you can get your degree.

• Check with your department about requirements and timing.
• Re-read your thesis.
• Anticipate questions and prepare for them.
• Create a back-up plan to deal with technology hiccups.
• Plan de-stressing activities both before, and after, your defense.

How long your oral thesis defense is depends largely on the institution and requirements of your degree. It is best to consult your department or institution about this. In general, a thesis defense may take only 20 minutes, but it may also take two hours or more. The length also depends on how much time is allocated to the presentation and questioning part.

Tip: Check with your department or institution as soon as possible to determine the approved length for a thesis defense.

First of all, be aware that a thesis defense varies from country to country. This is just a general overview, but a thesis defense can take many different formats. Some are closed, others are public defenses. Some take place with two committee members, some with more examiners.

The same goes for the length of your thesis defense, as mentioned above. The most important first step for you is to clarify with your department what the structure of your thesis defense will look like. In general, your thesis defense will include:

• your presentation of around 20-30 minutes
• questions from the committee
• questions from the audience (if the defense is public and the department allows it)

You might have to give a presentation, often with Powerpoint, Google slides, or Keynote slides. Make sure to prepare an appropriate amount of slides. A general rule is to use about 10 slides for a 20-minute presentation.

But that also depends on your specific topic and the way you present. The good news is that there will be plenty of time ahead of your thesis defense to prepare your slides and practice your presentation alone and in front of friends or family.

Tip: Practice delivering your thesis presentation in front of family, friends, or colleagues.

You can prepare your slides by using information from your thesis' first chapter (the overview of your thesis) as a framework or outline. Substantive information in your thesis should correspond with your slides.

Make sure your slides are of good quality— both in terms of the integrity of the information and the appearance. If you need more help with how to prepare your presentation slides, both the ASQ Higher Education Brief and James Hayton have good guidelines on the topic.

The committee will ask questions about your work after you finish your presentation. The questions will most likely be about the core content of your thesis, such as what you learned from the study you conducted. They may also ask you to summarize certain findings and to discuss how your work will contribute to the existing body of knowledge.

Tip: Read your entire thesis in preparation of the questions, so you have a refreshed perspective on your work.

While you are preparing, you can create a list of possible questions and try to answer them. You can foresee many of the questions you will get by simply spending some time rereading your thesis.

Here are a few tips on how to prepare for your thesis defense:

You can absolutely prepare for most of the questions you will be asked. Read through your thesis and while you're reading it, create a list of possible questions. In addition, since you will know who will be on the committee, look at the academic expertise of the committee members. In what areas would they most likely be focused?

If possible, sit at other thesis defenses with these committee members to get a feel for how they ask and what they ask. As a graduate student, you should generally be adept at anticipating test questions, so use this advantage to gather as much information as possible before your thesis defense meeting.

Your thesis defense is a formal event, often the entire department or university is invited to participate. It signals a critical rite of passage for graduate students and faculty who have supported them throughout a long and challenging process.

While most universities don't have specific rules on how to dress for that event, do regard it with dignity and respect. This one might be a no-brainer, but know that you should dress as if you were on a job interview or delivering a paper at a conference.

It might help you deal with your stress before your thesis defense to entrust someone with the smaller but important responsibilities of your defense well ahead of schedule. This trusted person could be responsible for:

• preparing the room of the day of defense
• setting up equipment for the presentation
• preparing and distributing handouts

Technology is unpredictable. Life is too. There are no guarantees that your Powerpoint presentation will work at all or look the way it is supposed to on the big screen. We've all been there. Make sure to have a plan B for these situations. Handouts can help when technology fails, and an additional clean shirt can save the day if you have a spill.

One of the scariest aspects of the defense is the possibility of being asked a question you can't answer. While you can prepare for some questions, you can never know exactly what the committee will ask.

There will always be gaps in your knowledge. But your thesis defense is not about being perfect and knowing everything, it's about how you deal with challenging situations. You are not expected to know everything.

James Hayton writes on his blog that examiners will sometimes even ask questions they don't know the answer to, out of curiosity, or because they want to see how you think. While it is ok sometimes to just say "I don't know", he advises to try something like "I don't know, but I would think [...] because of x and y, but you would need to do [...] in order to find out.” This shows that you have the ability to think as an academic.

You will be nervous. But your examiners will expect you to be nervous. Being well prepared can help minimize your stress, but do know that your examiners have seen this many times before and are willing to help, by repeating questions, for example. Dora Farkas at finishyourthesis.com notes that it’s a myth that thesis committees are out to get you.

Two common symptoms of being nervous are talking really fast and nervous laughs. Try to slow yourself down and take a deep breath. Remember what feels like hours to you are just a few seconds in real life.

• Try meditational breathing right before your defense.
• Get plenty of exercise and sleep in the weeks prior to your defense.
• Have your clothes or other items you need ready to go the night before.
• During your defense, allow yourself to process each question before answering.
• Go to dinner with friends and family, or to a fun activity like mini-golf, after your defense.

Allow yourself to process each question, respond to it, and stop talking once you have responded. While a smile can often help dissolve a difficult situation, remember that nervous laughs can be irritating for your audience.

We all make mistakes and your thesis defense will not be perfect. However, careful preparation, mindfulness, and confidence can help you feel less stressful both before, and during, your defense.

Finally, consider planning something fun that you can look forward to after your defense.

It is completely normal to be nervous. Being well prepared can help minimize your stress, but do know that your examiners have seen this many times before and are willing to help, by repeating questions for example if needed. Slow yourself down, and take a deep breath.

Your thesis defense is not about being perfect and knowing everything, it's about how you deal with challenging situations. James Hayton writes on his blog that it is ok sometimes to just say "I don't know", but he advises to try something like "I don't know, but I would think [...] because of x and y, you would need to do [...] in order to find out".

Your Powerpoint presentation can get stuck or not look the way it is supposed to do on the big screen. It can happen and your supervisors know it. In general, handouts can always save the day when technology fails.

• Dress for success.
• Ask for help setting up.
• Have a backup plan (in case technology fails you).
• Deal with your nerves.

PhD Dissertation Defense Slides Design: Start

• Tips for designing the slides
• Presentation checklist
• Example slides
• Additional Resources

Purpose of the Guide

This guide was created to help ph.d. students in engineering fields to design dissertation defense presentations. the guide provides 1) tips on how to effectively communicate research, and 2) full presentation examples from ph.d. graduates. the tips on designing effective slides are not restricted to dissertation defense presentations; they can be used in designing other types of presentations such as conference talks, qualification and proposal exams, and technical seminars., the tips and examples are used to help students to design effective presentation. the technical contents in all examples are subject to copyright, please do not replicate. , if you need help in designing your presentation, please contact julie chen ([email protected]) for individual consultation. .

• Example Slides Repository
• Defense slides examples Link to examples dissertation defense slides.

Useful Links

• CIT Thesis and dissertation standards
• Dissertations and Theses @ Carnegie Mellon This link opens in a new window Covers 1920-present. Full text of some dissertations may be available 1997-present. Citations and abstracts of dissertations and theses CMU graduate students have published through UMI Dissertation Publishing. In addition to citations and abstracts, the service provides free access to 24 page previews and the full text in PDF format, when available. In most cases, this will be works published in 1997 forward.
• Communicate your research data Data visualization is very important in communicating your data effectively. Check out these do's and don'ts for designing figures.

Power Point Template and other Resources

• CEE Powerpoint Slide Presentation Template 1
• CEE Powerpoint Slide Presentation Template 2

Source: CEE Department Resources https://www.cmu.edu/cee/resources/index.html

• CMU Powerpoint Slide Template

Source: CMU Marketing and Communications

https://www.cmu.edu/marcom/brand-standards/downloads/index.html

• Use of CMU logos, marks, and Unitmarks

Email me for questions and schedule an appointment

Top 7 tips for your defense presentation

1. show why your study is important, remember, your audience is your committee members, researchers in other fields, and even the general public. you want to convince all of them why you deserve a ph.d. degree. you need to talk about why your study is important to the world. in the engineering field, you also need to talk about how your study is useful. try to discuss why current practice is problematic or not good enough, what needs to be solved, and what the potential benefits will be. , see how dr. posen and dr. malings explained the importance of their studies..

• Carl Malings Defense Slides with Notes
• I. Daniel Posen Defense Slides with Notes

2. Emphasize YOUR contribution 

Having a ph.d. means that you have made some novel contributions to the grand field. this is about you and your research. you need to keep emphasizing your contributions throughout your presentation. after talking about what needs to be solved, try to focus on emphasizing the novelty of your work. what problems can be solved using your research outcomes what breakthroughs have you made to the field why are your methods and outcomes outstanding you need to incorporate answers to these questions in your presentation. , be clear what your contributions are in the introduction section; separate what was done by others and what was done by you. , 3. connect your projects into a whole piece of work, you might have been doing multiple projects that are not strongly connected. to figure out how to connect them into a whole piece, use visualizations such as flow charts to convince your audience. the two slides below are two examples. in the first slide, which was presented in the introduction section, the presenter used a flow diagram to show the connection between the three projects. in the second slide, the presenter used key figures and a unique color for each project to show the connection..

• Xiaoju Chen Defense Slides with Notes

4. Tell a good story 

The committee members do not necessarily have the same background knowledge as you. plus, there could be researchers from other fields and even the general public in the room. you want to make sure all of your audience can understand as much as possible. focus on the big picture rather than technical details; make sure you use simple language to explain your methods and results. your committee has read your dissertation before your defense, but others have not. , dr. cook and dr. velibeyoglu did a good job explaining their research to everyone. the introduction sessions in their presentations are well designed for this purpose. .

• Laren M. Cook Defense Slides with Notes
• Irem Velibeyoglu Defense with Notes

5. Transition, transition, transition

Use transition slides to connect projects , it's a long presentation with different research projects. you want to use some sort of transition to remind your audience what you have been talking about and what is next. you may use a slide that is designed for this purpose throughout your presentation. , below are two examples. these slides were presented after the introduction section. the presenters used the same slides and highlighted the items for project one to indicate that they were moving on to the first project. throughout the presentation, they used these slides and highlighted different sections to indicate how these projects fit into the whole dissertation. .

You can also use some other indications on your slides, but remember not to make your slides too busy.  Below are two examples. In the first example, the presenter used chapter numbers to indicate what he was talking about. In the second example, the presenter used a progress bar with keywords for each chapter as the indicator. 

Use transition sentences to connect slides 

Remember transition sentences are also important; use them to summarize what you have said and tell your audience what they will expect next. if you keep forgetting the transition sentence, write a note on your presentation. you can either write down a full sentence of what you want to say or some keywords., 6. be brief, put details in backup slides , you won't have time to explain all of the details. if your defense presentation is scheduled for 45 minutes, you can only spend around 10 minutes for each project - that's shorter than a normal research conference presentation focus on the big picture and leave details behind. you can put the details in your backup slides, so you might find them useful when your committee (and other members of the audience) ask questions regarding these details., 7. show your presentation to your advisor and colleagues, make sure to ask your advisor(s) for their comments. they might have a different view on what should be emphasized and what should be elaborated. , you also want to practice at least once in front of your colleagues. they can be your lab mates, people who work in your research group, and/or your friends. they do not have to be experts in your field. ask them to give you some feedback - their comments can be extremely helpful to improve your presentation. , below are some other tips and resources to design your defense presentation. .

• Tips for designing your defense presentation

How important is your presentation, and cookies?

• Next: Tips for designing the slides >>
• Last Updated: Jan 9, 2024 11:18 AM
• URL: https://guides.library.cmu.edu/c.php?g=883178

Defending Your Dissertation: A Guide

Written by Luke Wink-Moran | Photo by insta_photos

Dissertation defenses are daunting, and no wonder; it’s not a “dissertation discussion,” or a “dissertation dialogue.” The name alone implies that the dissertation you’ve spent the last x number of years working on is subject to attack. And if you don’t feel trepidation for semantic reasons, you might be nervous because you don’t know what to expect. Our imaginations are great at making The Unknown scarier than reality. The good news is that you’ll find in this newsletter article experts who can shed light on what dissertations defenses are really like, and what you can do to prepare for them.

The first thing you should know is that your defense has already begun. It started the minute you began working on your dissertation— maybe even in some of the classes you took beforehand that helped you formulate your ideas. This, according to Dr. Celeste Atkins, is why it’s so important to identify a good mentor early in graduate school.

“To me,” noted Dr. Atkins, who wrote her dissertation on how sociology faculty from traditionally marginalized backgrounds teach about privilege and inequality, “the most important part of the doctoral journey was finding an advisor who understood and supported what I wanted from my education and who was willing to challenge me and push me, while not delaying me.  I would encourage future PhDs to really take the time to get to know the faculty before choosing an advisor and to make sure that the members of their committee work well together.”

Your advisor will be the one who helps you refine arguments and strengthen your work so that by the time it reaches your dissertation committee, it’s ready. Next comes the writing process, which many students have said was the hardest part of their PhD. I’ve included this section on the writing process because this is where you’ll create all the material you’ll present during your defense, so it’s important to navigate it successfully. The writing process is intellectually grueling, it eats time and energy, and it’s where many students find themselves paddling frantically to avoid languishing in the “All-But-Dissertation” doldrums. The writing process is also likely to encroach on other parts of your life. For instance, Dr. Cynthia Trejo wrote her dissertation on college preparation for Latin American students while caring for a twelve-year-old, two adult children, and her aging parents—in the middle of a pandemic. When I asked Dr. Trejo how she did this, she replied:

“I don’t take the privilege of education for granted. My son knew I got up at 4:00 a.m. every morning, even on weekends, even on holidays; and it’s a blessing that he’s seen that work ethic and that dedication and the end result.”

Importantly, Dr. Trejo also exercised regularly and joined several online writing groups at UArizona. She mobilized her support network— her partner, parents, and even friends from high school to help care for her son.

The challenges you face during the writing process can vary by discipline. Jessika Iwanski is an MD/PhD student who in 2022 defended her dissertation on genetic mutations in sarcomeric proteins that lead to severe, neonatal dilated cardiomyopathy. She described her writing experience as “an intricate process of balancing many things at once with a deadline (defense day) that seems to be creeping up faster and faster— finishing up experiments, drafting the dissertation, preparing your presentation, filling out all the necessary documents for your defense and also, for MD/PhD students, beginning to reintegrate into the clinical world (reviewing your clinical knowledge and skill sets)!”

But no matter what your unique challenges are, writing a dissertation can take a toll on your mental health. Almost every student I spoke with said they saw a therapist and found their sessions enormously helpful. They also looked to the people in their lives for support. Dr. Betsy Labiner, who wrote her dissertation on Interiority, Truth, and Violence in Early Modern Drama, recommended, “Keep your loved ones close! This is so hard – the dissertation lends itself to isolation, especially in the final stages. Plus, a huge number of your family and friends simply won’t understand what you’re going through. But they love you and want to help and are great for getting you out of your head and into a space where you can enjoy life even when you feel like your dissertation is a flaming heap of trash.”

