phd viva minor corrections

Skip to content. | Skip to navigation

Personal tools

https://www.vitae.ac.uk/doing-research/doing-a-doctorate/completing-your-doctorate/your-viva/thesis-outcomes

This page has been reproduced from the Vitae website (www.vitae.ac.uk). Vitae is dedicated to realising the potential of researchers through transforming their professional and career development.

Vitae members' area

Thesis outcomes and corrections

There will usually be a bit more work to do after the viva. Each institution will have its own regulations about viva outcomes and how to inform the candidate of them. Find out before you go into your viva so that you know what to expect. In the UK they typically they fall into one of the following categories:

Outright pass. Your work needs no corrections
Minor corrections. Your examiners have a few minor suggestions that they would like you to incorporate
Major corrections or resubmission. The thesis needs further work to be of doctoral standard. This might include more research, rewriting sections or including new literature
Suggestion that you resubmit for, or are awarded, a lower degree (MPhil or MSc). Research is of good quality but too narrow for a doctorate
Outright fail. Usually used only in cases of plagiarism or where the examiners judge that the candidate will never be able to complete a doctorate.

Most candidates fall within the minor or major corrections categories. This means that you will have some corrections to complete. However, regardless of the number of corrections that you have to do most people who reach the viva stage do go on to get their doctorate relatively quickly.

Thesis corrections

After your viva you are likely to have some corrections to complete before you are awarded your doctorate. The extent can range from a few spelling mistakes to rewriting or adding complete chapters. You may be given a deadline by your examiners or your institution but regardless of this, it is best to aim to complete your corrections as soon as possible to use the momentum acquired during thesis writing.

In order to be sure that your corrections make the right changes:

take notes during the viva and write them up immediately after
meet with your main supervisor to discuss the changes that you need to make
analyse the examiners' report carefully to make sure that you have dealt with all of the issues that they raise
proofread your work again.

Thesis resubmission

Your examiners, or often just the internal examiner, will check that all corrections have been incorporated, and then you can resubmit your thesis. Your institution will have regulations on the format of the final submitted thesis copy of your thesis, which will usually be deposited in the institutional library. It has become more common for institutions to request the submission of an electronic copy for ease of cataloguing and searching.

Bookmark & Share

PhD Viva Voces – A Complete Guide
Doing a PhD
A PhD viva involves defending your thesis in an oral examination with at least two examiners.
The aim of a PhD viva is to confirm that the work is your own , that you have a deep understanding of your project and, overall, that you are a competent researcher .
There are no standard durations, but they usually range from one to three hours, with most lasting approximately two hours .
There are six outcomes of a PhD viva: (1) pass without corrections (2) pass subject to minor corrections, (3) pass subject to major corrections, (4) downgrade to MPhil with no amendments, (5) downgrade to MPhil subject to amendments, (6) immediate fail.
Almost all students who sit their viva pass it, with the most common outcome being ‘(2) – pass subject to minor corrections’.

What Is a PhD Viva?

A viva voce , more commonly referred to as ‘viva’, is an oral examination conducted at the end of your PhD and is essentially the final hurdle on the path to a doctorate. It is the period in which a student’s knowledge and work are evaluated by independent examiners.

In order to assess the student and their work around their research question, a viva sets out to determine:

you understand the ideas and theories that you have put forward,
you can answer questions about elements of your work that the examiners have questions about,
you understand the broader research in your field and how your work contributes to this,
you are aware of the limitations of your work and understand how it can be developed further,
your work makes an original contribution, is your own and has not been plagiarised.

Note: A viva is a compulsory procedure for all PhD students, with the only exception being when a PhD is obtained through publication as opposed to the conventional route of study.

Who Will Attend a Viva?

In the UK, at least two examiners must take part in all vivas. Although you could have more than two examiners, most will not in an attempt to facilitate a smoother questioning process.

One of the two examiners will be internal, i.e. from your university, and the other will be external, i.e. from another university. Regardless, both will be knowledgeable in your research field and have read your thesis beforehand.

In addition to your two examiners, two other people may be present. The first is a chairperson. This is an individual who will be responsible for monitoring the interview and for ensuring proper conduct is followed at all times. The need for an external chairperson will vary between universities, as one of the examiners can also take on this role. The second is your supervisor, whose attendance is decided upon by you in agreement with your examiners. If your supervisor attends, they are prohibited from asking questions or from influencing the outcome of the viva.

To avoid any misunderstandings, we have summarised the above in a table:

Note: In some countries, such as in the United States, a viva is known as a ‘PhD defense’ and is performed publicly in front of a panel or board of examiners and an open audience. In these situations, the student presents their work in the form of a lecture and then faces questions from the examiners and audience which almost acts as a critical appraisal.

How Long Does a Viva Last?

Since all universities have different guidelines , and since all PhDs are unique, there are no standard durations. Typically, however, the duration ranges from one to three hours, with most lasting approximately two hours.

Your examiners will also influence the duration of your viva as some will favour a lengthy discussion, while others may not. Usually, your university will consult your examiners in advance and notify you of the likely duration closer to the day of your viva.

What Happens During a Viva?

Regardless of the subject area, all PhD vivas follow the same examination process format as below.

Introductions

You will introduce yourselves to each other, with the internal examiner normally introducing the external examiner. If an external chairperson is present, they too are introduced; otherwise, this role will be assumed by one of the examiners.

Procedure Explained

After the introductions, the appointed chair will explain the viva process. Although it should already be known to everyone, it will be repeated to ensure the viva remains on track during the forthcoming discussion.

Warm-Up Questions

The examiners will then begin the questioning process. This usually starts with a few simple opening questions, such as asking you to summarise your PhD thesis and what motivated you to carry out the research project.

In-Depth Questions

The viva questions will then naturally increase in difficulty as the examiners go further into the details of your thesis. These may include questions such as “What was the most critical decision you made when determining your research methodology ?”, “Do your findings agree with the current published work?” and “How do your findings impact existing theories or literature? ”. In addition to asking open-ended questions, they will also ask specific questions about the methodology, results and analysis on which your thesis is based.

Closing the Viva

Once the examiners are satisfied that they have thoroughly evaluated your knowledge and thesis, they will invite you to ask any questions you may have, and then bring the oral examination to a close.

What Happens After the Viva?

Once your viva has officially ended, your examiners will ask you to leave the room so that they can discuss your performance. Once a mutual agreement has been reached, which can take anywhere from 10 minutes to an hour, you will be invited back inside and informed of your outcome.

PhD Viva Outcomes

There are six possible outcomes to a viva:

Immediate award of degree: A rare recommendation – congratulations, you are one of the few people who completely satisfied your examiners the first time around. You do not have to do anything further at this point.
Minor amendments required: The most common recommendation – you obtain a pass on the condition that you make a number of minor amendments to your thesis, such as clarifying certain points and correcting grammatical errors. The time you have to make these changes depends on the number of them, but is usually one to six months.
Major amendments required: A somewhat uncommon recommendation – you are requested to make major amendments to your thesis, ranging from further research to collecting more data or rewriting entire sections. Again, the time you have to complete this will depend on the number of changes required, but will usually be six months to one year. You will be awarded your degree once your amended thesis has been reviewed and accepted.
Immediate award of MPhil: An uncommon recommendation – your examiners believe your thesis does not meet the standard for a doctoral degree but meets the standard for an MPhil (Master of Philosophy), a lower Master’s degree.
Amendments required for MPhil: A rare recommendation – your examiners believe your thesis does not meet the standard for a doctoral degree, but with several amendments will meet the standard for an MPhil.
Immediate fail: A very rare recommendation – you are given an immediate fail without the ability to resubmit and without entitlement to an MPhil.

