Are you unsure on how to prepare for the Viva? Then join us in this event where current and former doctoral students will reflect on challenging Viva questions they faced and what these actually mean. The session will be led by Prof. Dr. Boštjan Gomiscek, Professor, former Associate Dean of Research, and PhD Program Guardian(amongst others) with the University of Wollongong(Australia) in Dubai, who will coach participants and answer any question on how to be best prepared by sharing what examiners are looking for.

Navigating examiner’s questions can be difficult without proper support on what is expected from you. Did you know that an examiner asking:“What part of your thesis makes you the proudest?” is actually not that much interested in a response of“I am very proud about the fact that my thesis resulted in the world to be a better place”. Instead, the hidden question is what in your research would be noteworthy, such as“I was very proud once I recognised that in the initial two coding attempts, I had totally missed in seeing the patterns in the data, and it was only once I brought in the analytical framework that Smith used in a related study in 2016, that the patterns became clearly visible. This was a phenomenal learning and sort of lightbulb moment as it allowed me to analyse the research problem from a very different perspective.”. Got the difference in the answers?

The type of answer that will impress examiners is the one that connects the question about proudness to the context of your research, provides further evidence to the fact that your research has been rigorous and sound, and that you are fluent in communicating it from any of the ends.

As a matter of fact, many of the Viva questions are of this type of calibre and dual nature. As such, they could be answered either way– it’s your choice to select on which side you want to be. Therefore, please make sure that you know how to pick the side that examiners would be keen to see.

For those in doubt, those that are just curious, or those that sit on the examination side, you are welcome to join this Mock Viva Pitch event and join Prof. Dr. Boštjan Gomiscek together with current and former doctoral students in a discussion about the various challenging Viva questions so to advance your understanding of what these actually mean and what examiners are looking for.

This free interactive webinar will start at 1.00pm UK time(GMT).

To maximise the learning for participants, questions may be posted to the webinar discussion board after your registration. These will be addressed during the webinar.

Following the presentation of the webinar, the host will be available to answer any research-related questions you may have in an open door session with no agenda other than your own questions.

The Mock Viva Pitch session attempts to provide you with:

• A better understanding of where you are in your learning and how you perform when put on the spot.
• An opportunity to test Viva answer to Viva questions
• A room for joint learning on how the Viva experience feels.