While you might sometimes feel like your dissertation is a flaming heap of trash, remember: a) no it’s not, you brilliant scholar, and b) the best dissertations aren’t necessarily perfect dissertations. According to Dr. Trejo, “The best dissertation is a done dissertation.” So don’t get hung up on perfecting every detail of your work. Think of your dissertation as a long-form assignment that you need to finish in order to move onto the next stage of your career. Many students continue revising after graduation and submit their work for publication or other professional objectives.

When you do finish writing your dissertation, it’s time to schedule your defense and invite friends and family to the part of the exam that’s open to the public. When that moment comes, how do you prepare to present your work and field questions about it?

“I reread my dissertation in full in one sitting,” said Dr. Labiner. “During all my time writing it, I’d never read more than one complete chapter at a time! It was a huge confidence boost to read my work in full and realize that I had produced a compelling, engaging, original argument.”

There are many other ways to prepare: create presentation slides and practice presenting them to friends or alone; think of questions you might be asked and answer them; think about what you want to wear or where you might want to sit (if you’re presenting on Zoom) that might give you a confidence boost. Iwanksi practiced presenting with her mentor and reviewed current papers to anticipate what questions her committee might ask.  If you want to really get in the zone, you can emulate Dr. Labiner and do a full dress rehearsal on Zoom the day before your defense.

But no matter what you do, you’ll still be nervous:

“I had a sense of the logistics, the timing, and so on, but I didn’t really have clear expectations outside of the structure. It was a sort of nebulous three hours in which I expected to be nauseatingly terrified,” recalled Dr. Labiner.

“I expected it to be terrifying, with lots of difficult questions and constructive criticism/comments given,” agreed Iwanski.

“I expected it to be very scary,” said Dr. Trejo.

“I expected it to be like I was on trial, and I’d have to defend myself and prove I deserved a PhD,” said Dr Atkins.

And, eventually, inexorably, it will be time to present.  

“It was actually very enjoyable” said Iwanski. “It was more of a celebration of years of work put into this project—not only by me but by my mentor, colleagues, lab members and collaborators! I felt very supported by all my committee members and, rather than it being a rapid fire of questions, it was more of a scientific discussion amongst colleagues who are passionate about heart disease and muscle biology.”

“I was anxious right when I logged on to the Zoom call for it,” said Dr. Labiner, “but I was blown away by the number of family and friends that showed up to support me. I had invited a lot of people who I didn’t at all think would come, but every single person I invited was there! Having about 40 guests – many of them joining from different states and several from different countries! – made me feel so loved and celebrated that my nerves were steadied very quickly. It also helped me go into ‘teaching mode’ about my work, so it felt like getting to lead a seminar on my most favorite literature.”

“In reality, my dissertation defense was similar to presenting at an academic conference,” said Dr. Atkins. “I went over my research in a practiced and organized way, and I fielded questions from the audience.

“It was a celebration and an important benchmark for me,” said Dr. Trejo. “It was a pretty happy day. Like the punctuation at the end of your sentence: this sentence is done; this journey is done. You can start the next sentence.”

If you want to learn more about dissertations in your own discipline, don’t hesitate to reach out to graduates from your program and ask them about their experiences. If you’d like to avail yourself of some of the resources that helped students in this article while they wrote and defended their dissertations, check out these links:

The Graduate Writing Lab

https://thinktank.arizona.edu/writing-center/graduate-writing-lab

The Writing Skills Improvement Program

https://wsip.arizona.edu

Campus Health Counseling and Psych Services

https://caps.arizona.edu

https://www.scribbr.com/

How Do I Prepare for a Successful Defence?

Vivas and Presentations

• First Online: 19 October 2023

Cite this chapter

• Sue Reeves   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-3017-0559 3 &
• Bartek Buczkowski   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-4146-3664 4  

515 Accesses

Once you have submitted your dissertation, you may be asked to do a defence of your dissertation. This could be in the form of an oral presentation, a poster presentation of your findings, or you could be invited to a viva voce. Vivas, as they are usually known, are particularly common for research degrees such as MPhils or PhDs and are essentially a verbal defence of your thesis that is conducted in an interview style format. At a minimum, the viva is a way of checking you authored the thesis yourself and understand the detail, but it is also an opportunity to discuss your research findings and interpretations in depth with experts. Preparation is key for defending your thesis in a viva or a presentation format. With a bit of groundwork, you could even enjoy the discussion, after all the thesis is the culmination of all your hard work, and no one knows it better than you.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Subscribe and save.

• Get 10 units per month
• Download Article/Chapter or eBook
• 1 Unit = 1 Article or 1 Chapter
• Cancel anytime
• Available as EPUB and PDF
• Read on any device
• Instant download
• Own it forever
• Compact, lightweight edition
• Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
• Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Ratcliffe R (2015) How to survive a PhD viva: 17 top tips. https://www.theguardian.com/higher-education-network/2015/jan/08/how-to-survive-a-phd-viva-17-top-tips. Accessed 3 Mar 2023

Further Reading

Levin P, Topping G (2006) Perfect presentations. Open University Press

Google Scholar  

Smith P (2014) The PhD viva: how to prepare for your oral examination. Macmillan, New York

Book   Google Scholar  

Download references

Author information

Authors and affiliations.

University of Roehampton, London, UK

Manchester Metropolitan University, Manchester, UK

Bartek Buczkowski

You can also search for this author in PubMed   Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2023 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG

About this chapter

Reeves, S., Buczkowski, B. (2023). How Do I Prepare for a Successful Defence?. In: Mastering Your Dissertation. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-41911-9_14

Download citation

DOI : https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-41911-9_14

Published : 19 October 2023

Publisher Name : Springer, Cham

Print ISBN : 978-3-031-41910-2

Online ISBN : 978-3-031-41911-9

eBook Packages : Biomedical and Life Sciences Biomedical and Life Sciences (R0)

Share this chapter

Anyone you share the following link with will be able to read this content:

Sorry, a shareable link is not currently available for this article.

Provided by the Springer Nature SharedIt content-sharing initiative

• Publish with us

Policies and ethics

• Find a journal
• Track your research

• Link to facebook
• Link to linkedin
• Link to twitter
• Link to youtube
• Writing Tips

8 Top Tips for Crushing Your PhD Oral Defense

• 3-minute read
• 27th January 2016

Once you’ve submitted your PhD dissertation , most of the hard work is done. The one big thing standing between you and your shiny new doctorate is your oral dissertation defense .

The exact format this takes will depend on your grad school, but the general idea is that you present your thesis to a committee who have read your dissertation. The committee members then ask questions about your work , which you have to defend to prove your academic credentials. You may be asked to make revisions to your dissertation based on the discussion.

This might sound a bit like a scholastic Spanish Inquisition , but as long as you prepare thoroughly, your oral defense doesn’t have to be a stressful experience:

1. Ask Around

The first thing to do when preparing for your oral defense is to ask your PhD advisor what to expect and check your grad school’s requirements. You could also ask colleagues who have already completed their defense.

2. Practice Makes Perfect

If you get the chance, sit in on other people’s oral defense sessions. Even better, if you have some willing friends available, try practicing your defense presentation in front of them, including having them ask you questions.

3. Re-read Your Dissertation

You don’t have to memorize every detail, but re-familiarizing yourself with your work before your oral defense is definitely a good idea.

4. Arrive Early

On the day, make sure you know where and when your oral defense is scheduled to take place. Get there at least fifteen minutes early so you have time to set up and settle down.

Find this useful?

Subscribe to our newsletter and get writing tips from our editors straight to your inbox.

5. Your Thesis Statement

Make sure you have a clear thesis statement to begin your presentation. This will usually include the problem you’re addressing, why it’s important and what your research has achieved.

6. Use Visual Aids

Having handouts or a PowerPoint slideshow to accompany your talk is pretty much standard these days and can enhance your presentation.

7. Don’t Fear the Committee

It’s easy to feel like the committee members are out to get you once the questions start flying, but try not to panic. It’s perfectly fine to ask for clarification if you’re unsure about something.

Likewise, be honest if you don’t have an immediate response; it’s far better to say you’d need to do more research before answering than it is to try and bluff your way through the conversation.

Similarly, don’t feel like you have to rush. Taking a moment to think before answering a question will help you to formulate a considered answer.

8. Believe in Yourself!

The most important thing to remember is that your advisor will not have let you submit your dissertation unless they thought it was a good piece of work. As such you have every reason to be confident, which will make your presentation more convincing. Try to dress smart too, as you want to make a good first impression.

Share this article:

Post A New Comment

Got content that needs a quick turnaround? Let us polish your work. Explore our editorial business services.

6-minute read

How to Write a Nonprofit Grant Proposal

If you’re seeking funding to support your charitable endeavors as a nonprofit organization, you’ll need...

9-minute read

How to Use Infographics to Boost Your Presentation

Is your content getting noticed? Capturing and maintaining an audience’s attention is a challenge when...

8-minute read

Why Interactive PDFs Are Better for Engagement

Are you looking to enhance engagement and captivate your audience through your professional documents? Interactive...

7-minute read

Seven Key Strategies for Voice Search Optimization

Voice search optimization is rapidly shaping the digital landscape, requiring content professionals to adapt their...

4-minute read

Five Creative Ways to Showcase Your Digital Portfolio

Are you a creative freelancer looking to make a lasting impression on potential clients or...

How to Ace Slack Messaging for Contractors and Freelancers

Effective professional communication is an important skill for contractors and freelancers navigating remote work environments....

Make sure your writing is the best it can be with our expert English proofreading and editing.

Website changes are in-progress. Learn more ➜

Preparing for your phd thesis defence.

As you start thinking about the end stages of your PhD, it’s important to understand the processes and timelines related to the thesis defence so that your degree completion is not delayed. Even if your thesis defence seems far away, there are several planning considerations you can consider early on to help the end stages of your PhD go smoothly.

On this page you will find videos, tools, and information about what the PhD thesis defence is , timelines for the PhD thesis defence , and tips for a successful PhD thesis defence .

All PhD students should also ensure that they read the PhD thesis examination regulations and review the thesis preparation guidelines prior to their oral defence. If your thesis defence will be conducted remotely, you should also review the process for a remote thesis defence .

What is the PhD defence?

Understanding the purpose, processes and possible outcomes of the thesis defence can help you feel more prepared for the defence itself. In this video, you’ll learn about what the defence is, who’s there, what happens, and the deliberation and range of possible outcomes.

Transcript - Demystifying the thesis defence at University of Waterloo (PDF)

You may wish to learn more about some of the topics discussed in this video. Here are some helpful links to learn more:

Examination committee members (including the external examiner): Visit the PhD thesis examination regulations section on the  PhD thesis examining committee for more information about the committee members, including information about the external examiner and conflicts of interest.

• Closed thesis defences and non-disclosure agreements: Visit the PhD thesis examination regulations section on guidelines for thesis examination without public disclosure for more information about closed thesis examinations.
• Thesis defence decisions and outcomes: Visit the PhD thesis examination regulations section on  decisions for additional information about decisions and outcomes.
• Thesis submission: Visit the thesis submission webpage for information about the thesis submission process, including approvals that must be obtained before submitting your thesis.
• UWSpace: Visit the Library’s UWSpace webpage for information about what UWSpace is and how to submit, or deposit, your thesis to UWSpace.

Timeline to defence

Early planning considerations.

Well before your defence date, there are several considerations to think about that can help make the end stages of your degree go smoothly and ensure your defence date and degree completion are not delayed:

• Being aware of formatting requirements will save you time on revisions later on – the last thing you want to be doing before submitting your thesis to UWSpace is updating page numbers or your table of contents! Consider using the Microsoft Word or LaTeX thesis template produced by Information Systems & Technology. 
• The Dissertation Boost Camp can help you develop effective writing practices and strategies for completing your thesis, while the three-part Rock Your Thesis workshop series will provide practical guidance for planning, writing, revising, and submitting your thesis project. You can also book an individual appointment to do backwards planning with an advisor. They can help you utilize the planning tools most effectively, while providing hands-on guidance and feedback.  
• If you are using third-party content, including your own previously published work in your thesis, or seeking intellectual property protection (for yourself or another involved party), there may be implications for your thesis or defence. Learn more about copyright for your thesis , and email [email protected] for help with copyright questions related to your thesis.
• Depending on your departmental or discipline’s norms, you may require approval from your entire committee, or just your supervisor. Ensure you talk with your supervisor and/or committee early on to confirm processes and timelines, so you’re not surprised later.
• Depending on your departmental or discipline’s norms, your supervisor may select an external examiner themselves, or they may seek your input. Talk to your supervisor early on about this process, as in some faculties the external examiner may need to be vetted and approved as early as the term before you wish to defend. Remember that there are conflict of interest guidelines around the appointment of the external examiner , and the PhD candidate should not be in communication with the external examiner prior to the defence.
• A PhD thesis must be on display for a minimum of 4 weeks prior to the defence date. To accommodate, you may need to submit your thesis as early as 6-8 weeks prior to your defence. Review your faculty specific backwards planning tool for the thesis submission deadline in your faculty and learn more about the display period in the PhD thesis examination regulations.
• After your successful thesis defence, you will likely have some required revisions to your thesis. It’s important to understand revision timelines , especially if you’re hoping to become “degree complete” before a tuition refund or convocation deadline. Find tuition refund and convocation deadlines in the important dates calendar .
• Following your thesis defence, there are several steps to be taken before your final, approved thesis is accepted in UWSpace. Ensure that you’re aware of these thesis submission steps and timelines in advance.

Backwards planning tools

Graduate Studies and Postdoctoral Affairs, in collaboration with the Faculties, have prepared faculty specific backwards planning tools to help PhD candidates map out the timelines related to their thesis defence and degree completion.

Select your faculty below to download a PDF copy of the backwards planning tool. We encourage you to discuss your ideal timelines with your supervisor(s) and your department graduate program co-ordinator.

• Faculty of Health backwards planning tool (PDF)
• Faculty of Arts backwards planning tool (PDF)
• Faculty of Engineering backwards planning tool (PDF)
• Faculty of Environment backwards planning tool (PDF)
• Faculty of Mathematics backwards planning tool (PDF)
• Faculty of Science backwards planning tool (PDF)

Tips for success

The PhD thesis defence is the culmination of years of hard work! The tips outlined in this video, compiled from recent PhD graduates and experienced thesis defence chairs, cover tips for preparing for your defence, day-of logistics, and defending successfully.

Transcript - Your Thesis Defence: Tips for Success (PDF)

Will your PhD thesis defence be held remotely? We’ve compiled additional tips for success specifically related to the remote defence.