Finding a PhD has never been this easy – search for a PhD by keyword, location or academic area of interest.

What Is the Pass Rate for Vivas?

Based on an analysis of 26,076 PhD students who took their viva exam between 2006 and 2017, the PhD viva pass rate in the UK is 96%; of those who passed, about 80% were required to make minor amendments to their thesis. The reason for this high pass rate is that supervisors will only put their students forward for a viva once they confidently believe they are ready for it. As a result, most candidates who sit a viva are already well-versed in their PhD topic before they even start preparing for the exam.

How Do I Arrange a Viva?

Your viva will be arranged either by the examiners or by the chairperson. The viva will be arranged at least one to two months after you have submitted your thesis and will arrange a viva date and venue that is suitable for all participants.

Can I Choose My Examiners?

At most universities, you and your supervisor will choose the internal and external examiners yourselves. This is because the examiners must have extensive knowledge of the thesis topic in order to be able to examine you and, as the author of the thesis in question, who else could better determine who they might be than you and your supervisor. The internal examiner is usually quite easy to find given they will be from your institution, but the external examiner may end up being your second or third preference depending on availability.

Can I Take Notes Into a Viva?

A viva is about testing your competence, not your memory. As such, you are allowed to take notes and other supporting material in with you. However, keep in mind that your examiners will not be overly impressed if you constantly have to refer to your notes to answer each question. Because of this, many students prefer to take an annotated copy of their thesis, with important points already highlighted and key chapters marked with post-it notes.

In addition to an annotated copy of a thesis, some students also take:

a list of questions they would like to ask the examiners,
notes that were created during their preparation,
a list of minor corrections they have already identified from their viva prep work.

How Do I Prepare for a PhD Viva?

There are several ways to prepare for a PhD viva, one of the most effective being a mock viva voce examination . This allows you to familiarise yourself with the type of viva questions you will be asked and identify any weak areas you need to improve. They also give you the opportunity to practise without the pressure, giving you more time to think about your answers which will help to make sure that you know your thesis inside out. However, a mock viva exam is just one of many methods available to you – some of the other viva preparation methods can be found on our “ How to Prepare for a PhD Viva ” page.

Browse PhDs Now

Join thousands of students.

Join thousands of other students and stay up to date with the latest PhD programmes, funding opportunities and advice.

How to deal with post-viva PhD thesis corrections

Jun 1, 2019

We like to think that the viva is the end of the doctoral process; the final step in the long journey to a PhD. However, for most, it isn’t the final hurdle. The outcome of the viva in most cases is another three to sixth months work to deal with corrections (which may range from correcting typos, to rewriting or adding entire chapters). This means you need to preserve some energy and be prepared to exert some considerable post-viva brainpower.

Wait for the committee’s report

You’ll leave your viva with a good understanding of what revisions you’re going to be required, and, no doubt, many, many notes summarising the main discussion points and areas for improvement. However, as tempting as it may be to start picking apart particular sections or chapters, wait until your examination committee send over their report, which will be the formal record of the revisions that they recommend.

Read through it carefully several times. I left mine for a day or so and then came back to it to reread it. I found this an effective way to pick up on some of the more nuanced aspects of their suggestions.

When you first receive it, you may be alarmed at its length and the detail that the examiner has gone into. Try not to be disheartened; in some ways, having detailed feedback on each suggested revision can help you, as it is providing you with clear (hopefully) instructions on how to proceed.

Try not to be disheartened

Either way, you may feel disheartened. It’s hard to have someone critique our work , especially when we’ve put so much energy into it in the first place. However, critique is part of the academic process. It is not intended to shame you for any real or perceived shortcomings, but instead to make your work as effective and academically rigorous as it can be.

There are two things to bear in mind. First, through engaging with such critique and making the necessary changes (or refuting them, where appropriate) you are developing not just the quality of your study, but also your critical thinking skills. The process of receiving, digesting and responding to reviewer critique in this way is a valuable skill and, in some ways, a necessary part of the doctoral journey.

The challenge you will have is in understanding which of the reviewer’s comments are practical, appropriate and based in an accurate reading of the thesis and the wider discipline, and which are refutable or that you don’t agree with. When you submit your revised thesis, you are within your rights to exclude a particular revision, but you need to very carefully and convincingly justify your decision to do so. Perhaps your examiner has misunderstood something or has failed to take something into consideration that renders their suggestion mute. Point this out diplomatically, drawing on your own text and the wider literature to back up your response.

How to deal with unhelpful feedback

Sometimes though you may have more serious grievances with the nature of the examiner’s comments and you may feel unfairly treated. In these instances, it is vital that you talk to your supervisory committee and department leads. They will be able to offer you advice tailored to your context and institution.

The fantastic ’Thesis Whisperer’ blog has written a useful post on how to deal with unhelpful or conflicting feedback. You can find it here .

Only do what the examiners ask for

When you sit down to work on your revisions, it is easy to spot additional problems and flaws with your thesis. As you approach completion, your critical thinking skills are very well developed, so it is only natural that you will be critiquing your own work. It is tempting to change things that aren’t listed in the examiner’s report in our ongoing quest for perfection. Do not do this. Only do what the examiner asked for.

Why? Two reasons. First, you may be limited for time. Two, you may be created additional problems.

You’ll have plenty of time to iron out any additional changes in a post-doc.

Your PhD thesis. All on one page.

Use our free PhD structure template to quickly visualise every element of your thesis.

Don’t freak out

Just because you get major corrections, isn’t the end of the world. Examiners have subjective views on what classes as each type of correction. Some may think that problems with page numbering or typos constitute minor corrections, some may turn a blind eye. While most universities have guidelines on what should be classed as, say, a major or minor correction, often the lines can be blurred. I have known students be told they have minor corrections to make to then be presented with twenty pages of suggested revision. Conversely, I have seen students successfully address major corrections in less than one week.

I’ve also seen outstanding PhDs be awarded major corrections just because the examiner wanted to push the student to turn a brilliant piece of research into something world-class.

I’ve also seen weaker PhDs awarded minor or even no corrections.

Every examiner is different, and some will be expecting more of students than others. This is particularly the case if your examiner has particular expertise in a particular approach your thesis is taking (of course, examiners will be subject-experts, but in some cases, they may be leading experts on, say, a particular theoretical approach too, or your methodology). In these cases, they might be more liable to call you out on things that the other examiner may have missed or not realised the significance of.

One upside of this is that a strict examiner can push your research to a higher level. This is useful if you plan on turning it into a book, or carry on research in a post-doc.

