1. The thesis and viva voce
by Christopher Teh Boon Sung, Ph.D.
Fac. of Agriculture, UPM
christopherteh.com
Tel:

2. You can download these slides from:

3. What is viva voce?
Literally, "viva voce" means “by the living voice” or “by word of mouth”
Today viva means oral examination – thesis defense
The final hurdle of your postgraduate research degree
No marks given for viva but it is used to evaluate the worth of your work and thesis
Mohd. Said Bashir defending his thesis on Apr 19, 2008

4. Purpose of viva voce
The purpose of the viva is to validate your thesis and show the examiners:
that the thesis is your own work
that you understand what you have done and written
that you are aware where your work sits in relation to the wider research field
that your work is of sufficiently high standard (in terms of scientific rigor and writing maturity)
that you can defend your work in response to the examiners' questions

5. Who are in the viva? Examiners
1 external examiner (may not be present)
2 internal examiners
1 chairperson
The candidate (you!)
Your supervisor and co-supervisors
one or more of them may not be present

6. External examiner Expert in the field of the candidate’s research
Must be from outside UPM
Can be from
local universities – for MSc only
foreign universities – MSc and PhD
For foreign students, examiner from the same nationality is not recommended
Must have at least 10 significant journal publications in your field of work
Must graduate at least 1 student at the same level of your degree

7. Not involved in your work/research
e.g., any joint publications can be problematic
May not attend your viva
Foreign external examiners rarely attend
Local external examiners may come especially if one of the internal examiners is unable to attend your viva

8. Internal examiners Two examiners from within UPM
Have expertise your field of study
Can sometimes be more strict than the external examiner!

9. Chairperson Have graduated at least one postgraduate student
Not necessarily has the expertise in your field of research
Duties include to
moderate/coordinate the discussion/examination
ensure all examiners’ questions are adequately answered by the candidate
NOT become an examiner!
but the person can ask questions on behalf on the external examiner based on the examiner’s report if the examiner is not present

10. Supervisor and co-supervisors
They are invited to attend the viva, but their attendance is optional
They will come and sit and listen but they will not actively participate in the discussion unless asked by the examiners or chairperson
Do not depend on your supervisors or co-supervisors to bail you out of tough questions!
reflects badly on you as it shows you cannot defend your work well
Do not become angry if they do not attend your viva
It is your thesis defense, not theirs

11. Selection of viva committee
Candidate can suggest names for the viva committee, but ultimately, the main supervisor must ask and appoint the examiners and chairperson
Choose the best people who can understand, correct, and improve your work

12. What happens during a viva?
A 20-minute oral presentation of your work
Focus on:
Problem and justification of study
Objectives
How you did your work
Results – what you obtained/observed
Discuss/explain your results
Conclusion – not a summary!
Integrate review of literature with the above rather than have a separate section on literature review
Avoid a lengthy presentation

13. Q & A Key areas examiners will evaluate your work:
Is the problem of study clear and important?
Are the study’s objectives clear, achievable, and sufficient?
Are the methods used sufficient ?
Are the results clear, sufficient, and important?
Can the results be explained clearly and sufficiently?
Have the study’s objectives been achieved?
Is the scientific work robust/rigorous?
Is the level of work sufficient for the awarded degree?
Are the presentation of work and writing in thesis adequate?

14. Thesis Acceptance/rejection categories
Accepted with distinction
minimal corrections needed for spelling, grammar, and syntax
met all criteria for award (e.g., no. of publications and number of credits)
15 days for correction

15. Accepted with minor modifications
reformatting of chapters
revision of literature and/or objectives
correction of references
minor spelling, grammar, and syntax errors
30 days for correction

16. Accepted with major modifications
extensive revision of thesis to improve quality
re-analysis of data
removal of chapters
re-discuss your results
major corrections in spelling, grammar, and syntax
60 days for correction

17. Oral re-examination (Re-viva voce)
fails the first viva voce
second viva and final viva to be conducted within 60 days
Re-submission of thesis
scope of degree not met
objectives not met
serious flaws in methodology and analysis
requires additional experiments or data collection
2 semesters or 1 year for res-submission (repeat the whole thesis submission and viva process)