Graduate Studies and Postdoctoral Affairs (GSPA)

Graduate Studies Academic Calendar

Website feedback

• Contact Waterloo
• Maps & Directions
• Accessibility

The University of Waterloo acknowledges that much of our work takes place on the traditional territory of the Neutral, Anishinaabeg, and Haudenosaunee peoples. Our main campus is situated on the Haldimand Tract, the land granted to the Six Nations that includes six miles on each side of the Grand River. Our active work toward reconciliation takes place across our campuses through research, learning, teaching, and community building, and is co-ordinated within the Office of Indigenous Relations .

The top 10 thesis defense questions (+ how to prepare strong answers)

Crafting a thesis is significant, but defending it often feels like the ultimate test. While nerve-wracking, proper preparation can make it manageable. Prepare for your thesis defense with insights on the top questions you can expect, including strategies for answering convincingly.

Mastering the thesis defense: cultivate a success mindset

Confidence enables you to present your research with conviction, while composure allows you to navigate any challenges with grace and clarity.

Remember, you know your thesis best, so trust in your expertise.

Stay composed and focused, relying on your thorough preparation. If you encounter a question you can’t answer, gracefully guide the conversation back to familiar topics.

By embracing these principles and staying confident and adaptable, you’ll navigate your thesis defense with ease.

Question 1: Why did you choose this particular topic for your research?

Moreover, discuss the gaps you identified in the existing literature that motivated you to contribute to your field. What deficiencies or unanswered questions did you observe? How did these gaps inspire you to embark on your research journey with the aim of filling these voids? By articulating the specific shortcomings in the current body of knowledge, you demonstrate a nuanced understanding of your research area and underscore the significance of your work.

Question 2: How does your research contribute to the existing body of knowledge?

This question delves into the vital role your research plays within the existing body of knowledge, urging you to articulate its significance and impact. It’s not merely about the subject matter you’ve studied, but also about the unique contributions and advancements your research brings to your field. To effectively respond, delve into the intricacies of your work and its implications for the broader academic landscape.

Illuminate how your findings could influence future research trajectories. Explore potential avenues for further inquiry that emerge from your research findings. Consider how your work opens up new questions or areas of exploration for future researchers. By identifying these potential research directions, you demonstrate the forward-looking nature of your work and its potential to shape the future trajectory of your field.

Question 3: What are the key findings of your research?

Furthermore, relate these findings to the broader implications they hold for your field. Articulate how your research contributes to advancing knowledge or addressing pressing issues within your academic discipline. Consider the potential impact of your findings on theory, practice, or policy, highlighting their relevance and significance within the larger scholarly community.

Question 4: Can you defend your research methodology?

Defending your research methodology entails a comprehensive understanding of its rationale, alignment with research objectives, and acknowledgment of potential limitations. It’s not merely about explaining the methods employed but also justifying why they were chosen over alternative approaches. To effectively respond, delve into the intricacies of your methodology and its implications for the study.

Be prepared to discuss the limitations inherent in your chosen methodology and how you mitigated them. Acknowledge any constraints or shortcomings associated with the selected approach, such as potential biases, sample size limitations, or data collection challenges. Demonstrate your awareness of these limitations and discuss the strategies implemented to address or minimize their impact on the validity and reliability of your findings.

Question 5: How did you analyze the data and what challenges did you encounter?

Begin by outlining the techniques used for data analysis. Describe the specific methods, tools, and software employed to process and interpret the data collected. Whether it involved quantitative statistical analysis, qualitative coding techniques, or a combination of both, provide insights into the analytical framework guiding your study. Additionally, discuss the rationale behind the chosen analytical approach and how it aligns with the research objectives and questions.

In summary, when addressing inquiries about data analysis, consider the following key points:

Question 6: What theoretical frameworks or references underpin your research?

Elucidate on how these frameworks shaped your hypothesis and analysis. Describe how the theoretical perspectives and insights gleaned from seminal works informed the development of your research questions, hypotheses, and analytical framework. Discuss the ways in which these theoretical frameworks guided your data collection and interpretation, influencing the selection of variables, measures, and analytical techniques employed in your study.

Question 7: How did you address ethical considerations in your research?

When addressing ethical considerations in your research, it’s essential to demonstrate a commitment to upholding ethical standards and protecting the rights and well-being of participants. Responding to inquiries about ethical protocols involves explaining the steps taken to ensure ethical conduct throughout the research process, describing the consent process and data protection measures implemented, and mentioning any institutional review board (IRB) approvals obtained.

Mention any institutional ethics review board approvals you obtained. Highlight any formal ethical review processes or approvals obtained from relevant regulatory bodies, such as IRBs or ethics committees. Discuss how the research protocol was reviewed for compliance with ethical guidelines and standards, including considerations of participant welfare, informed consent procedures, and data protection measures. By acknowledging the oversight and approval of institutional review bodies, you demonstrate your commitment to ethical integrity and accountability in conducting research involving human subjects.

Question 8: In what ways does your research contribute to the field?

Begin by detailing the novel insights your thesis provides. Articulate the key findings, discoveries, or perspectives that distinguish your research from existing literature and contribute to advancing knowledge within your field. Discuss how your study fills gaps in current understanding, challenges established assumptions, or offers innovative approaches to addressing pressing issues, highlighting its potential to generate new avenues of inquiry and broaden the scope of scholarly discourse.

In summary, when addressing inquiries about the contributions of your research to the field, consider the following key points:

Question 9: How did you ensure your research was free from bias?

Describe any blind or double-blind procedures employed in the study. Explain how blinding techniques were used to prevent bias in data collection, analysis, or interpretation. This may involve withholding certain information from researchers or participants to minimize the potential for conscious or unconscious bias to influence the results. Discuss how these procedures were implemented and their impact on enhancing the credibility and impartiality of the research outcomes.

Question 10: Where can future research go from here?

When considering the potential trajectory of your research topic, it’s essential to identify areas where further investigation could yield valuable insights, discuss unexplored questions that emerged from your research, and reflect on the limitations of your study as starting points for future research endeavors. Responding to inquiries about the future direction of research involves suggesting fruitful areas for further investigation, highlighting unresolved questions, and leveraging the limitations of your study as opportunities for future exploration.

Reflect on the limitations of your study as starting points for future research. Acknowledge any constraints, biases, or methodological shortcomings that may have influenced the outcomes or interpretations of your study. Discuss how these limitations provide opportunities for future research to refine methodologies, address confounding variables, or explore alternative theoretical frameworks. Consider how addressing these limitations could enhance the validity, reliability, and generalizability of future research findings within your field.

Master Academia

Get new content delivered directly to your inbox, how to harness theoretical and conceptual frameworks for groundbreaking research, 25 short graduation quotes: inspiration in four words or less, related articles, 75 linking words for academic writing (+examples), how to find a reputable academic dissertation editor, left your dissertation too late ways to take action now, getting the most out of thesis supervision meetings.

Oral Examinations

If you have questions about oral examinations, contact us at [email protected] .

Once your dissertation is nearing completion, it’s time to schedule your defense—your final oral examination.

You should begin making arrangements for your defense at the beginning of the semester (especially during the summer) in order to accommodate the schedules of your committee members.

Students must be currently enrolled in the dissertation course for the semester in which the defense is scheduled and held.

Committee Changes

Any changes to your dissertation committee must be approved by the Dean of the Graduate School. Changes should be approved at least 30 days prior to the date of the oral examination so that all new members have ample time to become familiar with your dissertation.

Defense Attendance

You, the student, and your supervisor, in negotiation with the dissertation committee members, should determine a time and date for the defense. Each member of your committee must receive a copy of your dissertation at least four weeks prior to your dissertation defense date. A defense cannot be held within two weeks of the last class day of the semester, unless the committee has consented to hold the defense within those last 2 weeks.

Request for Final Oral Examination Form

You must schedule the dissertation defense with the Graduate School at least two weeks prior to the defense date by completing the Request for Final Oral Examination form. All members of your committee must sign your request form indicating their intent to be present at your final oral. Your graduate adviser must also sign this form to indicate you have been approved to defend.

It is expected that all members of the committee attend the defense. The Graduate School does not distinguish between physical attendance or electronic/virtual attendance of the defense. One non-supervisory committee member may be absent from the defense in if necessary, but all members must read the dissertation and, when satisfied, sign the Report of Dissertation Committee form.

Contact for Questions

Email the Graduate School at the link above with any questions concerning defense attendance.

Format Check Requirements

When you submit the Request for Final Oral Examination form to the Graduate School, you should include one copy each of the dissertation abstract, title page and the committee membership page for a format check in separate PDF. You do not need to include the instructions page.

After the Defense

The official recommendation of your committee and your program is communicated to the Graduate School on the Report of Dissertation Committee. The Dean of the Graduate School depends on this document to determine your eligibility to receive the doctoral degree so it is essential that it be completed and returned in a timely fashion. A passing report signifies that your committee unanimously agrees that you have completed a dissertation that is an independent investigation in your major field.

In the event that revisions to your dissertation are necessary before your committee members approve your dissertation, the report will be retained by your supervisor until all revisions have been completed. After successful completion of your defense and any required revisions to your dissertation, the Report of Dissertation Committee should also be signed by all members of your committee and must be submitted to the Graduate School.

After you’ve made required or requested revisions to your dissertation, if any, check it carefully for grammar, spelling, punctuation, content and format, then convert it to the required PDF format and upload it.

Do not submit your report/thesis/dissertation via email . Final reports, theses and dissertations MUST be uploaded to the Texas Digital Library before your final paperwork and pages will be reviewed. After submission, no revisions or corrections will be allowed except for those required by the dean of the Graduate School.

Upcoming Oral Examinations

Doctoral students’ final oral examinations are open to all members of the University community and the public unless attendance is restricted by the Graduate Studies Committee. Scheduled oral examinations are published on the UT Grad School website.

• Graduate School
• Current Students
• Final Doctoral Exam

Doctoral Exam Guide

Final oral defence, workday student support.

Graduate students can find "how to" guides and support information on our Workday support page .

Purpose of the Final Oral Defence

• To ensure that the candidate is able to present and defend the dissertation and its underlying assumptions, methodology, results, and conclusions in a manner consistent with the doctoral degree being sought;
• To communicate the results of the work to the campus community.

Structure of the Final Oral Defence

The detailed Final Oral Defence procedures are outlined in the Exam Instructions . A copy of these instructions is provided to the examining committee approximately one week before the Oral Defence.

The basic structure of the Oral Defence is:

• Candidate makes a public presentation of the dissertation (maximum 30 minutes)
• Examining committee members question the candidate
• Members of the audience are invited to ask questions of the candidate
• Examining committee holds an in-camera discussion where it decides on the overall recommendation it will make to Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies (see Evaluation Protocol below)
• Chair conveys the recommendations of the examining committee to the candidate

Candidates are encouraged to arrive 30 minutes early to get comfortable and set-up in the exam room. Exams start promptly at the official start time. The doors to the exam room are closed at the start of the exam and no one may enter the exam room, either physical or virtual, once the Final Oral Defence has begun. The Oral Defence usually takes two to two and a half hours.

Audiovisual Equipment

The examination rooms in the Graduate Student Centre come equipped with a projector and screen (room 200) or a large monitor and auxiliary screen (room 203), a white board, and a podium. Most candidates prefer to bring their own laptops to the examination; it is possible to use the wall mounted PC in either room, in which case candidates should either have their presentations available on cloud storage or bring a thumb drive.

The displays in rooms 200 and 203 are equipped with VGA and HDMI inputs. Candidates using laptops without these outputs must bring the appropriate adaptors.

Candidates planning to use Zoom to enable remote attendance should indicate their preference when making the exam booking.

Language Requirement

Candidates for the Final Doctoral Examination must have fulfilled all course and/or language requirements of the degree program. It is the responsibility of the candidate's graduate program to ensure these requirements have been met, and that the candidate's oral language proficiency is adequate for full communication between the examination committee and the candidate.

The Final Doctoral Examination is a public event at UBC and as such will be conducted in English. The candidate's oral proficiency in the language of the examination must be adequate for full communication between the examination committee and the candidate. For theses in language programs, some questions can be posed or answered in the language concerned, provided the examination committee can follow proceedings (by translation if necessary) in this other language.

Remote Attendance at in-person Exams

For information regarding Virtual Defences held entirely on Zoom, see Schedulng the Oral Defence, and the Virtual Exam Protocol .

Managing remote attendees can pose both technological challenges and challenges for candidates in managing divided attention. For these reasons, Hybrid Defences with more than one remote attendee should be discussed with the doctoral exams team in advance. We will work with candidates and supervisors to make sure these defences run smoothly .

Normally, examiners required for quorum at an in-person defence should be physically present in the room. The external examiner or a third member of the supervisory committee may attend the defence remotely. 

Doctoral exams team use a Meeting OWL to support videoconferencing with Zoom. Candidates who wish to have remote attendees should indicate this on their Booking Request. The OWL can be used in either room.

For exams in other suitable rooms on campus, the research supervisor should verify that appropriate equipment is available in the room. Devices such as an OWL, or other mobile AV device may be used.

Should any technological issues arise during the course of the exam, the exam may be paused for a reasonable amount of time to resolve them. Only those examining committee members who have been present for the full duration of the exam can cast a vote in the proceedings. If members required for quorum lose connection and it cannot be restored, the exam will need to be rescheduled.

Please also note that the examination chair has the right to discontinue a remote connection if it is interfering with the proper conduct of the examination.

Attendance of the External Examiner

The external examiner's participation in a candidate's Final Oral Defence offers the opportunity for a valuable dialogue about the dissertation and the research it presents. Therefore, the participation of the external examiner in the Final Oral Defence is encouraged, but it is not required.

Inviting the external examiner to participate in the Final Oral Defence is at the discretion of the research supervisor; Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies will not extend such an invitation. For information about inviting the external examiner, please see Scheduling the Oral Defence .

Recording the Examination

See Recording the Examination .

Evaluation Protocol for the Oral Defence

The examining committee is asked to make an overall recommendation after evaluating two aspects of the candidate's performance:

• The Oral Defence : The committee should evaluate the candidate’s performance while presenting the synopsis, responding to questions, and defending the work. The committee must decide whether or not the performance met the standard of excellence expected of a doctoral candidate at UBC.
• The Dissertation: The committee should evaluate the overall merit of the dissertation, considering scholarship, scope and impact of the contribution made, and the quality of writing. They are asked to take into consideration the external examiner’s report, the assessments of the other examining committee members, and candidate's responses to questions during the Oral Defence. The committee will decide what revisions, if any, will be required before the dissertation can be considered fully acceptable.

Evaluation options available to the examining committee are:

• No revision or only minor revisions are required. The committee charges the research supervisor to verify that the required changes have been made.
• Substantive revisions are required. The committee chooses two or more of its members, including the research supervisor, to verify that the required changes have been made.
• The dissertation is unsatisfactory. Major rewriting and rethinking are required.
• The dissertation is unacceptable; it is fundamentally flawed and therefore beyond revision.