Create a matrix

You should list all of the suggested revisions in a spreadsheet, together with your notes. This will allow you to create an audit trail as you work through them.

To start, create a spreadsheet with three columns. In column one, you list each revision listed in the report on a separate row. In column two, you can write your notes or, where relevant, the final text that will make it into your revised thesis. In the third column, note the priority that that particular revision has (more on this below).

This serves four purposes. First, you can easily see every single step required and track your progress, making sure you don’t miss anything out. Second, it lets you break down longer, more detailed comments into manageable chunks. Third, you can create an order of priority, so you know what to focus on first. Fourth, you can use the table to write up your response to the examiners (more on this below).

When you have finished your revisions, you can use the matrix to double check that you have dealt with everything listed in the report.

Get started quickly

Decide which amendments you have to do, and which you won’t. You may not agree with a particular suggestion, or you may be able to explain any misunderstanding. In these cases, you shouldn’t just change things to satisfy your examiners. Instead, you need to stand your ground when you think it necessary but, importantly, you need to argue your case. Like a Doctor. Tell the examiner exactly why you have chosen not to make a suggested revision, in as much detail as possible and with reference to both the existing thesis and, if necessary, the wider literature.

However, there may be comments that you don’t understand. If that’s the case, you should talk to your advisory committee or department administrators to see what the protocol is for contacting the examiners to seek further clarification.

Check the paperwork

There may be a lot of final paperwork that you need to submit alongside your corrected draft. Check what your institution requires well in advance of resubmission.

Read through the entire thesis

Once you have finished your revisions, read through the entire thesis one final time. When you do, try not to focus on the revisions you have just made, but instead on how the document reads.

This serves two purposes: first, you can make sure the flow has been maintained after your changes, and that you have avoided repetition. Second, it’s a chance to deal with any stray typos. If you struggle to proofread your work, reading it out loud may help.

Create a cover letter

It is likely that your institution will require you to prepare a cover letter to submit alongside the revised thesis. This document summarises your response to every comment, detailing what changes you made and, importantly, which of the suggestions you haven’t taken on board, and why.

Make sure to maintain a polite tone, even if you disagree with some of their suggestions. You should thank them for their hard work, and respond thoroughly to each suggestion that they made. It isn’t enough to simply say, ‘I made change number 1 on page 50’. Instead, you should spend some time talking about the nature of the change, and offer any other comments or thoughts you have.

If you can, summarise the changes you made in a table, complete with page numbers. This will make the examiners’ life easier by allowing you to quickly show how you responded to each comment and where exactly the changes are in the thesis. They may not have time to read through the entire thesis again, so providing them with an easy-reference guide to where each change can be found can speed the whole review process up considerably.

When creating this cover letter, use the matrix we discussed above to keep track of your revisions.

The corrections your examiner suggests are not a personal attack; they are instead a reflection of the process of peer review that characterises modern academia. Yet, academia is also characterised by ongoing debate. That means you are within your rights to contest particular suggestions, but in a rigorous, logical and, where appropriate, evidence-based way. You have pushed the frontiers of knowledge in your PhD and now have authority to speak as an expert.

Prepare for your viva. One question at a time.

Prepare answers to the most common PhD viva questions with this interactive template. It’s free to download and it’s yours to keep forever.

Hello, Doctor…

Sounds good, doesn’t it? Be able to call yourself Doctor sooner with our five-star rated How to Write A PhD email-course. Learn everything your supervisor should have taught you about planning and completing a PhD.

Now half price. Join hundreds of other students and become a better thesis writer, or your money back.

Submit a Comment Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Search The PhD Knowledge Base

Most popular articles from the phd knowlege base.

Frances Ryan, PhD

Human Information Behaviour • Online Information • Social Media Use • Personal Reputation & Identity • Social Informatics

Passed, with minor corrections

I am very pleased and extremely relieved to be able to (finally!) announce that I have passed my PhD viva – and with only minor corrections! This good news comes after more than five years of hard work and emotional turmoil, and I am just so thankful that my PhD Dreams are almost a reality.

The preamble:

I submitted my PhD thesis at the end of October. At the time, I had hoped that my viva (oral examination/defence) would be just before Christmas. However, there was a slight glitch that meant everything was delayed. But the outcome is such that I will still make the July graduation ceremony , so it all worked out in the end!

Because of the delay, I mostly ignored my thesis for nearly three months after submission. (Part of that was due to a post-submission illness .) It wasn’t really until the start of February that I started to really prepare for The Big Day, as blogged about here .

On the day of my viva, I woke up at 5am (after a slightly disrupted sleep). I showered, put on a suitable dress for the occasion, and painted my nails. I arrived at my office just before 8am and unpacked my bag, then I headed down to the canteen for a full breakfast (with extra bacon!). Then, I waited nervously for my 10.30am start time.

My thesis was examined by Sheila Webber , Senior Lecturer at the University of Sheffield iSchool (external examiner) and Dr Laura Muir , Associate Professor at the Edinburgh Napier University School of Computing (internal examiner). My Panel Chair ( viva moderator) was Professor Ben Paechter , Director of Research in the School of Computing.

My Director of Studies, Professor Hazel Hall , also joined me at the viva to take notes. She sat behind me so that I would not be tempted to look towards her for input, but also so that any facial expressions she might have made didn’t throw me off.

I went into the room prepared with my trusty water bottle ( my medication makes this a necessity! ), two pens, several sheets of blank paper for notes, a handkerchief (in case of tears), and my thesis. I also brought with me a tummy full of butterflies and a mixture of fear, excitement, worry, and hope.

The gritty details:

At the start of the viva, the plan for the examination was explained. The plan was to go through my thesis chapter-by-chapter, with questions alternating between the examiners (for the most part). As the questions were lobbed at me, I found myself examining the motivations behind them. Is this a question about clarifying a confusing sentence? Is it because they were trying to tease out the finer details about my methods? Is the question meant to challenge something that the examiners held different views about? Or is it because they want to see how (clearly) I can defend my position?

Some questions were easy for me to understand (assume) these motivations. Especially when in the process of answering it was clear that my response was “the right” response. But the motivation of others was a little harder to pin down, especially when it because clear(ish) that the examiners were coming at the thesis from a different perspective to my own.

Throughout the process, I found myself gauging how well the viva was going. I felt that I was heading towards a “pass, with corrections” but I couldn’t quite pin down if that would be minor corrections or major corrections.

It all felt quite positive and I felt (mostly) confident when answering questions and defending my work. I even felt that I stayed (mostly) on point and didn’t go off into a rambling tangent, something that I sometimes do when I am nervous.

And then I was blindsided by a bus! One of the examiners started down a path of inquiry that I was absolutely unprepared for. There was a back-and-forth that lasted what felt like about 5 minutes at the end of the viva that made my heart sink into the pit of my stomach. From that point on, I was no longer able to control my fragile emotional state and the tears started to fall (good thing I had that hankie, right?). I was certain that this was the thing that was going to take me from a pass with corrections to a resubmit (with or without a new viva). It was a horrible feeling and was, by far, the worst moment of my viva.