18. Re-submission of a PhD thesis as a Masters thesis
scope of work not suited at a PhD level
60 days for correction
Fail/rejected
very serious flaws in work
plagiarism detected

19. Appeal against viva decision
You can appeal a decision by the viva committee if you think it is incorrect
Fill in the relevant form from SGS and provide supporting documents for your appeal
The following criteria is included for appeal cases to be considered:
At least one member of the supervisory committee is present at the viva
Appeal letter is officially submitted by the supervisor.
No scientific misconduct such as plagiarism, falsification of data, cheating has occurred.

20. There is evidence to support case including report (s) from independent expert opinion, journal papers (preferably ISI papers), if relevant.
Evidence of conflict of interest by examiners is provided, if relevant.
Contradicting statements on the outcome of the examination in the report by Chair of Examination Committee, if relevant.
Note: Criteria 1, 2 and 3 are compulsory. In addition either criteria 4 or 5 or 6 is also required for SGS to consider the case.
Deadline for submission of appeal letter is one month after viva date.

21. Minimum no. of publications
For GRF (Graduate Research Fellowship) holders:
PhD level - 2 journal publications (or accepted)
MSc level - 1 journal publication (or accepted)
For others:
PhD level - 1 journal publication (or accepted) and 1 article submitted
MSc level - 1 journal submitted

22. Correcting your thesis (after the viva)
You can ask for extension for thesis correction but for not reasons regarding busy work schedule or insufficient time given
Make ALL corrections as requested by your examiners – do not pick and choose which corrections you want to do
Corrections based on examiners’ and chairperson’s reports and corrections written in your thesis copy

23. You can see/contact your examiners to resolve any
contradictory corrections suggested by two or more examiners
unclear corrections or comments
disagreement with the corrections
give your reasons for your disagreement
but ask yourself first: “Was my writing/explanation/presentation unclear?”

24. Final thesis preparation
Guidelines and forms can be downloaded from SGS website
NEW guidelines since Jan 2014:
Submit your thesis in double spacing for ease of corrections by the viva committee, but in final form, your thesis must be prepared
in single spacing and printed on both sides of paper
but in double spacing for between paragraphs and sections
using 80 g paper
Check other requirements as listed in the SGS website

25. Preparing for your viva
Go through your thesis and anticipate the questions you can be asked during the viva
All questions will be related to four general areas:
What is it about?
What did you do?
What did you find?
Why does that matter?

26. Find out who are your examiners
What are their research background and expertise?
What have they published, and mostly in what field?
Read some of their articles to understand their interest
Ask your supervisory committee as some of them might familiar with one or more of your examiners
Prepare a 20-minute presentation and run it through your supervisory committee for their feedback
If possible, prepare a mock/trial viva with your supervisory committee

27. Bring supporting documents (books, publications, photos, saved website information) into your viva in case you need them to defend your work
documents preferably in softcopies
Bring pen and paper!
to jot down the examiners’ comments
Do not discuss your viva or your thesis with any of the examiners prior to your viva

28. During your viva …
Some examiners, unfortunately, can conduct their examination as if they are challenging you
some personalities are more prone to such an approach
Do not take offence
A relaxed, thoughtful, and non-confrontational response from you will help rebalance the discussion

29. Avoid
giving a general, resigned declaration that "this happens in every study"
blaming your supervisors
blaming your data or situation but without sufficient problem solving efforts
saying "that was beyond the scope of my study" without giving a convincing argument to support the statement
dismissing as unimportant what has been identified as a weakness in your study

30. Instead,
be confident and eager to share your work
take time to consider before replying
remember to breathe and speak reasonably slowly
not take the criticism personally
not take offence
not get angry
enjoy the opportunity to talk about your research
No time limit for viva but it often lasts between one to three hours

31. Resources Your viva voce exam by Uni. of Leicester
www2.le.ac.uk/departments/gradschool/training/eresources/study-guides/viva/print
The viva voce exam by Uni. of Sheffield

32. Good luck!
Thank you