The examining committee is then asked to select one of the following overall recommendations:

• Pass. Pending final submission of the dissertation to the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies, the University should award the doctoral degree to this candidate.
• Re-examination required. The candidate should be allowed a second attempt to pass the Final Doctoral Examination. (No more than one subsequent attempt is permitted.)
• Fail. The University should not grant the doctoral degree to this candidate.

In any category where the committee's judgment is unanimous, or nearly so (in that at most one examiner dissents), the chair will express it using the check-boxes on the chair's Report form. Dissenting opinions will be noted in the text of the Chair’s Report. In any category where two or more examiners disagree with the majority view, the chair will select a box labelled “No Decision” and provide a written description of the differing views in the text of the report. If this occurs, the chair will inform Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies as soon as possible (typically within one business day of the examination). The Dean of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies will review the Chair's Report and promptly determine an appropriate course of action, in consultation with the examination chair and the examining committee.

The examination chair is responsible for completing the Chair's Report form and submitting it to Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies within one week of the Oral Defence.

• Why Grad School at UBC?
• Graduate Degree Programs
• Application & Admission
• Info Sessions
• Research Supervisors
• Research Projects
• Indigenous Students
• International Students
• Tuition, Fees & Cost of Living
• Newly Admitted
• Student Status & Classification
• Student Responsibilities
• Supervision
• Managing your Program
• Health, Wellbeing and Safety
• Professional Development
• Dissertation & Thesis Preparation
• Final Dissertation & Thesis Submission
• Life in Vancouver
• Vancouver Campus
• Graduate Student Spaces
• Graduate Life Centre
• Life as a Grad Student
• Graduate Student Ambassadors
• Meet our Students
• Award Opportunities
• Award Guidelines
• Minimum Funding Policy for PhD Students
• Killam Awards & Fellowships
• Dean's Message
• Leadership Team
• Strategic Plan & Priorities
• Vision & Mission
• Equity, Diversity & Inclusion
• Initiatives, Plans & Reports
• Graduate Education Analysis & Research
• Media Enquiries
• Newsletters
• Giving to Graduate Studies

Strategic Priorities

• Strategic Plan 2019-2024
• Improving Student Funding
• Promoting Excellence in Graduate Programs
• Enhancing Graduate Supervision
• Advancing Indigenous Inclusion
• Supporting Student Development and Success
• Reimagining Graduate Education
• Enriching the Student Experience

Initiatives

• Public Scholars Initiative
• 3 Minute Thesis (3MT)
• PhD Career Outcomes

Preparing for the Oral Defence

PhD candidates are required to take an oral exam called an Oral Defence (or Oral Defence in American English), which is often called a ‘Viva Voce’, or ‘Viva’ for short.

The purpose of the oral defence is for you to explain your study and its contribution to the field convincingly. You will need to cover the problem or question that prompted your research, the methods used, the findings and their implications, significance or application, and future directions.

This guide provides advice on the following areas of preparing and delivering an Oral Defence.

Preparation for your Oral Defence

Delivery of your oral defence, steps of an oral defence, strategies for handling questions, useful signposting phrases, oral defence advice videos, preparing for your thesis oral examination, the perfect defence – the oral defence of a dissertation.

• Plan and organise your presentation
• Consider how your work fits in with the existing research in your field
• Practice giving an outline of your research, focusing on clarity and coherence
• Find out the research interests of the panel; they may ask about these areas
• Anticipate likely questions
• Remember questions you are asked in meetings; they may come again
• Prepare copies of important materials for panel members
• Ask your adviser what the normal practice is, e.g. “Can you explain what happens and what I am expected to do?” “How long is the presentation?”
• Remember this is not an attack; it is a conversation among equals
• Keep calm, be polite and smile at the panel
• Maintain eye-contact and speak clearly
• Use natural body language
• Use natural spoken language
• Explain how your research fits with current knowledge
• Emphasise key words and ideas, pause to highlight important ideas
• Use clear linking phrases. I’m going to divide this talk into three parts… I want to start by …, and then I’ll I’d like to move on to… This is illustrated by… That completes my overview of X, so now I’d like to move on to Y… Having discussed/analysed X, I’d now like to move to Y… To recapitulate…
• Listen carefully to questions and make sure you understand what the panel are asking you
• Don’t read from your notes
• Don’t make distracting movements, e.g. scratching your head
• Don’t keep your hands in your pockets or held together
• Don’t memorize answers
• Don’t speak in a flat tone
• Don’t include long, complex numbers; approximate numbers are easier to understand
• Don’t interrupt the panel when they ask you questions

An Oral Defence often includes a short presentation. If a presentation is not required, the Oral Defence will often begin with a general question such as “Can you tell me about your research?”

In your presentation, you should:

• Include general background
• Identify research gap
• State research objective(s)
• Include overview of presentation

• Explain what methods were used
• Discuss why they were chosen

• Give an overall trend
• Report key results
• Discuss implications of results

• Recap main points
• Highlight significance of study
• Suggest future research directions, if necessary

• Thank audience
• Invite questions

Please click here to see a list of strategies and useful phrases to use when handling questions.

Please click here to see the useful signposting phrases.

It is crucial that you consider how you will connect the key parts of your Oral Defence.

Below is a list of signposting phrases taken from the video: “Preparing for Your Thesis Oral Examination” which gives useful advice on preparing your Oral Defence.

Click here to see the transcript and watch the video

Introduction

• There are four areas we are going to explore.
• First, we explain... Secondly, we provide... Then we suggest… and finally we look at....
• The purpose of… is threefold. First, it… hence… and finally…
• Let us now look at…
• Now, there are four possible results… first…, the second …., third…, and the fourth…

Please click here to see phrases that can be used in the main body of your oral defence.

Please click here to see language that effectively connects your ideas throughout your Oral Defence to enhance the flow of the presentation.

In this section, there are two videos featuring academics with experience in Oral Defence.

Dr. Lilia Sevillano

Learning Consultant

Massey University, Auckland

Here is the transcript:

Dr. Valerie Balester

Executive Director of the University Writing Centre

Texas A&M University

I'm Dr. Valerie Balester, I am the executive director of the University Writing Center. I am an English professor with a specialization in rhetoric and composition, in other words, in writing. I was thinking about it before today. I have been on at least 60 or probably 75 defences, and not all in English: in English, in education, in linguistics, and then also in engineering, in architecture.

We used to have somebody from outside of your home department, sitting on each dissertation defence, as what they call them: a graduate committee reviewer, to make sure that the process went smoothly. So I did that for many different areas. I think many in the sciences and engineering. So I'm very confident about the structure of a dissertation defence.

I'm wondering what you know about the structure of a dissertation defence. Anything that you know at all about it that you could tell me? What do you think happens in that little room? You go with your committee into a little conference room usually, right? Sometimes it's open to the public, and sometimes--I mean, technically it’s always open to the public--but whether you announce it to the public or not is going to determine whether people come or don't come, and in my department, in English, it's not customary for the public to ever attend. If it's open to the public, there is a point at which they will leave, and you will be sitting alone with your committee.

So, what you're doing here is you have to muster up all of your confidence now. This is about confidence. Okay? It's very important and you have to present yourself as a scholar in the discipline and authority on your subject. You have to show them what you have to offer as a scholar, and that's really what it's about. Nervousness is probably the biggest problem, but I’ve seen all of them work through it. I've never seen anyone fail, and have only seen one person ever fail a dissertation in all of those defences. Only one person didn't pass, so your odds, one out of sixty, your odds are good, you're going to pass. So go in there with that impression. The person who didn’t pass wasn't prepared and hadn't talked to his committee beforehand. So, you are most likely going to pass this.

You're going to be expected to clearly and cogently explain your work, and explain how your work fits in with your discipline. Where's your place in this big conversation that's going on in your discipline? What have you contributed to the field, because a dissertation is supposed to be an original contribution to knowledge. What have you contributed to the field? What more needs to be done? That's the kind of thing they're interested in.

So it's not really a grilling. And in your head I want you to turn it from a grilling, because really I’ve never seen when it is a grilling, and the word grilling means where they put you on the grill and cook you until you're finished. It means where they ask you this, this, this, tell me this, do you know this, do you know that, you know, where they just ask you lots of questions, like a big--it's usually not that, it's usually conversation among equals. They're trying to see if you can function as an equal with them now. It's their first opportunity to say you are now an equal, please come in and give me some information, but as an equal, I expect you to be able to explain your ideas, defend your ideas, tell me where your ideas fit in, because they expect it of each other. They're not asking you to do anything that they don't do with each other, and that's why you shouldn't worry. If they suddenly stop talking to you and start talking to each other--that's a good sign actually--that means that you have stimulated their brain. This is what these people live for, they're academics, and they like that.

Sometimes they get into arguments with each other. It's okay and your chair should gently bring that back. If your chair doesn't do it, just let it go, let it happen. If they disagree with you, they expect you to come back with a defence and that's where the word "defence" comes from.

So, you need to know what the rules are. Have a talk with your advisor, and find out. If you don't know now, you can talk to other students, but you definitely need to talk to your advisor a good while before the defence, and say, "I would like to know what to expect. Can you explain to me how defence happens in our department? What is the usual thing that happens? What do you want from me as your candidate?", and then know your committee as well. Sometimes when we work on a dissertation, we get isolated from our committee. Make sure that the committee gets the dissertation in plenty of time--that's something your advisor can tell you. If you give it to them two weeks before, they'll probably read it the night before, and then any objections they have they didn't have chance to tell you about. So if you can give it to them like a month before, even more, you can work that out with your advisor, but the sooner they get it, the more time they have to respond to it and to let you know before the defence, where are their areas of concern. If you go in then and meet with them, but you get your… I think you should get your committee chair’s advice and permission before you go meet with all your members. But when you do that, they even sometimes tell you what question they're going to ask you or maybe they'll give you a hint about what question, because they'll tell you: "What concerns me about your work is this," “what I like about your work is this," "I see this, but did you do that?". And then when they read it again, their minds are going to go back, and "oh we had a conversation, we talked about this, I’m gonna ask the question I'm going to ask". Because when I'm a committee member, and I'm sitting there on the hot spot and I have to ask an intelligent question, I'm gonna go back to what I remember most about your dissertation.

Now the first thing you should be able to do is answer the question: tell me about your dissertation. This will come in handy on the job market as well. So, in your head write a speech, just a brief speech, and you can break it up so that you're basically repeating what’s the information in your abstract. This is the question or problem that led me to research. This is the method I used, the way that I decided to, to deal with that (I should have added a method in here) this is what I found, and I put the thesis separate from here. Thesis is really, what is my hypothesis? This is the problem and this is what I think is gonna happen, then this is what I found happened. In the humanities, we're gonna call it a thesis, and in Sciences we might call it a hypothesis, but I had a question, here's how I thought it would be answered and here's how it actually was answered. And then, this is the significance of my work: how it can be applied, what it means for the profession, how it changes our theories, how it changes our practices, whatever the significance might be.

And don't forget to bring a copy of the dissertation with you to the meeting, because people will surely, usually the committee brings their own copy. Again, that's a thing you want to check within your own department: will they bring their copies, or do I have to provide copies for everybody? But usually they bring their own copies and they'll say: "on page 55, you said blank, blank, blank… explain it." Then you need to have page 55, so you need your own copy, minimum.

Try not to wait until the last minute. If it's not finished, say here's what I have so far. Just put a deadline date and say I don't have everything finished, but here's what I have so far. That gives them the opportunity to respond, and you'll know and they are gonna say, "oh, but you don't have this," and then you're working on it, so be ready to answer about it.

So you have to practice, just like the little girls doing ballet, you need to practice. So, write down, just so you have it in your head, how you would answer the question: tell me about your dissertation. And then practice it. Practice in front of a mirror, say it out loud. Don't memorize it, because you want to be agile. If somebody interrupts you, you want to remember where you are. You don't want to be just rote. You want to be able to say it even in a few different ways, but you want to be able to say that. You get so focused on what you're doing, you want to talk about the details and you forget that other people don't even know what question you're trying to answer. What brought you into the research interests people. What's the problem? How did you approach the problem? What did you think you were going to find? What did you find and what does all this mean?

Of course you want to dress for success, and you want to stay calm, and you want to smile. It's important not to be too serious. To show that you can do this and you can do this, remember the success rate is high. In some fields, it's optional to present, and in some fields it's always done.

First is prepare for technical difficulties. If I came in here today and this was not working, I have my handout, so I could use that. For yourself, if your slides are reminding you what to say, make notecards or make a copy of your slideshow, so you see every slide so you can follow along. Be ready for technical difficulties. It could be that you are in a room where there's never a failure, and the electricity goes out that day, and you have worked a month to get all these people into the same room at the same time--it's not easy to schedule a defence, because every professor has a different schedule and they are all very busy, so you're gonna have it even though the electricity is out. Okay? So, be ready.

Consider handouts. you don't want to give everybody lots and lots of handouts, just to give out handouts. Because you don't want them looking at the handout, you want them looking at you, you want them looking at your slides. So make sure your handouts are only used to present things that can't go on a slide, that can't fit on the slide, or things that you really want them to remember. maybe it's a photograph or an illustration. Maybe it's a chart or a graph, maybe it's a quote. But whatever it is, it should be things you want them to take away with them, to remember, to be very vivid or things that are hard to put on a slide.

Find out how long the presentation usually is. Typically, they're eight to ten minutes. In many cases you're going to need time for questions. In other cases, no, because you're just presenting to the committee and that's just what they're going to do. They're going to start with questions as soon it's over. So find that out from again from your advisor; ask how much time do I have to do the presentation? do I have a public audience? If I do have a public audience, how much time should I give them for questions? It's usually five minutes for questions approximately. So if they say you have ten minutes total, it's five to talk, five for the questions.

We have a handout in the Writing Center called "Designing Effective Presentation Slides" and it's under oral communications, so I suggest you look at that. You want to be sure you don't put too many words on the slide. Make sure your slides basically cover your main points, but that people are looking at you as much as they're looking at the slides. The slides help them if they lose their place. The slides emphasize your main points, but they should be listening to you, not just reading the slides. So, I recommend the handout "Designing Effective Presentation Slides." That will tell you how to divide your presentation, how to organize.

It's the same thing I told you to memorize: the problem or questions that led to your research, your methods for answering the question or solving the problem, your major findings, the implications, significance, or application of your findings. And add to that, your next step in your scholarly career. They'll be interested, if you don't say, they'll probably ask at least. They might want to know if you've applied for any jobs, but when I'm talking about your scholarly career, I'm talking about your research part: what will you research next? Will this dissertation lead to articles? Will it lead to a book? Will it lead to another grant? Another research program? So, where will this take you from here?

The chair will probably say, "okay, we are going to ask you to leave the room." They're just deciding what procedures will be followed, so everybody agrees on the procedures. If they're gonna be allowed to interrupt each other with a follow-up question, or they have to each wait their turn, that's all they're deciding now.