[Note: This isn’t to say that I think the questions were unfair or unwarranted. The examiners were fair, kind, and encouraging throughout the entire experience.]

At the end of that line of questioning, there was a very short (1-2 minutes) wrap-up chat where I was asked if there was anything I would like to add about my thesis as a whole. This was my opportunity to give my work a final sales pitch. But by that time, I was too emotional and felt too defeated to say anything more.

With that, I was asked to leave (along with my Director of Studies) so that the examiners could chat with the moderator to confirm the outcome. During that time, I sat in Hazel’s office, unable to stop the tears because I was certain I would be resubmitting my work based on the “bus” questions. Hazel, however, felt that I was still in the passing lane. She walked me through some of the (many, and high quality!) notes that she took during the viva and shared her own interpretation of the outcome. That helped to dry my tears a bit, although I wasn’t as convinced as she was.

The wait in Hazel’s office felt quite short. It might have been about 10 minutes – 15 at the very most. We were then invited back to the examination room by the chair. I was feeling a little more positive by that time (thanks, Hazel!) but I was still quite sure it wouldn’t be the result I was hoping for.

However, when I walked in the room I was greeted with smiles, a “congratulations”, and the words “passed, with minor corrections”. I was extremely surprised at that outcome, given the bus that had knocked me over just a few minutes earlier. But a short conversation followed about the “bus” incident and it was made clearer to me what the examiner was hoping for from that specific line of questioning.

The conversation to follow was about the general next steps in the process. The first of these steps is that the examiners will write a formal letter outlining the corrections that need to be made. That letter will be sent to the research office at my university before a copy is sent to me. It is at that time that my official corrections time will begin.

With minor corrections, I will have two months to complete the changes before sending an electronic version of the amended thesis for my examiners to sign off on. After that, I will have my final thesis bound for submission before graduation – which should be in July, barring any hiccups along the way. My Panel Chair reassured me that we could revisit my current non-PhD workload to ensure that I have time to make my corrections. (Although I don’t think that there should be an issue, I felt very supported to have been told this help is available.)

Once the viva was officially over, I was invited out to lunch with my examiners and Hazel. We enjoyed a wee toast with some lovely prosecco followed by a nice conversation about a wide range of topics not related to my PhD . (Which was nice!) After lunch, I made my way home as I was completely exhausted.

The personal reflection:

In a nutshell, my viva was not a fun experience. I know that isn’t what people want to hear, but for me, that is the truth. Although, I do acknowledge that my reflections might have been more positive without the aforementioned “bus” incident! (Also, it wasn’t a completely horrible experience.)

In the lead-up to the Big Day, I knew that my viva might be an emotional and exhausting experience. Like many of life’s big moments, I had invested my heart and soul into this. Thankfully, I know myself well enough that I knew I would be shattered from the experience. And that means that I didn’t make any plans to celebrate the day.

And I was right! The experience was so draining that I couldn’t truly be happy on the day. In fact, when I got home, I donned my pyjamas and cried a bit. I then had another glass of prosecco and called my parents to share the good news with them. Then I shared the news on Facebook ( Twitter was saved until the following morning). That was the limit to my celebrations. (But not the limit to my tears!)

The following day I returned to the office and politely thanked everyone who congratulated me. But I still couldn’t celebrate because I was still too dazed by the experience. And now, three days later, I am still a bit “meh” about it all.

Maybe these feelings of apathy are because I know that there is still much work to be done before I graduate. Or maybe they’re because I am too busy worrying about what my next steps will be after graduation (there are so many questions about jobs, post-docs, and locations!). Of course, maybe these feelings are simply a bit of exhaustion.

But, ultimately, I have passed my PhD (subject to minor corrections) and that does make me happy – even if I can’t quite celebrate that happiness just yet.

Thank you, again, to all of my lovely cheerleaders who’ve encouraged me along the way. My PhD Dreams aren’t over quite realised yet, but they are almost a reality!

Be social and share!

Related posts:, 3 thoughts on “ passed, with minor corrections ”.

Congratulations Frances, and I look forward to reading your older blog posts as I start my own PhD journey. Thanks for sharing.

Congrats. I’ve passed mine with similar outcome yesterday. So…so happy.

Totally relate to your feeling Frances. Thanks for sharing

Join the conversation! Cancel reply

Study at Cambridge

About the university, research at cambridge.

Undergraduate courses
Events and open days
Fees and finance
Postgraduate courses
How to apply
Postgraduate events
Fees and funding
International students
Continuing education
Executive and professional education
Courses in education
How the University and Colleges work
Term dates and calendars
Visiting the University
Annual reports
Equality and diversity
A global university
Public engagement
Give to Cambridge
For Cambridge students
For our researchers
Business and enterprise
Colleges & departments
Email & phone search
Museums & collections
Undergraduate and Postgraduate Taught
Postgraduate examinations
Writing, submitting and examination
PhD, EdD, MSc, MLitt
Cambridge students
New students overview
Pre-arrival courses
Student registration overview
Information for New Students
Information for Continuing Students
Frequently Asked Questions overview
Who needs to register
When to register
Received registration in error/not received registration email
Problems creating an account
Problems logging in
Problems with screen display
Personal details changed/incorrectly displayed
Course details changed/incorrectly displayed
Accessing email and other services
Miscellaneous questions
Contact Form
First few weeks
Manage your student information overview
Student record overview
Camsis overview
Extended Self-Service (ESS)
Logging into CamSIS
What CamSIS can do for you
Personal information overview
Changing your name
Changing Colleges
Residing outside the University's precincts
Applying for person(s) to join you in Cambridge
Postgraduate students overview
Code of Practice for Master's students
Code of Practice for Research Students
Postgraduate student information
Requirements for research degrees
Terms of study
Your progress
Rules and legal compliance overview
Freedom of speech
Public gatherings
Disclosure and barring service overview
Cambridge life overview
Student unions
Extra-curricular activities overview
Registering societies
Military, air, and sea training
Food and accommodation
Transport overview
Bicycles and boats
Your course overview
Undergraduate study
Postgraduate study overview
Changes to your student status (postgraduates only) overview
Applying for a change in your student status (postgraduates only)
Changing your mode of study
Withdrawing from the University
Allowance/exemption of research terms
Withdrawal from Study
Reinstatement
Changing your course registration
Changing your department/faculty
Changing your supervisor
Exemption from the University composition fee
Confirmation of Study: Academic Verification Letters
Extending your submission date
Medical intermission (postgraduates)
Non-medical intermission (postgraduates)
Returning from medical intermission
Working away
Working while you study
Postgraduate by Research Exam Information
Research passports
Engagement and feedback
Student elections
Graduation and what next? overview
Degree Ceremonies overview
The ceremony
Academical dress
Photography
Degree ceremony dates
Eligibility
The Cambridge MA overview
Degrees Under Statute B II 2
Degree certificates and transcripts overview
Academic Transcripts
Degree Certificates
After Graduation
Verification of Cambridge degrees
After your examination
Exams overview
Undergraduate and Postgraduate Taught overview
All students timetable
Undergraduate exam information overview
Postgraduate examinations overview
Examination access arrangements overview
Research programmes
Taught programmes
Writing, submitting and examination overview
PhD, EdD, MSc, MLitt overview
Research Best Practice
Preparing to submit your thesis
Submitting your thesis
Word limits
The oral examination (viva)
After the viva (oral examination)
After the examination overview
Degree approval and conferment overview
Final thesis submission
Examination allowances for certain Postgraduate degrees (except PhD, MSc, MLitt and MPhil by thesis degrees)
Requesting a review of the results of an examination (postgraduate qualifications)
Higher degrees overview
Higher doctorates
Bachelor of divinity
PhD under Special Regulations
Faith-provision in University exams
Publication of Results
Exam Support
Postgraduate by Research
EAMC overview
Annual Reports of the EAMC
Dates of meetings
Frequently asked questions
Guidance notes and application forms
Resources overview
Build your skills
Research students
Fees and financial assistance overview
Financial assistance overview
Overview of Financial Assistance
General eligibility principles and guidance
Cambridge Bursary Scheme funding overview
What you could get
Scottish students
EU students
Clinical medics and vets
Independent students
Extra scholarships and awards
Undergraduate Financial Assistance Fund
Postgraduate Financial Assistance Fund
Realise Financial Assistance Fund
The Crane Fund
Loan Fund I
External Support
Support from your Funding Sponsor
Guidance for Academic Supervisors and College Tutors
Fees overview
Funding overview
Mosley, Worts, and Frere Travel Funds
Support for UKRI Studentship Holders overview
Student loans overview
US loans overview
Application procedure
Entrance and Exit Counselling
Cost of attendance
What type of loan and how much you can borrow
Interest rates for federal student loans
Proof of funding for visa purposes
Disbursement
Satisfactory academic progress policy
In-School Deferment Forms
Leave of absence
Withdrawing and return to Title IV policy
Rights and Responsibilities as a Borrower
Managing Repayment
Consumer information
Submitting a thesis — information for PhD students
Private loans
Veteran affairs benefits
Frequently Asked Questions
Student support
Complaints and appeals

