A viva voce is the final milestone of the PhD experience. After years of work and an often gruelling period of data analysis and writing, a PhD candidate attends an oral assessment to defend their thesis before a panel of experts in the field. For many, the viva can already be a nerve-wracking experience, but how have the additional lockdown restrictions affected this process?

To find out more about the experience of the virtual thesis defence, we spoke to recent PhD graduates Dr Darija Soltic, Dr Jonas Mechtersheimer and Dr Daniel Jutzi based at UK DRI at King’s. Here they share their reflections on the process and tips for conducting a successful viva in the virtual space.

Tips for your online viva

Before your online viva:

Consult your supervisor
Discuss the pros and cons of a virtual viva with your supervisor and whether this will affect the selection of your examiners.

Inform the university
Find out if there are existing regulations or paperwork to be filled out beforehand. These can vary between universities.

Check your internet connection
Test your internet connection with multiple people at a similar time of day to your scheduled viva. You may also want to ask other people in your house to avoid online activities that could use up precious bandwidth.

Familiarise yourself with the online meeting platform (eg. Zoom or Microsoft Teams)
Most of us are now in the swing of video meetings but it’s always best to explore all aspects of these platforms including audio and video settings, screen sharing and other general troubleshooting. Post-lockdown, you may want to consider conducting your viva in a meeting room at work to take advantage of reliable internet and IT support.

Ensure that you have a dedicated physical space
Find a place in your home that is comfortable and well-lit with no distractions in the background. Inform the people you live with to avoid interruptions during the time of your viva.

Check that you have the same copy of your thesis as your examiners
As you may have an annotated version of your thesis, make sure that any edits you’ve made have not changed the formatting. You want to be on the same page - literally.

During your viva:

Get in the “viva zone”

Darija: “Even though I was at home, I dressed up as I would have for a regular viva. It helped me get mentally prepared.”

Avoid interrupting examiners and take turns speaking
Online meeting platforms are designed to amplify one speaker at a time, so make sure you take turns speaking and avoid interrupting your examiner (or even verbally agree or comment as you might do in person).

Have your thesis and a glass of water ready

Use screen sharing or online Whiteboard apps to make your points

Daniel: “It was tricky at times — I couldn’t reach over and point at something or draw on a whiteboard to reiterate or to clarify”.

Reflections

Our interviewees expressed some disappointment that they could not greet their examiners in person nor celebrate with their colleagues afterwards. 

“It felt less like an event even though we had a virtual meet-up afterwards,” Jonas explained, “I would’ve liked to celebrate with everyone properly.” 

Post-lockdown, however, they recommend organising an in-person gathering with colleagues to celebrate the occasion.

They agreed that not having to travel was a major advantage. Instead of worrying about possible public transport delays, they could spend the time leading up to the viva revising from the comfort of their own home.

“Travelling on the day would’ve given me some anxiety. Especially with the current situation, public transport isn’t as reliable and my viva was quite early in the day,” said Darija.

Our researchers reiterated that despite the lack of social interaction, they still found their online viva enjoyable and believed that the quality of their viva was comparable to one done in person.

A viable alternative going forward?

Although much uncertainty remains around lockdown in the future, perhaps we can consider online vivas as a long term practical alternative with several benefits.

Firstly, the home can provide a familiar and comfortable setting for an often stressful part of the PhD process, without the worry of travel delays. The virtual viva should also allow greater flexibility and more inclusivity in examiner selection, being more compatible with caring responsibilities, disabilities, or travel restrictions. It may encourage the participation of experts from the Global South, allowing for a wider range of perspectives and exchange of ideas. Eliminating the financial barriers of travel expenses can also benefit candidates from smaller universities. Without the requirement of travel, there are also positives for the environment with reduced carbon emissions.

It is not just PhD examinations that have moved onto virtual platforms in the midst of this global pandemic, but other key aspects of academia and research. At the UK DRI, we have taken this opportunity to offer several online webinars and workshops. We have been fortunate enough to hear from world-leading international researchers and enjoyed the sharing of technical expertise amongst our community. Initial feedback suggests that many researchers would like future events offered virtually, where possible, to increase accessibility for both speakers and attendees. For a geographically distributed institute such as UK DRI, taking advantage of these digital tools is essential to drive collaboration and maintain momentum in tackling the challenges of dementia research.

It is wonderful to see researchers begin to return to the labs and we look forward to catching up with our community in-person over the coming months. However, perhaps the current situation has given us all a valuable insight into the opportunities afforded by this new communication and how it can help us in new ways of working.  

Article written by Annora Thoeng from UK DRI at KCL 
Article published: 15 July 2020 
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