And the next thing they're gonna do is have you come back in and your chair will tell you, “okay this is what we're going to do: we're going to start with Dr. Balester--" and now Dr. Balester has to sound very smart, give a really good question, right? And sometimes in the process in her head, she is still forming the question. So she may ramble on a bit. That's why you have to listen. Listen, really focus, don't be thinking about what I'm going to say next, listen to what they're saying now. Because then, she's going, "well in chapter three, you did blah blah blah blah... And in chapter seven you said la la la la... And then there's a contradiction here, but I kind of think that if we bring in so and so scholar, this might resolve the contradiction and…" and she keeps going on and on. And you're like, “and you wanna know what? What is your question?” And she might say, "and what do you think of that?" So you have to be listening closely. Now you don't know what she said, so what do you do?

Ask her to clarify or repeat the question or you clarify, you say “I think I heard you ask… is that correct?" Okay, now what happens when you don't know the answer? So you have lots of options when you don't know the answer, but I came up with a few options. You asked me whether I think that this is a regular phenomenon. “I'm not sure, but I think...” So you don't have to go: "yes, it's a regular phenomenon”, “no, it's not a regular phenomenon." You can say "I'm not sure," but take a stab at the answer, try to answer. And let them see your thought process. That's what they're doing for you. They're letting you see their thought process when they're going on and on, so you do the same thing. They want to see that you can think. That's what they're looking for: can you think? “Is this a regular phenomenon?” “I don't know, but that question has interesting implications. For example, if I knew the climatic changes in August, then knowing that would help me do this." Keep yourself focused on your data. You are the expert on your data, on your project, on your ideas. You are the expert and they're actually trying to treat you like the expert. They want you to answer like the expert. They respect you, believe me.

There's never any perfect data, so the data are saying “man if I only could have done this”, so that's good to talk about. Be confident however. Say: "given the constraints I was working with, this was what I was able to do. But if I could do more, if, you know, this is my dream, if I could really have done this," or "in doing this, I learned a problem with this kind of data collection. Next time I'm gonna do it this way." Is it okay to just say I don't know? It's okay if you really don't know. This may be a little better. It's better to say I don't know than to fake it. The thing you don't wanna do is fake it. These are not people that will be fooled. So don't fake it at all.

Sometimes when they ask the questions and they're coming and coming, and you're trying to listen. You need a little time. You can slow things down. You can slow things down by pausing, take a breath, look at your notes, even state, "and you think this is a regular phenomenon?" “I need a little time to answer that, can I just have a minute to gather my thoughts?" They'll always say yes. Don't take three minutes, but just a few seconds. Maybe at that point, look down so that you're not distracted by them.

Focus, focus, okay? I can answer this question. Boost your confidence, and then go for it. Another thing is to ask them to repeat the question both when you don't understand the question and when you need a little time. Maybe you did understand it, but you just want to slow things down.

So if you have said something wrong or you realize that you started answering a new question, and suddenly "oh, I should have said that too." How do you handle that? Well it's a good idea to just admit it: "Oh, wait a minute I'm wrong about that, aren't I? I realized that just now." Just correct yourself. Or you can finish answering the question you're on, and then go: "May I also add something else? I realized that when you asked me this, I answered, but I could have said something more," and just go ahead and say it. So you have the opportunity and you have the right to say "I want to say something more I want to correct it. Thank you for that question, I wish I had thought of that earlier, that is a really good point.”

So at the end, they finish asking you questions. They ask you to leave again. Don't go too far, go outside, now you are really sweating. Remember the odds, you're going to come back in and they're going to say, "congratulations!"

“Now, we want you to rewrite the conclusion. However, you have passed, okay?" So, just remember it is very common that they will ask for revisions. They did for me, in fact, one of my committee member said: “Valerie, you know that conclusion just won't do." That's okay, because I managed to pass the defence part, they knew I knew what I was talking about, but they knew that my writing fell down in the hardest part. The conclusion is usually the hardest part where you have to think about the significance and fit it into the, all the literature that you've done. So it's very common for that part, or it could be that you have some tables that are not in the right format, or it could be something else they noticed that some problem they thought that you just did not quite capture. Sometimes you said something in the defence, but they want you to put into the dissertation. Usually when you come back into the room and they say you passed, but we want you to make the revisions, they expect your chair to keep notes, and he or she will actually make sure you make the revisions. However, you could also suggest at that point when they say “we're gonna need revisions”, you can ask them, “could you please summarize the major revisions you want for me to make so I can make some notes now?" Now, whether each committee member is going to have to see those changes or not will also depend on what they decide with your chair. Many times they decide that the chair will be responsible for making sure those revisions are made and they don't have to see it again. But you know they still have to sign your dissertation. So sometimes they'll sign it there if you take your title page in with you they will sign it right there, and sometimes they won't sign it until they see those revisions. So that's another reason, you go see your chair to find out how it's normally done.

At other times, everything is fine, they don't even want any revisions, and as I said, it's possible they will say you did not pass the defence. Knowing your material is extremely important. Don't go in there without having read your own work. You think you've read it, because you wrote it, but you haven't read it. Even if you finish writing it a week before, give yourself a little time, and read it again. Practice and knowledge of your topic will make you feel really confident and positive self-talk, remember who you are. You probably know more about this topic than anybody. I can guarantee you know more about this topic than anybody, even more than your advisor, okay? Because that's what a dissertation is: it's going farther than where your advisor can take you, you have to go rest of the way. So hopefully even though your advisor is going with you, and following behind, you really do know more if you stop. Think a lot before you get there, that's why you need the time to prepare it. Read your dissertation though.

I really appreciate that you came today. You can always reach me at the Writing Center as well. It's Valerie Balester, and if you go to "About the Writing Center”, you'll see the staff directory and my email, okay? So if I can give you some confidence, let me know. Thank you.

13 Tips to Prepare for Your PhD Dissertation Defense

How well do you know your project? Years of experiments, analysis of results, and tons of literature study, leads you to how well you know your research study. And, PhD dissertation defense is a finale to your PhD years. Often, researchers question how to excel at their thesis defense and spend countless hours on it. Days, weeks, months, and probably years of practice to complete your doctorate, needs to surpass the dissertation defense hurdle.

In this article, we will discuss details of how to excel at PhD dissertation defense and list down some interesting tips to prepare for your thesis defense.

Table of Contents

What Is Dissertation Defense?

Dissertation defense or Thesis defense is an opportunity to defend your research study amidst the academic professionals who will evaluate of your academic work. While a thesis defense can sometimes be like a cross-examination session, but in reality you need not fear the thesis defense process and be well prepared.

Source: https://www.youtube.com/c/JamesHaytonPhDacademy

What are the expectations of committee members.

Choosing the dissertation committee is one of the most important decision for a research student. However, putting your dissertation committee becomes easier once you understand the expectations of committee members.

The basic function of your dissertation committee is to guide you through the process of proposing, writing, and revising your dissertation. Moreover, the committee members serve as mentors, giving constructive feedback on your writing and research, also guiding your revision efforts.

The dissertation committee is usually formed once the academic coursework is completed. Furthermore, by the time you begin your dissertation research, you get acquainted to the faculty members who will serve on your dissertation committee. Ultimately, who serves on your dissertation committee depends upon you.

Some universities allow an outside expert (a former professor or academic mentor) to serve on your committee. It is advisable to choose a faculty member who knows you and your research work.

How to Choose a Dissertation Committee Member?

• Avoid popular and eminent faculty member
• Choose the one you know very well and can approach whenever you need them
• A faculty member whom you can learn from is apt.
• Members of the committee can be your future mentors, co-authors, and research collaborators. Choose them keeping your future in mind.

How to Prepare for Dissertation Defense?

1. Start Your Preparations Early

Thesis defense is not a 3 or 6 months’ exercise. Don’t wait until you have completed all your research objectives. Start your preparation well in advance, and make sure you know all the intricacies of your thesis and reasons to all the research experiments you conducted.

2. Attend Presentations by Other Candidates

Look out for open dissertation presentations at your university. In fact, you can attend open dissertation presentations at other universities too. Firstly, this will help you realize how thesis defense is not a scary process. Secondly, you will get the tricks and hacks on how other researchers are defending their thesis. Finally, you will understand why dissertation defense is necessary for the university, as well as the scientific community.

3. Take Enough Time to Prepare the Slides

Dissertation defense process harder than submitting your thesis well before the deadline. Ideally, you could start preparing the slides after finalizing your thesis. Spend more time in preparing the slides. Make sure you got the right data on the slides and rephrase your inferences, to create a logical flow to your presentation.

4. Structure the Presentation

Do not be haphazard in designing your presentation. Take time to create a good structured presentation. Furthermore, create high-quality slides which impresses the committee members. Make slides that hold your audience’s attention. Keep the presentation thorough and accurate, and use smart art to create better slides.

5. Practice Breathing Techniques

Watch a few TED talk videos and you will notice that speakers and orators are very fluent at their speech. In fact, you will not notice them taking a breath or falling short of breath. The only reason behind such effortless oratory skill is practice — practice in breathing technique.

Moreover, every speaker knows how to control their breath. Long and steady breaths are crucial. Pay attention to your breathing and slow it down. All you need I some practice prior to this moment.

6. Create an Impactful Introduction

The audience expects a lot from you. So your opening statement should enthrall the audience. Furthermore, your thesis should create an impact on the members; they should be thrilled by your thesis and the way you expose it.

The introduction answers most important questions, and most important of all “Is this presentation worth the time?” Therefore, it is important to make a good first impression , because the first few minutes sets the tone for your entire presentation.

7. Maintain Your Own List of Questions

While preparing for the presentation, make a note of all the questions that you ask yourself. Try to approach all the questions from a reader’s point of view. You could pretend like you do not know the topic and think of questions that could help you know the topic much better.

The list of questions will prepare you for the questions the members may pose while trying to understand your research. Attending other candidates’ open discussion will also help you assume the dissertation defense questions.

8. Practice Speech and Body Language

After successfully preparing your slides and practicing, you could start focusing on how you look while presenting your thesis. This exercise is not for your appearance but to know your body language and relax if need be.

Pay attention to your body language. Stand with your back straight, but relax your shoulders. The correct posture will give you the feel of self-confidence. So, observe yourself in the mirror and pay attention to movements you make.

9. Give Mock Presentation

Giving a trial defense in advance is a good practice. The most important factor for the mock defense is its similarity to your real defense, so that you get the experience that prepares for the actual defense.

10. Learn How to Handle Mistakes

Everyone makes mistakes. However, it is important to carry on. Do not let the mistakes affect your thesis defense. Take a deep breath and move on to the next point.

11. Do Not Run Through the Presentation

If you are nervous, you would want to end the presentation as soon as possible. However, this situation will give rise to anxiety and you will speak too fast, skipping the essential details. Eventually, creating a fiasco of your dissertation defense .

12. Get Plenty of Rest

Out of the dissertation defense preparation points, this one is extremely important. Obviously, sleeping a day before your big event is hard, but you have to focus and go to bed early, with the clear intentions of getting the rest you deserve.

13. Visualize Yourself Defending Your Thesis

This simple exercise creates an immense impact on your self-confidence. All you have to do is visualize yourself giving a successful presentation each evening before going to sleep. Everyday till the day of your thesis defense, see yourself standing in front of the audience and going from one point to another.

This exercise takes a lot of commitment and persistence, but the results in the end are worth it. Visualization makes you see yourself doing the scary thing of defending your thesis.

If you have taken all these points into consideration, you are ready for your big day. You have worked relentlessly for your PhD degree , and you will definitely give your best in this final step.

Have you completed your thesis defense? How did you prepare for it and how was your experience throughout your dissertation defense ? Do write to us or comment below.

The tips are very useful.I will recomend it to our students.

Excellent. As a therapist trying to help a parent of a candidate, I am very impressed and thankful your concise, clear, action-oriented article. Thank you.

Thanks for your sharing. It is so good. I can learn a lot from your ideas. Hope that in my dissertation defense next time I can pass

The tips are effective. Will definitely apply them in my dissertation.

My dissertation defense is coming up in less than two weeks from now, I find this tips quite instructive, I’ll definitely apply them. Thank you so much.

Rate this article Cancel Reply

Your email address will not be published.

Enago Academy's Most Popular Articles

• Reporting Research

Choosing the Right Analytical Approach: Thematic analysis vs. content analysis for data interpretation

In research, choosing the right approach to understand data is crucial for deriving meaningful insights.…

Comparing Cross Sectional and Longitudinal Studies: 5 steps for choosing the right approach

The process of choosing the right research design can put ourselves at the crossroads of…

• Career Corner

Unlocking the Power of Networking in Academic Conferences

Embarking on your first academic conference experience? Fear not, we got you covered! Academic conferences…

Research Recommendations – Guiding policy-makers for evidence-based decision making

Research recommendations play a crucial role in guiding scholars and researchers toward fruitful avenues of…

• AI in Academia

Disclosing the Use of Generative AI: Best practices for authors in manuscript preparation

The rapid proliferation of generative and other AI-based tools in research writing has ignited an…

Setting Rationale in Research: Cracking the code for excelling at research

Mitigating Survivorship Bias in Scholarly Research: 10 tips to enhance data integrity

The Power of Proofreading: Taking your academic work to the next level

Facing Difficulty Writing an Academic Essay? — Here is your one-stop solution!

Sign-up to read more

Subscribe for free to get unrestricted access to all our resources on research writing and academic publishing including:

• 2000+ blog articles
• 50+ Webinars
• 10+ Expert podcasts
• 50+ Infographics
• 10+ Checklists
• Research Guides

We hate spam too. We promise to protect your privacy and never spam you.

• Industry News
• Publishing Research
• Promoting Research
• Diversity and Inclusion
• Infographics
• Expert Video Library
• Other Resources
• Enago Learn
• Upcoming & On-Demand Webinars
• Peer-Review Week 2023
• Open Access Week 2023
• Conference Videos
• Enago Report
• Journal Finder
• Enago Plagiarism & AI Grammar Check
• Editing Services
• Publication Support Services
• Research Impact
• Translation Services
• Publication solutions
• AI-Based Solutions
• Thought Leadership
• Call for Articles
• Call for Speakers
• Author Training
• Edit Profile

I am looking for Editing/ Proofreading services for my manuscript Tentative date of next journal submission:

In your opinion, what is the most effective way to improve integrity in the peer review process?

Main navigation

• Graduate Students
• Faculty & Staff
• General requirements
• Preparation of a thesis
• Initial Thesis Submission
• Thesis examination
• FAQ on oral defences
• Oral defence proceedings
• Oral defence outcomes
• Serving as Pro-Dean for oral defences
• Final Thesis Submission
• Thesis Writing and Support Resources
• Letters of Completion/PGWP

Doctoral Oral Defence

On this page, you'll find essential information on oral defences in the current context, as well as the membership of the Oral Defence Committee .