This information is for postgraduate research students.

Notification of the result of the viva (oral examination).

Your Examiners are asked not to give any direct indication of the likely outcome of the viva as the official result can be confirmed only by the Degree Committee (and in certain circumstances the Postgraduate Committee). Student Registry (doctoral and MSc/MLitt students) or your Degree Committee (MPhil) will email you with notification of the outcome.

Process following the oral examination

Degree Committee and Postgraduate Committee meeting dates can be found here . Congregation dates can be found here .

With the exception of being offered a lower degree only or outright failure, the steps following your viva are as follows:

Your examiners complete a joint report and make a recommendation which is sent to your Degree Committee;
Your Degree Committee consider the reports at their next available meeting;
For doctoral and MSc/MLitt students the Degree Committee forward their decision to the Student Registry who will email you to confirm the result;
For Master's students the Degree Committee emails you to confirm the result.

If the outcome of your doctoral examination is being offered a lower degree only or outright failure, the first two steps above will apply and Degree Committee will then forward their recommendation to the Postgraduate Committee for consideration at their next meeting. The Postgraduate Committee will email you to confirm the outcome.

Making corrections to a thesis after examination

MPhil by Thesis students: Your Degree Committee will advise about the process for submission of corrections.

Doctoral and MSc/MLitt students: You may need to make corrections to your thesis before full approval can be granted for your degree. This decision will be emailed to you by the Student Registry as soon as possible after the Degree Committee confirms their decision to them.

Once you have received your reports you need to undertake the following:

Check the joint report from your Examiners to see if corrections need to go to the Internal/External or both examiners.
Put the original and new page numbers on a separate list of corrections for the examiners. For their convenience, the list of corrections should describe precisely how the earlier text has been amended - with page, paragraph and line references. The list should be in page order.
You are expected to make all the corrections required by your examiners. If any change has been suggested, rather than required, you should indicate, as part of the list of corrections made, the extent to which you have taken account of such suggestions.
Copy in [email protected] when submitting your corrected thesis so that Student Registry can update your record.
Please note that once your Examiner(s) have approved your corrections, it will not be possible to make any further corrections to your thesis - this includes typographical corrections and amendments to preliminary sections.

If you have been told directly by your examiners or Degree Committee (and not the Student Registry) that you need to undertake corrections, you will need to follow their instructions taking note of the points above.

A brief overview of the corrections process is shown on this corrections map . NB: MSc and MLitt students are not required to submit a hardbound thesis or upload their thesis to Apollo. If you need more time to complete your corrections you will need to request an extension.

How long do I have in which to submit my corrections?

The time-frame for completing the corrections begins from the date of the email formally confirming the outcome of your examination.

Do I need to go through another Degree Committee meeting?

Once you have received a conditional approval subject to corrections you do not need to be considered at a further Degree Committee meeting.

What happens next?

See information on submitting your final hardbound and e-thesis (doctoral students only) and degree approval and conferment .

Once your Examiner(s) have approved your corrections, it will not be possible to make any further corrections to your thesis - this includes typographical corrections and amendments to preliminary sections.

Revising and Resubmitting the Thesis

Doctoral and MSc/MLitt students: If Student Registry (on behalf of the Postgraduate Committee) confirms that you need to revise and resubmit your thesis for examination, you must respond to the email sent by them to confirm that you intend to do so.

The email from Student Registry will state the deadline for submission of your revised thesis and will have the examiners' reports attached proving details of the revisions you need to make to your thesis. On completion of the revised thesis, you will have to submit it along with all the submission paperwork - in the same way as for the original submission. See the pages on Submitting the thesis for further information.

Normally the same examiners will examine the revised thesis, but in some cases new examiner(s) may be appointed. If the same examiners are appointed, they will decide whether or not a 2nd viva should be held. If one or both of the Examiners did not previously examine the thesis on its first submission another viva must be held.

If you are unable to meet the submission date for your revised thesis, you must apply for an extension .

MPhil by Thesis students: Your Degree Committee will email you with the outcome of your viva and will provide information about the process for re-examination.

Temporary withdrawal/Reinstatement

If you are unable to undertake corrections or revisions by the given deadline and you have not been granted an extension, you will be temporarily withdrawn from study.

When you have completed your work and wish to submit your corrected or revised thesis, you will need to be reinstated .

If you require a visa to return to the UK for reinstatement, or to complete your studies thereafter, please contact the I nternational Student Office as early as possible ( [email protected] ) . You must not return undertake your viva and/or complete corrections on a general visitor visa.

Contact the University
Accessibility
Freedom of information
Privacy policy and cookies
Statement on Modern Slavery
Terms and conditions
University A-Z
Undergraduate
Postgraduate
Research news
About research at Cambridge
Spotlight on...

What is a PhD Viva?

Maisie Dadswell
September 6, 2023

After you have written and submitted your PhD thesis, the next stage in the process is to pass your PhD viva examination, which your PhD supervisor at UWS London will fully prepare you for. Your viva will happen within three months of submitting your thesis; after completing your viva, you will know if you have passed with flying colours and can call yourself a doctor in your respective field. Though the prospect may sound daunting, see it as the chance to prove that your creative knowledge makes you a peer to the academic panel that will be present for your viva; it is the perfect opportunity to establish yourself as an intellectual authority in your field.

