Handouts can help when technology fails, or an additional fresh shirt for spilled coffee can save the day. 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 [ This shows that you have the ability to think as an academic.
You will be nervous. But the good news is - your examiners will expect you to be nervous. 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.
Two common symptoms of being nervous are talking really fast and nervous laughs. Try to slow yourself down, take a deep breath. Remember what feels like hours to you are just a few seconds in real life. Allow yourself to process the 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 most likely not be perfect. You are not expected to be perfect and the examiners already have plenty of experience with this and will guide you through it. Also remember that your thesis defense is often just a formality and the committee actually wants you to pass. If you are still nervous about your thesis defense, read this blog post by Dora Farkas at finishyourthesis. She debunks 5 common myths about thesis defenses and helps you see that your committee is not out to get you.
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 [ 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. Guides Writing Writing your thesis. How to prepare an excellent thesis defense. What should I wear for my thesis defense? How can I deal with nerves before my thesis defense? Writing the Dissertation Each student must write a comprehensive PhD dissertation on their research topic and the original results of their research. There are a variety of ways a dissertation can be composed, but the core elements described below must be included.
The dissertation must show original treatment of the subject, contain a scholarly review of the pertinent literature, provide evidence of independent research of publishable quality, and be clearly, logically, and carefully written. The completed work should be critically reviewed by the dissertation advisor before being submitted to the Dissertation Defense Committee.
In some cases, the student has done all of the work in the dissertation; more often portions of the dissertation result from collaborative research. In all dissertations containing collaborative results, the dissertation should indicate concisely who contributed to the work and how. For work that is not published but which resulted from multiple researchers, the contributors must be named and respective attributions made clear.
This policy allows stylistic flexibility; depending on the amount of collaborative work in the dissertation and the status of publication s , the attributions can be, preferably, on or accompanying the cover page for each chapter or within an extended acknowledgements section at the end of each chapter.
It is recommended that if figures or figure panels are included that are the work of others that the figure panels be clearly identified and the work properly attributed. It is permissible for more than one student to include work from the same collaboration or publication as long as the required attributions are clear, justified, and complete. Individual chapters can be that of published articles as long as there are also comprehensive Introduction and Conclusion chapters written by the student.
While the text can be the same, use of journal reprints as a chapter is not permissible. A word document of the published article must be used, and the pages in the dissertation must be consecutively numbered. Furthermore, the figures and accompanying figure legends must be integrated into the main body of each chapter, preferably following the first mention of the given figure, not clustered at the end of the chapter. Any dissertation that varies significantly from the Graduate School or FAS guidelines, or is not neat and readable, is subject to required stylistic revision before acceptance by the University.
This certificate must be signed by all readers of the dissertation at the end of the examination and returned to the BPH Program Office. This certificate will be scanned and sent to the student so it can be inserted as page one of the dissertation prior to the online submission. Failed Dissertation If you fail a dissertation, you will usually be given an opportunity to re-submit it by an agreed-upon date.
As with a module failure, the marks awarded for a re-submitted dissertation will usually be capped at a bare pass level. The point of the prelims and defense is not to fail you, it is to provide you an opportunity to show you know how to conduct research and present your work.
You have spent years building a dissertation and should know it inside and out. As long as you did your own work you will be fine. Most defenses last approximately two hours, including deliberation time for committee members. Use PowerPoint. PowerPoint presentations is a professional approach that can do justice to the vast research that comprises the dissertation.
In the United States, PhD students defend their thesis with a public presentation. In some other countries — and in some departments in the United States as well — the doctoral students are evaluated by their committees publicly after their thesis defense talk. Defending a thesis largely serves as a formality because the paper will already have been evaluated. During a defense, a student will be asked questions by members of the thesis committee.
Questions are usually open-ended and require that the student think critically about his or her work. They usually take around six-to-eight years to finish, but there are plenty of benefits to taking the long road to your doctorate.
Part-time students dedicate between hours a week to their studies, which leaves plenty of time for work or raising a young family. Just dress normal, normal, normal, nice.
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