Setting Up the Oral Defence

Once the Doctoral student’s thesis is submitted and sent to the examiners, the Unit will receive a myThesis notification advising them that they can coordinate the oral defence and complete event details in myThesis *. The earliest date (tentative, pending receipt of examiner reports) the defence may take place is 6 weeks from the date the notification is received. The Unit completes the myThesis page after the members of the Oral Defence Committee and the date and location of the oral defence have been confirmed. The completed myThesis page must be received by GPS at least four (4) weeks prior to the defence date. The four-week notice is necessary to allow time to secure a Pro-Dean.

A limited number of oral defences can be held on any given day. Once the Oral Defence Committee has confirmed their availability, the Unit should book the time through the GPS oral defence calendar (access restricted to graduate unit staff) before returning the Oral Defence Form to GPS.

In the event an oral defence must be postponed due to unforeseen circumstances, the Thesis Office must be informed immediately by the Graduate Unit.

The Unit is responsible for the following and should refer to these guidelines:

• Contact all members to ensure their acceptance and availability to serve on the Oral Defence Committee prior to entering the information on myThesis. This responsibility should not be delegated to the student, but may be delegated to the supervisor following approval of the committee composition by the Unit.
• The Unit should refer to the guidelines below when inviting external examiners to the oral defence.
• All members of the Oral Defence Committee will have access to the thesis through myThesis once GPS approves the event details and committee membership.
• Should an Oral Defence Committee member require a hard copy of the thesis, the Unit should request one from the student.
• Scheduling of the defence (date, time, location) remains the responsibility of the Graduate Unit.

GPS will secure a Pro-Dean who will chair the oral defence as a representative of the Dean of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies. GPS will inform the Unit and provide the Pro-Dean with access to myThesis, where they can find a copy of the thesis, the examiners’ reports, the membership committee, the event details, and the certificate.

Online or Hybrid Defences

If the oral defence is scheduled online or as a hybrid defence, the Unit is responsible for setting up the Zoom link for the confirmed date and time of the oral defence. The unit is also responsible for including this link in myThesis – if it is updated, then myThesis should be adjusted.

The Zoom link should be created using a licensed Zoom Pro account. It is recommended that the Oral Defence Committee’s Academic Unit representative (Chair or delegate) act as the Zoom host during the defence. GPS will no longer take on hosting duties for defences held on Zoom.

Consult this document for more information on conducting oral defences online.

Membership of the Oral Defence Committee

Members of the Oral Defence Committee must hold a doctorate or equivalent. The committee is designed to ensure a majority of members have not been closely involved with the thesis. All members must attend the oral defence.

The Pro-Dean is appointed by Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies and serves as the chair of the committee, but is not a voting member.

Committee Composition

The oral defence committee consists of five voting members. However, if three members are closely involved with the thesis, a seven-member committee will be required (see definitions below).

The composition of the Oral Defence Committee should ensure equitable gender representation among its members. For example, in a five-member committee, at least one member should be female. In a seven-member committee, at least two members should be female.

Five-Member Committee

• Academic Unit* representative (Chair or delegate)

Internal Examiner

• Internal Member (or Co-Supervisor as appropriate)
• External Member (may be replaced by the External Examiner; in such a case, please refer to the guidelines )

Seven-Member Committee

Internal member.

• Internal Member (or Co-Supervisor as Appropriate)

External Member

Definitions, closely involved with the thesis.

If a member of the oral defence committee served on a student’s supervisory committee or had any meaningful input into the body of work represented in the thesis, the member is considered closely involved with the thesis.

Not closely involved with the thesi s

If a member of the oral defence committee did not serve on a student’s supervisory committee nor had any meaningful input into the body of work represented in the thesis, the member is considered not closely involved with the thesis.

The Academic Unit* representative (Chair or delegate)

The Chair or delegate is a McGill faculty member affiliated with the student’s Unit*. The Academic Unit* representative does not provide GPS with a written report.

The supervisor is a McGill faculty member affiliated with the student’s Unit*. The supervisor does not provide GPS with a written report.

The internal examiner is a McGill faculty, or affiliated, member. The internal examiner provides GPS with a written report. The internal examiner must not be in conflict of interest according to McGill’s policy (see University conflict of interest regulations ). An important role of the internal examiner is to ensure that the written thesis meets the standards of McGill University.

The internal member is a McGill faculty, or affiliated, member who may be associated with the student’s Unit*. The co-supervisor, who may be from another Unit* at McGill or outside the University, can serve as an internal member. The internal member does not provide GPS with a written report.

The external member must not be from the Unit* and may be from outside McGill. The external member is distinct from the External Examiner and does not submit a written report. If the external examiner is invited to the Oral Defence, there is no need for an external member, as the External Examiner will be replacing the external member and fulfilling their role on the Oral Defence Committee. In such cases, the External Examiner still provides a written report on their evaluation of the thesis.

Inviting an External Examiner to the Oral Defence

McGill does not require the external examiner to be present at the Oral Defence. If the Unit decides to invite the external examiner to the oral defence, it must take note of the following:

• Supervisor and student are not permitted to contact the external examiner once the thesis has been submitted
• Graduate Program Coordinator or another Unit administrator will extend the invitation to the external examiner to the Oral Defence
• Oral defence page in myThesis should clearly indicate that the external examiner (who provided a written evaluation report) will be attending the defence; in this case, the external examiner will serve as the external member of the Oral Defence Committee.

*Unit  refers to a department, a division, a school, an institute, or a Faculty/University-wide program.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial 4.0 International License . Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies, McGill University .

Department and University Information

Graduate and postdoctoral studies.

Skip to content. | Skip to navigation

Personal tools

• Log in/Register Register

https://www.vitae.ac.uk/doing-research/doing-a-doctorate/completing-your-doctorate/your-viva/your-phd-viva

This page has been reproduced from the Vitae website (www.vitae.ac.uk). Vitae is dedicated to realising the potential of researchers through transforming their professional and career development.

• Vitae members' area

Defending your doctoral thesis: the PhD viva

Format for defending a doctoral thesis.

Every institution will have specific regulations for the thesis defence. In some countries or institutions, the convention is for thesis defences to be public events where you will give a lecture explaining your research, followed by a discussion with a panel of examiners (opponents). Both your examiners and the audience are able to ask questions.

In other countries, including the UK, the oral examination is usually conducted behind closed doors by at least two examiners, usually with at least one being from another institution (external examiner) and an expert in your topic of research. In the UK the supervisor does not participate in the viva, but may be allowed to observe. Sometimes someone from your own institution is appointed as an independent chair. Although it is now becoming more common for the candidate to have an opportunity to give a public lecture in UK institutions, this does not form part of the examination and may or may not be attended by the examiners.

Viva preparation

Take the preparation for your viva seriously and devote a substantial amount of time to it. The viva preparation checklist may be useful to help you prepare.

Your institution may offer courses on viva preparation and there may be opportunities to organise a practice viva. Take advantage of these opportunities: they can be extremely valuable experiences.

Things you may wish to take with you

• your thesis – mildly annotated if you wish
• a list of questions that you might be asked and your planned responses
• any questions that you want to ask your examiners
• additional notes which you have made during your revision
• list of minor corrections that you have come across during your revision.

During the viva

Your study will have strengths and weaknesses: it is essential that you are prepared to discuss both. You could think of any weaknesses as an opportunity to demonstrate your skill at critical appraisal. Examiners will seek to find and discuss weaknesses in all theses. Do not interpret criticism as indication of a possible negative outcome.

Examiners have different personalities, styles and levels of experience. Sometimes a candidate may feel that a challenge is made in a confrontational way. Experienced, effective examiners will not be inappropriately confrontational, but some will. Do not take offence. A relaxed, thoughtful, and non-confrontational response from you will help re-balance the discussion. Having an independent chair can help maintain a constructive environment.

Useful tips for during your viva:

• Ask for clarification of ambiguous questions or ask for the question to be repeated if necessary
• Take time to think before answering
• Be prepared to ask questions and enter into a dialogue with your examiners
• Be prepared to discuss your research in context of other work done in your field
• Be ready to admit if you don't know the answer to a question
• Be prepared to express opinions of your own

You are not expected to have perfect recall of your thesis and everything that you have read and done. If you get flustered, or need to refer to notes your examiners will understand. They have been in your situation themselves!

After your viva

There are several possible outcomes   of a thesis defence. Most commonly, your examiners will recommend to your institution that you are awarded your degree subject to minor corrections, although in some instances they might ask for more substantial work.

Bookmark & Share

• Best Paper Awards
• The Shannon Centenary
• Lecture and Seminar Series
• Faculty Honors
• Student Awards

Dissertation Defense

The final steps of the process for the PhD is the completion of your PhD dissertation and the oral defense exam, which is open to the public.

At least 60 days before the PhD defense, complete the Appointment of Dissertation Committee Form located at https://viterbigrad.usc.edu/academic-services/forms/ .

The committee requires a minimum of three faculty members (maximum of five) with the following conditions:

• two with their primary appointment within ECE, with at least one with a tenured/tenure track appointment
• one with a primary appointment outside of ECE with a tenured/tenure track appointment. Tenured/tenure track faculty with a courtesy appointment to ECE may serve as an outside member.

At least one week before the date of the oral defense exam, the PhD student must provide to all members of the committee, electronically or in hard copy, a draft of the written dissertation. The student should additionally provide their advisor's administrative assistant with the following information about the defense so that fit may be publicly posted a week in advance of the exam.

• Dissertation Title
• Dissertation Abstract
• Room for Defense

Work with the ECE Student Services Advisors to make sure that your STARS is updated.

More information at the USC Graduate School's website including deadlines and Thesis Center info here:

https://graduateschool.usc.edu/current-students/thesis-dissertation-submission/

Published on November 1st, 2016

Last updated on August 2nd, 2023

• Awards and Honors
• Media Coverage
• Message from the Chair
• Open Faculty Positions
• Open Positions
• Faculty Startups
• Meet the Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering Staff
• Bachelor of Science Program
• Master of Science Program
• Doctor of Philosophy Programs
• Bachelor of Science
• Master of Science
• Doctor of Philosophy
• Faculty Office Hours
• Masters Student Honors Program
• Student Services FAQs
• Ming Hsieh Institute
• Computer Engineering
• Communications, Information, Learning & Quantum Group
• Signal and Image Processing Institute

• Translators
• Graphic Designers

Please enter the email address you used for your account. Your sign in information will be sent to your email address after it has been verified.

17 Thesis Defense Questions and How to Answer Them

A thesis defense gives you the chance to show off your thesis work and demonstrate your expertise in your field of study. During this one- to two-hour discussion with the members of your thesis committee, you'll have some control over how you present your research, but your committee will ask you some prodding questions to test your knowledge and preparedness. They will all have read your thesis beforehand, so their questions will relate to your study, topic, methods, data sample, and other aspects.

A good defense requires mastery of the thesis itself, so before you consider the questions you might face,

1. What is your topic, and why did you choose it?

Give a quick summary in just a few sentences on what you've researched. You could certainly go on for hours about your work, but make sure you prepare a way to give a very brief overview of your thesis. Then, give a quick background on your process for choosing this topic.

2. How does your topic contribute to the existing literature? How is it important?

Many researchers identify a need in the field and choose a topic to bridge the gaps that previous literature has failed to cover. For example, previous studies might not have included a certain population, region, or circumstance. Talk about how your thesis enhances the general understanding of the topic to extend the reach beyond what others have found, and then give examples of why the world needs that increased understanding. For instance, a thesis on romaine lettuce crops in desert climates might bring much-needed knowledge to a region that might not have been represented in previous work.

3. What are the key findings of your study?

When reporting your main results, make sure you have a handle on how detailed your committee wants you to be. Give yourself several options by preparing 1) a very general, quick summary of your findings that takes a minute or less, 2) a more detailed rundown of what your study revealed that is 3-5 minutes long, and 3) a 10- to 15-minute synopsis that delves into your results in detail. With each of these responses prepared, you can gauge which one is most appropriate in the moment, based on what your committee asks you and what has already been requested.

4. What type of background research did you do for your study?

Here you'll describe what you did while you were deciding what to study. This usually includes a literary review to determine what previous researchers have already introduced to the field. You also likely had to look into whether your study was going to be possible and what you would need in order to collect the needed data. Did you need info from databases that require permissions or fees?

5. What was your hypothesis, and how did you form it?

Describe the expected results you had for your study and whether your hypothesis came from previous research experience, long-held expectations, or cultural myths.

6. What limitations did you face when writing your text?

It's inevitable — researchers will face roadblocks or limiting factors during their work. This could be a limited population you had access to, like if you had a great method of surveying university students, but you didn't have a way to reach out to other people who weren't attending that school.

7. Why did you choose your particular method for your study?

Different research methods are more fitting to specific studies than others (e.g., qualitative vs. quantitative ), and knowing this, you applied a method that would present your findings most effectively. What factors led you to choose your method?

8. Who formed the sample group of your study, and why did you choose this population?

Many factors go into the selection of a participant group. Perhaps you were motivated to survey women over 50 who experience burnout in the workplace. Did you take extra measures to target this population? Or perhaps you found a sample group that responded more readily to your request for participation, and after hitting dead ends for months, convenience is what shaped your study population. Make sure to present your reasoning in an honest but favorable way.

9. What obstacles or limitations did you encounter while working with your sample?

Outline the process of pursuing respondents for your study and the difficulties you faced in collecting enough quality data for your thesis. Perhaps the decisions you made took shape based on the participants you ended up interviewing.

10. Was there something specific you were expecting to find during your analysis?

Expectations are natural when you set out to explore a topic, especially one you've been dancing around throughout your academic career. This question can refer to your hypotheses , but it can also touch on your personal feelings and expectations about this topic. What did you believe you would find when you dove deeper into the subject? Was that what you actually found, or were you surprised by your results?

11. What did you learn from your study?

Your response to this question can include not only the basic findings of your work (if you haven't covered this already) but also some personal surprises you might have found that veered away from your expectations. Sometimes these details are not included in the thesis, so these details can add some spice to your defense.

12. What are the recommendations from your study?

With connection to the reasons you chose the topic, your results can address the problems your work is solving. Give specifics on how policymakers, professionals in the field, etc., can improve their service with the knowledge your thesis provides.

13. If given the chance, what would you do differently?

Your response to this one can include the limitations you encountered or dead ends you hit that wasted time and funding. Try not to dwell too long on the annoyances of your study, and consider an area of curiosity; for example, discuss an area that piqued your interest during your exploration that would have been exciting to pursue but didn't directly benefit your outlined study.

14. How did you relate your study to the existing theories in the literature?

Your paper likely ties your ideas into those of other researchers, so this could be an easy one to answer. Point out how similar your work is to some and how it contrasts other works of research; both contribute greatly to the overall body of research.