This article will cover what a viva is, how it works, what the potential outcomes are, who will be present on the panel and provide some helpful tips that are relevant for all fields of study.

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degree is the highest academic degree one can earn in most fields of study. It typically involves conducting original research, making a significant contribution to the field’s knowledge, and writing a dissertation or thesis that demonstrates expertise in a specific area. Learn more about PhD at UWS Londo n here .

A PhD viva also referred to as a Viva Voce, Latin for ‘living voice’, is an oral examination which follows the submission of your doctoral thesis, where you will showcase your knowledge and defend your research in front of a panel comprised of academic experts. This examination is compulsory for the vast majority of doctoral students.

PhD Viva Questions

All the questions asked during your viva will assess:

Your knowledge depth in your specific area of research.
How deep your knowledge is concerning the broader research field relevant to your PhD.
If you can place your work in a broader context.
If you can demonstrate how your research contributes to your field.
If you know of any potential limitations and oversights in your work – where applicable.

If the panel has any suspicions that your work may not be your own, they may also question the authenticity of your work.

How Long Does a PhD Viva Take?

One of the most frequently asked questions is how long is a PhD Viva. The average length is around three hours, but several factors can extend or shorten your oral examination. If there are issues in your PhD thesis or if it is poorly presented or formatted, this could lead to confusion on the panel, which will necessitate more clarification for you to set the record straight and prove that you understand your field of study. Similarly, how well-prepared you are and how concisely you respond to questions will also have a bearing on the duration of the viva.

However, lengthy PhD defences don’t always need to be a sign that it is going poorly! Your examiners may enjoy the discussion enough that they will want to talk about it long after they have concluded that you have passed the examination. Even though, in some rare instances, a viva can take up to eight hours there may be university or country-specific rules on maximum duration – feel free to discuss this with your PhD supervisor beforehand.

Who Will Be on Your Viva Panel?

Your PhD examination will be carried out by one examiner from your university and an examiner from an outside university. Your PhD supervisor may also be on the panel, although this is not always the case. If you do find your supervisor on your viva panel, in the UK, it is common that they are prohibited from speaking. If they are present, they will solely act as observers.

Together, the examiners will highlight what they found when reading your PhD thesis thoroughly, focusing on the theories and key concepts you put forward in your research. To ensure that the examiners are being fair and appropriate in the viva process, there is also usually a chairperson on the panel who takes notes documenting any notable suggestions or comments. The chairperson will either be internal or external from the university.

What Are the Outcomes of a Viva Exam?

In the UK, there are six potential Viva PhD outcomes. We have listed them below from the best outcome to the worst. However, it is worth bearing in mind that even if you need to make minor or major corrections after your viva, you will be given equal credit as someone who was awarded their PhD degree without corrections.

The average pass rate for a PhD viva in the UK can vary depending on the university, field of study, and specific criteria used for evaluation. However, it is generally quite high.

In many UK universities, a significant majority of candidates who reach the viva stage pass, often with some amendments required. A “pass with minor amendments” is a common outcome, indicating that the candidate has demonstrated a sufficient understanding of the research. Recent research on viva experiences indicates that 84% of Ph.D. candidates are required to make minor revisions in order to achieve a passing grade.

1. Awarded PhD Degree with No Corrections

It is rare for students to pass their PhD degree without any corrections. So, if this is your outcome following your viva, celebrations are in order! It means you have seriously impressed your examiners with your research and examination.

2. Minor Corrections Required to Pass

Recent viva experience research has highlighted that 84% of PhD candidates must make minor corrections to pass. Typically, the minor corrections will be small issues with the thesis, such as grammatical errors, typos, typograph issues, or presentational faux pas, which can be quickly edited. Don’t be disparaged if you are presented with this outcome following your viva; it still means that you have done remarkably well with your thesis and viva.

3. Major Corrections Required to Pass

This outcome is the second most common following a viva; it means you have met the required standard to be awarded your doctorate, but some revisions or corrections need to be made. Typically, this will involve you improving the structure or clarity of your thesis by rewriting chapters or adding additional analysis. Once again, needing to make major corrections shouldn’t be seen as a failure; although it may be disparaging, it doesn’t invalidate your research or contribution to your field.

4. Revise and Represent to Pass

You will be asked to revise and represent your work if the panel can see the potential within your work and that it can meet requirements if you undertake additional research or analysis. You will be presented with this outcome if your work doesn’t quite reach the PhD degree standard; unlike with the minor and major corrections outcomes, if you are asked to revise and represent, you will need to present your revised work to the panel again.

5. Awarded an MPhil Degree

If the academic panel decide that major corrections or additional research still won’t allow your work to meet the PhD standard, you may be awarded a lower-standard MPhil degree instead. For example, philosophy PhD candidates will be awarded a Master of Psychology degree instead of a Doctor of Philosophy degree. Typically, MPhil degrees are awarded in place of PhDs if your work lacks originality or the knowledge creation that a PhD requires. An MPhil degree ranks above MA and MSc degrees as the most advanced Masters degrees. An MPhil degree still demonstrates that you have the same skill set as someone who successfully obtained a PhD, and they are still valuable to employers.

6. Immediate Fail

An immediate fail is rare; a 2022 survey found that only 3.3% of PhD candidates fail their viva outright – it certainly isn’t something you should obsess over. If when you are preparing for your viva, you find some faults in your thesis, don’t be afraid to broach them yourself in your exam; this will show that you can present a passable thesis. `

PhD Viva Tips:

Don’t work with irrelevant guidance or tips.

While brushing up on generalised tips online can help you to feel prepared for your viva, remember that there will always be variability in the process, the focus of the exam, and the questions asked. The variable factors include your field of study and the university you are obtaining your doctorate. With this in mind, always chat with your supervisor to ensure you are preparing with the right and relevant knowledge.

Treat the Examiners as Equals

Your PhD defence may technically be an exam, and naturally, many PhD candidates are stressed, daunted, or overwhelmed by the process for weeks. However, you will do much better if you go into the exam with the mindset that you are equal with the academic panel and treat the examination as a discussion rather than an inquisition. Remember, your viva is your chance to be seen as a doctor, not a student.

Mindset Matters

After spending years on your thesis, you will know your subject inside and out; it is your area of expertise; don’t go into the viva with a defensive and confrontational mindset; remain confident in your knowledge creation and how it benefits your field of study. Imposter syndrome can come in hard here, so limit your negative self-talk and silence your inner critic.

Ask for a Mock Viva with Your Supervisor

Never be shy about asking your PhD supervisor for the support you need as you prepare for your viva. They will be best placed to answer all of your questions as they will know the procedure for your university and your field of research. Your PhD supervisor will likely have already been present in viva exams; they will know the score, and more importantly, after working with you for years, they will want you to pass your viva – never be shy about asking them to arrange a mock viva to help you prepare.

How long is a PhD?

If you look for an answer to the question, how long is a PhD thesis, you will notice that there is a lot of contradictory information on the internet because there is no one-size-fits-all answer for PhD students. How long does a PhD take ? Well, we’ve got all the info you need in our other blog

Do You Get Paid for a PhD?

