This document provides advice for PhD students preparing for their viva voce (oral defense). It outlines key aspects to focus on before, during, and after the viva. Before the viva, students should thoroughly know their thesis and cited literature, compile summaries of each section, and anticipate questions. During the viva, students will be tested on their thesis and pressed to explain and justify their work. They should remain calm and admit to any gaps. Typical viva questions focus on the thesis summary, original contributions, methodology, and weaknesses. After the viva, students may be asked to make minor or major corrections or do a re-viva, with the goal of earning their doctorate title.

1. Viva!
What should I do???
By Sr. Dr. Siti Uzairiah Mohd Tobi
Senior Lecturer
UTM Razak School of Engineering & Advanced Technology
Uiversiti Teknologi Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur.

2. Overview
a) Before Viva
b) The Viva itself
c) Typical Viva questions
d) After Viva (result)

3. PhD Thesis
 Originality and creativity
 Contribution to Knowledge (CTK)
 Review of relevant literature (Displays knowledge of
the field & Displays critical judgement)
 Statement of the research problem
 Methods adopted (data collection & analysis)
 Discussion and outcomes

4. Before Viva
 Start a file of anticipated viva questions
 It is essential to know your thesis thoroughly
 It is a great idea to compile a brief summary of
each section/chapter before you submit (It will
enable you to revise for the viva from the thesis summary rather
than from the thesis itself )

5. Before Viva
 The main preparation for the viva is reading.
Some of the things to prioritise:
 Know your thesis inside-out
 Be familiar with references cited in your thesis
(Make sure you are familiar with the literature, not
everything you have read during the PhD but the
most important ones)
 The examiners could also ask you about the
literature not in the thesis, to test whether you are
widely-read in your area (Look for recent reviews of
related areas, recent publications in the field )

6. The viva itself
 It is a testing event
 It is your defence of what you have mentioned
in the thesis
 It checks that you know your material

7. The viva itself
 You will therefore be pressed to explain, elaborate and
to justify
 The PhD viva is an open book exam – you can bring any
materials you want
 Rules
 Rule 1 - Keep calm
 Rule 2 – It is ok to admit to gaps. No one can do
everything in 3 years!

8. The viva itself
 Handling difficult questions:
 If you don’t understand the question, ask for
clarification
 Treat vague questions as invitations to tell the
examiners that you know your area and how it fits
into related areas
 If they have a misconception about your work, try to
explain it
 If you really can’t answer a question, be honest; if
you have no idea at all, say it

9. Typical questions
 The conclusion chapter is a major one to focus
on in anticipating viva questions – especially
where you criticise your work!
 You should relate each question to sections of
your thesis, and have a framework for
answering it worked out before the viva
* Source for typical questions – Nasty PhD viva questions - Andrew Broad, Manchester University

10. Typical questions
 In one sentence, what is your thesis?
 Summarise your key findings
 What is original about your work?
 What are the contributions of knowledge of you
thesis?

11. Typical questions
 Who are the main players in A ? (you should
cluster together papers written by the same
people)
 What are the recent major developments in A?
 How do you expect A to progress over the next
5 years?
 How long term is your contribution, given the
anticipated future developments in A?

12. Typical questions
 What are the strongest/weakest parts in your
study?
 Why have you done it in this way? (you need to
justify your approach – don’t assume the
examiners share your views)
 Why didn’t you do it the way everyone else does
it? (this requires having done extensive reading)
 Looking back, what might have you done
differently? (this requires a careful answer,
defending what you have already done!) Tricky
question!!!

13. After Viva – The result…
 Just because they ask a lot of questions does not
mean you are going to fail
 They don’t give away the result before or during
viva, but you may be asked to wait around for the
result at the end so that they can explain the
result to you
 Result:
- No correction (submit as it is)
- Minor
- Major
- Re’viva’

14. Congratulation!
You are now a ‘Dr.’ -

15. Acknowledgement
Professor Dilanthi Amaratunga
(Huddersfield University, UK)