15. What is the future scope of this study?

This one is pretty easy, since most theses include recommendations for future research within the text. That means you already have this one covered, and since you read over your thesis before your defense, it's already fresh in your mind.

16. What do you plan to do professionally after you complete your study?

This is a question directed more to you and your future professional plans. This might align with the research you performed, and if so, you can direct your question back to your research, maybe mentioning the personal motivations you have for pursuing study of that subject.

17. Do you have any questions?

Although your thesis defense feels like an interrogation, and you're the one in the spotlight, it provides an ideal opportunity to gather input from your committee, if you want it. Possible questions you could ask are: What were your impressions when reading my thesis? Do you believe I missed any important steps or details when conducting my work? Where do you see this work going in the future?

Bonus tip: What if you get asked a question to which you don't know the answer? You can spend weeks preparing to defend your thesis, but you might still be caught off guard when you don't know exactly what's coming. You can be ready for this situation by preparing a general strategy. It's okay to admit that your thesis doesn't offer the answers to everything – your committee won't reasonably expect it to do so. What you can do to sound (and feel!) confident and knowledgeable is to refer to a work of literature you have encountered in your research and draw on that work to give an answer. For example, you could respond, "My thesis doesn't directly address your question, but my study of Dr. Leifsen's work provided some interesting insights on that subject…." By preparing a way to address curveball questions, you can maintain your cool and create the impression that you truly are an expert in your field.

After you're done answering the questions your committee presents to you, they will either approve your thesis or suggest changes you should make to your paper. Regardless of the outcome, your confidence in addressing the questions presented to you will communicate to your thesis committee members that you know your stuff. Preparation can ease a lot of anxiety surrounding this event, so use these possible questions to make sure you can present your thesis feeling relaxed, prepared, and confident.

Header image by Kasto .

• Academic Writing Advice
• All Blog Posts
• Writing Advice
• Admissions Writing Advice
• Book Writing Advice
• Short Story Advice
• Employment Writing Advice
• Business Writing Advice
• Web Content Advice
• Article Writing Advice
• Magazine Writing Advice
• Grammar Advice
• Dialect Advice
• Editing Advice
• Freelance Advice
• Legal Writing Advice
• Poetry Advice
• Graphic Design Advice
• Logo Design Advice
• Translation Advice
• Blog Reviews
• Short Story Award Winners
• Scholarship Winners

Take your thesis to new heights with our expert editing

PhD Final Oral Dissertation Defense

Convergent, Fast, and Expressive Approximations of Entropy and Mutual Information

Speaker: Caleb Dahlke, Program in Applied Mathematics

Dissertation Title: Convergent, Fast, and Expressive Approximations of Entropy and Mutual Information

Advisor: Jason Pacheco, Computer Science

Requirements for the Ph.D. Degree

Formal coursework.

(See Appendix 5, Ph.D. Calendar of Deadlines; Appendix 6, Ph.D. Student Schedule) Normally, all entering students take three core courses in their first year: BIOCHEM 623 - Advanced General Biochemistry, MOLCLBIO 641 - Advanced Cell Biology, and MOLCLBIO 642 - Advanced Molecular Biology. Exemption from core courses can be granted at the time of admission by the Admissions Committee. At other times, exemptions can be granted by the Graduate Operations Committee. In addition to the three core courses, all students must complete a minimum of 9 credits in graduate-level elective courses. To be considered an eligible elective, the course must be taught by MCB Program faculty or the student must receive permission to take the course from his/her thesis adviser and the Graduate Operations Committee. Training at such places as Woods Hole, Cold Spring Harbor, etc., can count towards one course (3 credits). Students must submit a course syllabus and proof of course completion to the MCB Office for your student file. Students who receive a grade of C in any core course or required elective course will ordinarily be required to re-take the course and earn a grade of B or better. Grades of B- or C+ will require remedial work, to be specified in individual cases by the Graduate Operations Committee. Students must maintain an average grade of B or better for core courses and required electives (Laboratory Rotation grades are excluded from this average).

Laboratory Rotation

• Purpose: Individual laboratory rotations allow the student to become acquainted with areas of current research within the program through work on specific laboratory projects and participation in other activities of the research groups. They also provide an important opportunity for the student to gain a working knowledge of techniques commonly used in contemporary research in molecular and cellular biology. In addition, rotations give faculty an opportunity to evaluate the student's performance in a research setting.
• Description: Each first-year student participates in three laboratory rotations, the first extending from September through December, the second from December through February, and the third from February through the last day of the spring semester in May. The Director of the program must approve all arrangements made between a faculty member and a student on the basis of the student's research interests and his/her need for experience in techniques in one or more area. To assist students in their laboratory choices, interested faculty will provide a written description of the rotation project(s) available in his/her lab, and will participate in Rotation Receptions in mid-September. In addition, the Graduate Operations Committee will meet with each new student at the beginning of the fall semester of their first year and during intercession. The student is expected to devote a minimum of 10 hours per week to the rotation project during the semester. The student should discuss more specific expectations related to their project with his/her rotation adviser at the start of the rotation.
• Presentation of Rotation Work: At the end of the first rotation period, students will participate in a poster session at which each will present a summary of his/her rotation project to the MCB community. Following the second and third rotation periods, students will present brief (5 minute) talks to the MCB community, normally during the regular Colloquium and Seminar series. MCB Program Redbook Page 7 of 39
• Grading: Upon completion of each rotation, the faculty member will write an evaluation of the student's performance and assign a letter grade. A copy of the written evaluation will be given to the student. Rotation grades will be interpreted as follows: A Excellent performance in majority of important areas. Shows potential to become a first-rate, independent, highly motivated and highly productive researcher. Likely to overcome any weaknesses. A-/B+ Good performance in most areas. Shows potential to perform capable, effective, independent research. B Adequate, but not much beyond adequate performance in most areas. Potential to become a solid but perhaps not fully independent researcher. Some weaknesses in ability or motivation. B-/C+ Serious weaknesses in important areas. Adviser has reservations about whether candidate has potential to do Ph.D. level work. C Serious inadequacies in important areas. Adviser believes candidate lacks potential to do Ph.D. level work.
• Exemptions: Students entering the program with an M.S. degree, or substantial research experience, may be excused from one laboratory rotation at the discretion of the Admissions Committee or the Graduate Operations Committee. Requests for exemption, in the form of a petition by the student to the Graduate Operations Committee, should be documented as fully as possible by the inclusion of an M.S. thesis, reprints of published papers, and the like.
• Laboratory Affiliation: Students choose a laboratory for their dissertation research upon completion of the third rotation. This selection should be made only after a thorough discussion of goals and expectations with the intended faculty adviser. All choices are subject to approval by the Program Director, who should be informed of each student's intentions in mid-March. Students are expected to provide a more in-depth (15 minute) presentation about their dissertation laboratory project to the MCB community in early September (the beginning of the students' second year).

Work in the dissertation laboratory begins in March. Students who are undecided by this time may carry out a fourth rotation during March and April to assist them in the selection of a suitable laboratory. It is understood that an MCB faculty member is expected to provide support for dissertation students throughout their MCB careers, and faculty and their department heads/chairs are asked to sign a Memorandum of Understanding to this effect. Faculty members who lose funding and wish to request MCB support for a dissertation student must do so no later than one month prior to the start of the semester or summer in which funding is requested. Faculty members who wish to request a Teaching Assistantship for their student should indicate as such when appointment information is solicited.

Journal Clubs

All students are expected to enroll in a Journal Club each semester from their second to fifth year. Journal Clubs covering various topics in the current scientific literature are offered by the various participating departments. Students must register for Journal Clubs in at least two different scientific areas during their residency.

All students are expected to attend the weekly MCB Colloquia (MOLCLBIO 691A), which feature MCB faculty, as well as Special Topics Workshops held throughout the year. Students are also expected to attend one seminar per week sponsored by the MCB Program (BIO 891-02 or MOLCLBIO 692) or the participating departments. PhD students should register for Seminar and Colloquium every semester until their fifth year.

Teaching Assistantship Requirement

Every MCB student is expected to have some teaching experience during his/her residency. This is usually, but not always, accomplished through a teaching assistantship in the first year. Evaluations of the student's performance as a Teaching Assistant will be made in writing to the Director by the TA's faculty supervisor and will become part of the student's file.

Implicit Bias workshop

As part of the action items identified to sustain and increase diversity within MCB, the Implicit Bias workshop is included in the orientation for incoming students. In addition, this workshop is open to all current students, and all are encouraged to participate.

Responsible Conduct of Research (RCR)

All MCB PhD students are strongly encouraged to attend RCR training. Students in their first or second year are particularly encouraged to enroll. Every MCB student who matriculated in 2020 or later will be required to take this training while at UMass. Workshops will be offered regularly, so everyone will have a chance to participate.

Evaluation of Student Progress in First Year

If performance was unsatisfactory during the first semester in residence, the student will be notified in February in writing that s/he is on probation, and performance standards will be specified which must be met during the second semester in order for the student to remain in the program. Students who fail to perform satisfactorily during both the first and second semesters may be dismissed from the program, with financial support being terminated in May.

When a student has made satisfactory progress in some areas and shows some promise for graduate work, but has serious deficiencies in other areas, the student may be formally transferred to the M.S. track. This action may result in a terminal M.S. degree, or the student may be invited to re-apply to the Ph.D. Program after completing substantial M.S. work. Students transferred from the Ph.D. track to the M.S. track at the end of the first year have not met the requirements for an M.S. degree (see Appendix 8).

Continuation in the program toward completion of an M.S. will normally require that the student secure the agreement of a faculty adviser willing to provide laboratory space and financial support for work on a laboratory project. Students who are unable to make such an arrangement will be dismissed from the program without completion of the M.S.

Evaluation of Student Progress After the First Year

Brief written evaluations of student progress are prepared each year by the dissertation adviser and submitted to the Graduate Operations Committee for review. These evaluations normally become part of the student's file, and a copy is sent to the student. Any student who wishes to examine his/her file should make an appointment at the MCB Program office to do so. However, the files may not be removed from the office.

Fellowship Application

In the summer of their first year, after dissertation labs are selected, MCB PhD students will prepare a proposal application on their research topic modeled after the NSF GRFP. Students will first meet with the Office of Professional Development for guidance on crafting a proposal. The purpose of the proposal development is to enable students to immerse themselves in relevant literature, to help with future success with ORP and prospectus preparation, and to familiarize students with the application process for funding from external agencies. A review panel will provide feedback about the proposals; eligible students are encouraged to submit the proposals to NSF, and ineligible students are encouraged to apply for alternative external funding. All students will be eligible for an internal award for the strongest proposal application.

Comprehensive Examination

1. The comprehensive examination consists of an oral defense of an original research proposal (ORP). The research proposal must take the form of a formal written document that is approved by the Examining Committee and kept in the student's official MCB file. The oral defense of this proposal must be passed before the end of the spring semester of the second year in residence unless special permission for an extension is granted by the Curriculum Committee.

This examination is intended to test the student's ability to develop a feasible research project, to conceive scientifically valid hypotheses, to work out experimentally sound means for their proof, and to defend these ideas in front of an examining committee. The scientific objective of the proposal may be in the general area of the thesis research, although it may not overlap significantly with the thesis project. The proposal must be based on original ideas and certified as such by the dissertation adviser.

The oral examination is designed to test the competence of the doctoral candidate in skills not evaluated by previous examinations. The skills to be tested include the ability to become expert in a limited area of the current research literature; to conceive an original research project; to apply newly learned tools to the investigation; to envision the possible results of planned experiments; to set criteria by which the data and results will be assessed; to establish reasonable priorities among possible approaches to the problem.

Not all research projects that are reasonable are equally suitable for this examination. For example, it may be interesting to identify all the volatile components of human blood. One could propose to use a combination of gas chromatography and mass spectrometry to do this. However, for an oral exam this topic may not provide evidence of creativity or the other attributes listed above. Borderline proposals may be given the benefit of the doubt, but in such cases the student should expect to be examined in detail on the methods to be used.

In short, the more interesting and original the central concept, the more questioning will focus on that concept. This generally provides the most satisfactory examination and the most valuable experience for the student. However, it is particularly important that the student state a clear-cut hypothesis that can be directly tested.

In starting work on a proposition, a student will usually find it most efficient to read deeply on a few limited topics rather than to read volumes of reviews hoping for an idea to strike. Good ideas usually come more readily when the current work is well understood.

2. Role of Faculty (See Appendix 2, The Role of Faculty in Preparation of the Comprehensive Examination)

The adviser’s input should be limited to providing general guidelines about proposal development. Although other faculty may guide a student by asking questions, it is not appropriate to suggest ideas or provide answers outright. The faculty member, in so far as possible, should help the student find the way to prepare a proposal and not give them such direct advice as to share in the development of the idea. It is also not acceptable for any faculty member to participate in a practice examination. Instead, students should be encouraged to give presentations of their proposition to groups of other graduate students who can then advise on matters of presentation and provide practice in an oral defense. The adviser may be present at the final examination, though (s)he does not vote on the outcome. For a complete description of the role of the student's faculty adviser and any other faculty in preparation of the comprehensive examination, see Appendix 2.

3. Detailed Guidelines (See Appendix 1, Deadlines for Comprehensive Examination)

A preliminary meeting for students and advisors to review ORP guidelines will be held in the fall semester prior to the abstract submission deadline.

Step One: On the first day of class in the fourth semester of residence, the candidate will submit an abstract of the proposed research project and a statement of independence to the MCB Program office. The abstract document should start with a carefully worded title, the student's name, the date due, and the statement: “Abstract of a research proposal submitted to the Program in Molecular and Cellular Biology, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Oral Comprehensive Examination.”

The abstract should begin with an introductory paragraph, which summarizes succinctly the background and relevance of the proposed research. This should be followed by a direct and lucid statement of the problem, the hypotheses to be tested, the objectives, and the experimental approaches to be employed. Not more than two thirds of the text should be devoted to background and introduction; not less than one third should be devoted to the specific experiments proposed. The abstract should be one or two pages in length and should contain about five literature references most pertinent to the problem.

In addition to the abstract, the student must provide a statement of independence, which will be a separate document that summarizes the research proposal and summarizes the research in the laboratory where the student is performing experiments. If there is overlap between the ORP and the current research being done in the laboratory, including the work of others, the student must describe how the proposal differs. The abstract will then be forwarded to the adviser with a request to describe the overlap between the ORP and any current research in the lab. One of the goals of the ORP exercise is for the student to identify a novel and tractable question in the field, and then to propose experiments to answer the question.

Step Two: Within two weeks following receipt of the Abstract and Statement of Independence (February 15 or September 15) the Chair of the Curriculum Committee will appoint a three-member Examining Committee; one of these three will be Chair. Members of the committee will generally be drawn from the program faculty, although non-MCB examiners may be included. A representative of the Curriculum Committee will also be appointed, if the candidate so desires. The MCB Program office will notify Examining Committee members of their appointment and distribute copies of the abstract. Within ten days of receiving the abstract, the Examining Committee Chair will notify the student, the Chair of the Curriculum Committee and the MCB Program office whether it is approved. If disapproved, the Examining Committee Chair will discuss the remedy with the student, and provide a deadline for the submission of the revised abstract.