Do You Get Paid for a PhD? For many students who don’t have the luxury of never worrying about money, one of the main considerations

Where Can a PhD in Finance Take Me?

Where Can a PhD in Finance Take Me? In the dynamic world of finance, a PhD is not just an academic accolade; it’s a launchpad

Blonde woman wearing a blue jumper drinking a coffee while deciding to study a PhD in London

Should I Do a PhD in London?

Should I Do a PhD in London? Embarking on a PhD journey is a significant decision, one that shapes your academic and professional future. Once

Enquire with us

We are here to help and to make your journey to UWS London as smooth as possible. Please use the relevant button below to enquiry about a course you would like to apply, or to clarify any questions you may have about us and our admission’s process. After you submit your enquiry, one of our advisers will get back to you as soon as possible.

Study at Cambridge

About the university, research at cambridge.

Undergraduate courses
Events and open days
Fees and finance
Postgraduate courses
How to apply
Postgraduate events
Fees and funding
International students
Continuing education
Executive and professional education
Courses in education
How the University and Colleges work
Term dates and calendars
Visiting the University
Annual reports
Equality and diversity
A global university
Public engagement
Give to Cambridge
For Cambridge students
For our researchers
Business and enterprise
Colleges & departments
Email & phone search
Museums & collections
Department of Politics and International Studies (POLIS)
About us overview
The Centres
Aaron Rapport Teaching Prize
The R.A Butler Prize
News overview
This Week's POLIS Newsletter
Events overview
Cambridge Historical International Relations Conference
Annual Lectures
Contemporary Political Theory Seminar Series
POLIS Political Economy Seminar Series
History and Politics Seminar Series
2023 PhD Fieldwork Photography Competition
Public Policy Annual Lecture overview
Annual Public Policy Lecture 2022 - video available
Gender & Tech
Privacy statement: Registering for an event
Application Guide
Ethics, Risk and Fieldwork (ERF) overview
Ethical Approval
Risk Assessment
Fieldwork and Leave to Work Away (LTWA)
Witwatersrand-Cambridge Exchange Programme
CamPo: Cambridge - Sciences Po, Paris Exchange Scheme overview
Collaborative Research
Faculty Exchange
Doctoral Exchange
Interview with Louis Baktash, CamPo Visiting PhD Candidate
Pathways from Disorder to Order
People overview
Head of Department - Professor Jude Browne
Deputy Head of Department - Dr Glen Rangwala
University Teaching Officers (UTO) and Fixed-Term Lecturers (FTL)
Other Teaching Staff and Affiliates
Professional Staff
Research Associates/Postdocs
PhD Students
Emeritus Staff
Visiting Scholars overview
Become a Visiting Scholar
Prospective undergraduates overview
Course Details
Course information
First Year Students
Second Year Students
Third Year Students
One-year Part II
Information for prospective postgraduates overview
Prospective PhD in Politics and International Studies overview
How to Apply
Fees and Funding
Information for current postgraduates overview
Research Best Practice
Postgraduate Hardship Fund
Information for supervisors
PhD in Politics and International Studies overview
POLIS Carers fund
The Lisa Smirl PhD Prize
Fieldwork Funding
PhD in Development Studies
PhD in Latin American Studies
PhD in Multi-disciplinary Gender Studies
MSt in International Relations
MPhil in Politics and International Studies overview
What Our Students Say
Current MPhil in Politics and International Studies overview
MPhil Politics and International Studies Courses
MPhil Hardship Fund
MPhil in Political Thought and Intellectual History
MPhil in Public Policy overview
Programme Description
Course Structure overview
MPP Podcast
Work Placements
What our students say
MPhil in African Studies
MPhil in Development Studies
MPhil in Latin American Studies
MPhil in Modern South Asian Studies
MPhil in Multi-disciplinary Gender Studies
MPhil in Political Thought and Intellectual History (co-taught with History and Classics)
Intranet (Staff only)

Work with us

Viva examination and corrections.

Undergraduates
Postgraduates
The Oral Examination
Making Corrections to a Dissertation after Examination
Revising and Resubmitting your Dissertation

Reinstatement to the Register for Graduate Students

The oral examination (viva), i have submitted my soft bound thesis - how long will i have to wait for my oral examination date.

If you have not been given a date for your viva within six weeks of submitting your thesis, you are advised to contact your Degree Committee.

I am leaving the UK - do I have to return to undertake the oral examination?

The examination procedure can take several weeks and frequently much longer. If you are expecting to leave the UK after completing your course of research, you must submit your thesis early enough for your Examiners to have a reasonable time in which to read it and to hold an oral examination before you leave. If you leave before having the oral examination you will need to return to the UK.

If you require a visa to return to the UK, please contact the International Student Team. You must not return for your viva on a general visitor visa.

Can I have my oral examination via video conference?

The oral examination will normally take place in-person in Cambridge, but you may choose to be examined remotely by video conference. You should inform your Degree Committee/department of your preference when you notify them of your intention to submit/apply for appointment of Examiners. Please also make your supervisor aware of your preference as it may affect the choice of available Examiners. Please refer to the course Moodle page

Can I request adjustments to my oral examination on the grounds of disability?

If you wish to notify examiners of any disability or request adjustments on account of such disability for your viva voce examination (either for your first year assessment or final examination), you can do this via your Degree Committee by completing and submitting the voluntary disclosure form this is also available on the Intention to submit form.

Once you have submitted the form, your Degree Committee will contact the University’s Disability Resource Centre (DRC) who will advise the Degree Committee on the appropriate course of action. You may be contacted by the DRC if additional information is required or to provide you with an offer of additional support.

The information provided on the voluntary disclosure form will be kept confidential and will not be used for any other purpose

What happens at the oral examination ?

The oral examination will ordinarily take place in Cambridge
It is carried out between yourself and the two Examiners
It may include an Independent Chairperson if the Degree Committee requires this
There is no set duration, but expect it to last between 90 minutes and three hours

What is the purpose of the oral examination?

The oral examination gives the opportunity for:

you to defend your thesis and clarify any matters raised by your Examiners
the Examiners to probe your knowledge in the field
the Examiners to assure themselves that the work presented is your own and to clarify matters of any collaboration
the Examiners to come to a definite conclusion about the outcome of the examination

What is the process following my oral examination?

The steps following your oral examination are as follows:

Your Examiners complete a joint report and make a recommendation which is sent to your Degree Committee;
Your Degree Committee consider the reports at their next available meeting and send their recommendation to the Board of Graduate Studies;
Recommendations from all Degree Committees are added to the agenda for the next available meeting of the Board of Graduate Studies.

When will I know the result of my oral examination?

Your Examiners are asked not to give any direct indication of the likely outcome of the examination as the official result can be confirmed only by the Board of Graduate Studies. Following the meeting of the Board of Graduate Studies the Student Registry will email your reports, copied to your Supervisor.

What are the possible outcomes from the oral examination?