Step Three: Prior to April 1, the candidate will arrange with the concerned individuals a satisfactory date for the examination. The date should be scheduled prior to May 15 (or December 15 in the fall semester). The candidate will report this information to the MCB Program office, which will then be distributed by memo to the committee and student's adviser.

Step Four: The candidate will prepare the formal research proposal. The ORP Committee and the Chair of the Curriculum Committee may advise the student during its preparation, but the role of the student's thesis adviser (and other faculty) is limited (see Appendix 2). There is often a dialogue between the student and the committee members, typically mediated by the chair, throughout the proposal development process. The proposal should be a carefully written document with a maximum length of twelve single-spaced typewritten pages, excluding references. The cover page of the Proposal should contain the title, the student's name, the date, and the statement: "A research proposal submitted to the Program in Molecular and Cellular Biology, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Oral Comprehensive Examination." The bibliography should include titles and inclusive pagination of each cited reference. Please see the template in Appendix 3 for formatting guidelines.

The MCB Program office and each member of the Examining Committee will receive from the candidate a copy of the proposal, not less than 10 calendar days before the date of the examination. Members of the Examining Committee have until 5 days before the scheduled examination to move for rejection of the proposal as submitted. To do so, the committee member contacts the chairperson of the Examining Committee. The chairperson, in consultation with all committee members, will decide what steps are necessary to proceed with the examination.

Step Five: The candidate will defend his/her research proposal before the Examining Committee. In general, the candidate will be expected to open the examination with a talk of approximately 30 minutes—illustrated with presentation slides—outlining the salient points of the proposal. During the defense the student must show that the experimental approach proposed is scientifically valid and the techniques to be employed will yield useful and interpretable information. Furthermore, (s)he must demonstrate a familiarity with the background information in the area of research, and with the scientific basis of the methodology to be employed in the proposed investigation.

The remainder of the examination will be devoted to the discussion of questions posed by individual committee members. At the conclusion of the examination the student will leave the room. The candidate's adviser will then be asked if (s)he wishes to make any comments. The adviser will then leave the room. However, both the adviser and the student should remain available to the committee as they deliberate and vote. While the Curriculum Committee representative will not serve as an examiner, (s)he may ask occasional questions during the examination, and may advise the committee on their options and participate in the discussion after the student has left the room. The CC representative does not, however, vote on the final decision.

Step Six: Judgment of the candidate's performance will result in a grade of "Pass," "Conditional Pass," or "Fail." A conditional pass will carry pertinent stipulations for further work including deadlines for revision and redefending, if applicable. The Chair will communicate all comments and concerns of the Examining Committee to the candidate, and transmit the decision and recommendation of the Examination Committee in writing (see Appendix 4: Comprehensive Examination: Final Report) to the Curriculum Committee. A Final Report form will be filled out by the Chair and submitted to the MCB Program office (Appendix 4).

The student will submit a copy of the final proposal to the MCB Program office.

Dissertation and Final Oral Examination/Dissertation Defense

Dissertation committee.

The Dissertation Committee must be formed before the end of the first month of the fifth semester of study (September 30). Names of 4 members (including the dissertation advisor) must be submitted to the MCB Program office and subsequently approved by the MCB Director and the Graduate School. One member must be from OUTSIDE the candidate’s advisor’s home department. One member may be from outside the University, but in that case a copy of his/her C.V. must be submitted to the Graduate School. The dissertation advisor will serve as the Chair of the committee. All MCB dissertation advisors are required to complete the Graduate School’s National Research Mentoring Network (NRMN) training.

It will be the responsibility of the Dissertation Committee to monitor the student's research and progress toward the Ph.D. degree. Meetings of the Dissertation Committee must be held at least once per year. The Dissertation Committee will meet with the student to approve the Dissertation Prospectus, and for the Data Defense (below). The Committee Chair will complete the MCB Dissertation Committee Chair's Report to communicate the results of each meeting, including specific requests made of the student (see Appendix 13). A copy of this report will be given to the student and other committee members.

Dissertation Prospectus/Outline

Before completion of the third year of study (by August 31 of the summer after the sixth semester) and at least seven months prior to the Final Oral Examination, the student shall submit a Dissertation Prospectus/Outline to the MCB Program office, which will be forwarded to the Graduate School. This is to be approved by his/her Dissertation Committee, as indicated by their signatures on the title page (see Appendix 15). The document should be circulated to the committee prior to the Prospectus meeting. Normally, the Prospectus is no longer than twelve single spaced pages of text, and includes sections for Background, Specific Aims, Preliminary Data, and Conclusion. Examples are available from MCB.

Data Defense

The Ph.D. candidate should receive approval from the dissertation committee to proceed with writing the dissertation. At least two months before the dissertation examination, students are to schedule a data defense with their committee. The successful completion of the data defense gives the student approval to write the dissertation and identifies issues to be addressed prior to the dissertation examination. The Committee Chair will complete the MCB Dissertation Committee Chair's Report to communicate the results of this meeting, including specific requests made of the student (see Appendix 13). A copy of this report will be given to the student and other committee members.

The format of the Ph.D. dissertation document is set by the Graduate School. It is the student's responsibility to learn about and follow the rules governing the dissertation format.

The Final Oral Examination/Dissertation Defense will be administered by the Dissertation Committee after they have read and tentatively approved the dissertation and determined that the candidate has met all other requirements for the doctorate. The Ph.D. dissertation document should be distributed to the committee two weeks prior to the defense date. The time and place of the Defense must be publicly announced by the Graduate School so information about scheduling must be submitted to the MCB Program office at least one month in advance. It is expected the student will arrange for a time when all members of his/her dissertation committee will be present.

At the conclusion of the dissertation defense, the candidate should provide the committee with copies of the face page of the dissertation for their signatures. The candidate should also provide the committee with a filledout copy of Dissertation or Thesis Final Exam Report (Appendix 14). It is the responsibility of the student to ensure that the committee completes the form, including notations about modifications to the dissertation that are required by the committee. All committee members must sign the report, and it is then submitted to the MCB Program Office. The Graduate School must receive formal notification from the MCB Director that the student has successfully passed an oral defense of the dissertation.

It is the student’s responsibility to fill out all necessary forms and meet all requirements set by the Graduate School for graduation. See the Graduate School Handbook and Graduate School Bulletin. For more information, contact the Graduate School at 545-0722.

Publications

The Molecular and Cellular Biology Program at UMass Amherst should be listed as the primary affiliation on MCB students’ publications.

Period of Study

Students in the Ph.D. Program will normally be expected to complete all requirements for their degree within 5 years after admission. Only under exceptional circumstances will financial support be extended beyond 5 years, and this will normally be at the discretion and responsibility of the adviser.

Summary of Required Coursework and Milestone Requirements for the Ph.D. Degree

Courses/credits.

• BIOCHEM 623 - Advanced General Biochemistry - 4 credits
• MOLCLBIO 641 - Advanced Cell Biology - 4 credits
• MOLCLBIO 642 - Advanced Molecular Biology - 4 credits
• MOLCLBIO 696 - Independent Study - 8 credits (3/2/3 credits for three rotations)
• A minimum of 3 graduate-level elective courses - 9+ credits total
• Journal Clubs (exempt first year) - 1-2 credits per semester
• MCB Departmental Seminars - 1 per week minimum
• MCB Colloquia - 1 per week
• MOLCLBIO 899 - PhD Dissertation - 18 credits minimum (maximum of 9 dissertation credits per semester)

Original Research Proposal/Comprehensive Examination

Dissertation and final examination.

Total credits, including MCB Seminar and MCB Colloquia - 73 (minimum)

The Graduate School requires no minimum number of credits for a doctoral program, with the exception of dissertation credits. The MCB Program requires a minimum of 18 credits of MOLCLBIO 899 (and the maximum number of dissertation credits allowed per semester is 9). A student can ordinarily register for a maximum of sixteen (16) credits total per semester, but can receive departmental approval to exceed the total credit per semester maximum.

Book Navigation Links

• Printer-friendly version

203 French Hall University of Massachusetts Amherst 230 Stockbridge Road Amherst, MA 01003-9316

Phone: (413) 545-4408 E-mail:  [email protected]

• Search this site Search this site Site search
• Faculty and Staff
• Undergraduate

Ph.D. in Microbiology

The program leading to the Ph.D. degree is designed to develop the student’s ability to pursue independent and original research in microbiology and allied fields, communicate the results of such research to the scientific community and serve as an effective teacher. Students normally enter the doctoral program after receiving a master’s degree. Four years are required to complete the program.

Ph.D. Student learning outcomes

Program purpose.

The Ph.D. program in the School of Life Sciences at the University of Hawaii is designed to give students the academic and technical skills to become independent scientists and researchers. We strive to provide each graduate student with broad knowledge in microbiology and in-depth knowledge in their area of specialization. Students are trained in both traditional and state-of-the-art technologies to be applied to the design and conduct of original research projects. Additionally, students have access to both basic and advanced coursework to further their academic and research goals.

Student Learning Outcomes

• Design microbiological or immunological experiments at an advanced graduate level.
• Demonstrate proficiency with a variety of classical and modern microbiology techniques.
• Read, understand and evaluate current literature in their discipline. Produce significant scientific research results.
• Research results and interpretations of those results should be clearly presented both orally and in peer reviewed publications.
• Develop awareness and perspective as a member of a local, national and global scientific community.
• Compete successfully for productive employment or postdoctoral training in industry or academic institutions.
• General Information and Procedures for the Ph.D. Degree

Advancement to Candidacy (Ph.D)

Advancement to doctoral candidacy involves four steps:, 1. comprehensive written exam..

The comprehensive exam consists of two sections.

• A general knowledge section that tests students in all areas of microbiology and contains questions that all professional microbiologists should be capable of answering.
• A current topics section that tests students on two current topics in microbiology.

This section of the exam tests a student’s ability to independently research and understand a concept, pathway, phenomenon, or other aspect of microbiology that is emerging at the forefront of the field. Students will be given the two topics a minimum of six weeks prior to the exam date.

Sections of the exam will be administered on consecutive days once each semester and summer term. This is a closed-book exam. The student will have 3 hours to complete each section. Exams will be written and graded by a three-member panel of Microbiology faculty. Graded exams will be returned to students within one week of their completion.

The written comprehensive may be repeated the following semester if a non-passing grade is received after the first attempt. Two successive non-passing grades will result in removal from the Ph D program.

2. Comprehensive oral exam.

A comprehensive oral exam will be administered by the three Microbiology faculty approximately one week after receipt of the graded written exam. Questions on the oral exam will focus on, but are not limited to, responses to questions on the written exam. A student’s mentor cannot serve on the comprehensive exam panel.

It is strongly recommended that students take the comprehensive exam in their fifth semester or earlier (third semester or earlier for students with a UH Microbiology MS degree). The first attempt at the comprehensive exam must be completed by the end of the sixth semester of study.

3. Dissertation written proposal.

Upon successfully completing the comprehensive exam, a written document describing the research that will constitute the student’s doctoral dissertation will be submitted to members of the student’s doctoral committee.

4. Dissertation oral proposal.

A succinct presentation of the proposal will be made to the student’s doctoral committee approximately 2 – 4 weeks after distribution of the written proposal. Committee members will be permitted to question the student on the research proposal. At the end of the proposal meeting, committee members will determine if the proposal is acceptable and whether the student is ready to advance to candidacy. Upon acceptance of the proposal, the student is conferred “doctoral candidate” status.

It is strongly recommended that students complete the oral dissertation proposal by the end of their sixth semester of the program.

Course Requirements

Completion of 30 credit hours as follows:

• 12 cr. of classes 600 level and up, excluding MICR 699. It is expected that the majority of these classes will be in Microbiology. Classes from outside the program may be included, upon approval of student’s committee chair. Up to 3 credits of MICR695 may be applied toward the degree.
• 7 cr. of Directed Research, MICR 699.
• 1 cr. Seminar, MICR 690.
• 1 cr. Thesis, MICR 800.
• (e) 9 cr. of classes, which can include 400 level and graduate-level Microbiology classes. Directed Research (MICR 699) may not be included. Graduate-level classes from outside the program may be included, upon approval of student’s committee chair.

Note: certain adjustments can be considered for those with a M.S. degree in Microbiology or closely related field.

Teaching Requirement

At least one year of teaching experience is considered part of the training of the Ph.D. candidate and is a requirement for the degree. This requirement can be waived for equivalent experience or for other extraordinary circumstances.

Seminar Requirement

The student is expected to give at least one departmental seminar (MICR 690) in addition to the defense seminar at the end of the student’s program.

Ph.D. Language Examination

There is no program foreign language requirement.

Dissertation Review

Much of the Dissertation writing and review is done under the supervision of the major professor (mentor). Thus, a sufficient period must be allowed for first and second draft revisions. This period is not dictated in any way by the University or Program and will depend on the scientific and editorial qualities of the drafts. Also, it is not unlikely that a mentor will have several theses or dissertations to review in a semester. If the dissertation has not been properly reviewed and drafted by the student and his/her mentor, the other committee members are not obligated to read or judge the document until it is in reasonable shape.

Dissertation Defense

This will be given as an advertised public seminar of approximately one hour duration with an unlimited questioning period to follow. Consult the Graduate Division for advertising deadlines.

Dissertation Copies

In addition to the requirements of the Graduate Division, students are required to provide two bound copies of their dissertation to the Program before graduation, one of which goes to the chairman of the dissertation committee.

Remember:   It is the personal responsibility of each student to see that all requirements are fulfilled and all deadlines met in a timely manner. See the university general catalog for the official calendars.

By continuing to use this site, you agree to the use of cookies in accordance with our privacy policy .

Dissertation Defense: Maxx Swoger

August 15, 2024 at 1:00pm – 3:00pm EDT

Physics Building

The oral doctoral examination of Maxx Swoger, candidate for the Ph.D. degree, will be held on Thursday, August 15, at 1  p.m. in the Physics Building, room 202.

Swoger’s advisor is Professor Alison Patteson. The dissertation examining committee will be composed of Professors Jennifer Schwarz and Jennifer Ross. Professor Heidi Hehnly will serve as chair of the defense. The title of the candidate’s dissertation is: “Vimentin inside and outside the cell: from cell spreading and nuclear mechanics to COVID-19.”

This event was published on July 31, 2024.

Event Details Link

• Category Education
• Type Dissertation Defenses
• Region Campus
• Open to Public
• Group College of Arts and Sciences
• Organizer CAS-Department of Physics
• Contact Kristina Ashley [email protected]
• Accessibility Contact Kristina Ashley to request accommodations