Possible outcomes:

Unconditional approval
Conditional approval - subject to submission of a hard bound copy for the library, or subject to minor or major corrections
Revision and resubmission of the work for a fresh examination
Revision and resubmission of the work for a fresh examination or acceptance of the MSc/MLitt without further revision
Not to be allowed to revise the thesis, but offered the MSc/MLitt without further revision or examination
Outright failure

Making Corrections to a Thesis after Examination

The Board of Graduate Studies may confirm that you need to make corrections to your thesis before full approval can be granted for your degree. This decision will be emailed to you by the Student Registry within two days of the Board of Graduate Studies meeting.

Once you have received your reports you need to undertake the following:

Check the joint report (PhD2) from your Examiners to see if corrections need to go to the Internal/External or both Examiners.
Ask your Examiners if they will accept an electronic copy of the corrected thesis - some prefer a new soft bound thesis.
Put the original and new page numbers on a separate list of corrections for the Examiners. For the convenience of the Examiners, the list of corrections should describe precisely how the earlier text has been amended - with page, paragraph and line references. The list should be in page order.
You are expected to make all the corrections required by your Examiners. If a change has been suggested, rather than required, you should indicate, as part of the list of corrections made, the extent to which you have taken account of such suggestions.

If you have been told directly by your Examiners or Degree Committee (and not the Student Registry) that you need to undertake corrections, you will need to follow their instructions taking note of the points above.

Corrections Map

How long do i have in which to submit my minor corrections.

You have 3 months in which to submit your corrected thesis and list of corrections to your Examiner(s). Check your reports to see if corrections need to go to the Internal/External or both Examiners. The 3 month deadline begins from the date of the Board of Graduate Studies meeting. Count on three months from the date of the meeting to work out the due date for corrections.

How long do I have in which to submit my Major Corrections?

You have 6 months in which to submit your corrected thesis and list of corrections to your Examiner(s). Check your reports to see if corrections need to go to the Internal/External or both Examiners. The 6 month deadline begins from the date of the Board of Graduate Studies meeting. Count on six months from the date of the meeting to work out the due date for corrections.

Do I need to go through another Board of Graduate Studies meeting?

Once you have received a conditional approval subject to corrections from the Board of Graduate Studies you do not need to be considered at a further Board of Graduate Studies meeting.

Revising and Resubmitting the Thesis

If the Board has confirmed that you need to revise and resubmit your thesis for examination, you must respond to the email sent by the Student Registry to confirm that this is what you wish to do.

The Email will state the deadline for submission of your revised thesis.

You must then begin work on revising your thesis, taking full account of what your Examiners require you to do.

The examination of a revised thesis begins afresh, possibly with new Examiners, and may include an oral or written examination on the revised thesis.

On completion of the revised thesis, candidates will have to submit two copies to the Student Registry along with all the submission paperwork - as if this was a first submission. See the pages on Submitting the Dissertation for further information.

If candidates are unable to meet their new submission date, they must apply to extend it; for more information see Extending Your 'End of Registration Date '

If you are unable to undertake corrections or revisions by the given deadline, your name may be temporarily removed from the Register of Graduate Students.

When you have completed your work and wish to submit your corrected or revised thesis, you will need to apply to be reinstated to study . The application needs to be forwarded with all accompanying documents to the appropriate Degree Committee for consideration. The Degree Committee will make a recommendation to the Board of Graduate Studies who will communicate its final decision to the candidate and all interested parties.

If you require a visa to return to the UK for reinstatement, or to complete your studies thereafter, please contact the International Student Team as early as possible. You must not return undertake your viva and/or complete corrections on a general visitor visa.

The Department of Politics and International Studies, The Alison Richard Building, 7 West Road, Cambridge, CB3 9DP

Contact: [email protected]

Site privacy & cookie policies, university privacy policy, follow us on twitter, follow us on linkedin, sign up for our weekly news and events.

Contact the University
Accessibility
Freedom of information
Privacy policy and cookies
Statement on Modern Slavery
Terms and conditions
University A-Z
Undergraduate
Postgraduate
Research news
About research at Cambridge
Spotlight on...

What nobody tells you about ‘minor corrections’

Have you ever wondered what happens after the examiners give you feedback on your dissertation? In the UK and many other countries, this feedback is given in an oral presentation called the Viva. The viva is becoming more common in Australia, but most people will still get a written report from the examiners. It is your job to make changes based on this feedback, in consultation with your supervisors. It sounds simple, but in reality, making changes to a complete piece of work can be tricky.

This post is by Dr Mary Frank, who holds a PhD in Translation Studies from the University of Bristol, England. Her practice-based research investigated the interplay of translation theory and translation practice and led to three different translations of collection of satirical stories written in the German Democratic Republic in the 1960s. Her research interests are literary translation, the translation of literature from the GDR and prismatic translation (multiple translations of one text). https://www.linkedin.com/in/mary-frank-0b27619/

In the UK system, the majority of PhD students pass their viva ‘with minor corrections’. Your examiners present you with a list of corrections, you go away and implement them. Easy, yes? Well, no, not necessarily.

If you’re lucky, corrections are simply typos, formatting issues etc. So far, so good. Any thesis will inevitably contain some of those, and you’d definitely want to correct them before submitting the final version. Corrections of that nature can legitimately be considered ‘minor’. But corrections of that kind are only a small part of the story. Much more problematic, in my experience, are corrections that, although still considered ‘minor’, involve re-thinking and re-writing. Nobody warns you that you’ll need to re-gather your energy and brainpower to tackle them. That, for me, turned into a struggle for which I was completely unprepared.

Let’s be clear: getting through your viva ‘with minor corrections’ is a great achievement. Your work is definitely of the required standard, but there are still tweaks to be made, perhaps to make connections clearer or to fine-tune an explanation. After all, you and your supervisors have become so close to your work that you may not realise that a particular point is not entirely clear to somebody reading it for the first time. This means that ‘minor’ corrections are entirely legitimate, and indeed should be welcomed as contributing to the quality of your final thesis. So why, when my examiners reeled off their list, did making those corrections seem like another huge mountain to climb? After all, it was the most likely outcome of the viva, so it wasn’t a surprise.

The problem, I think, was that after six years of researching and writing, and (for reasons beyond my control) a long and anxious wait for the viva, I had simply burned out. I had nothing left to give. While my supervisors cracked open a bottle of bubbly after the viva and people started gathering to congratulate me, I found it hard to celebrate. My brain felt completely drained, yet I knew that I somehow had to address those corrections before I could pass the finishing post. To my examiners and supervisors, those corrections were indeed ‘minor’, but to me they seemed bewildering and daunting.

“Do the minimum necessary,” my supervisors advised. For the first few days, all I could do was stare at my thesis. It was if it was carved in stone. It was only painfully slowly that my energy and brainpower returned and I felt able to tackle the typos, the easiest of the corrections. Once that barrier had been broken, the corrections that involved re-thinking and re-writing followed. In the end, I wrote three additional paragraphs at various points in the thesis and expanded my illustrations of an argument at another. Not, after all, a big deal.

Given that there is so little advice around on how to deal with ‘minor’ corrections, perhaps I’m unusual in having experienced this response. Or perhaps people like supervisors, having come out the other side, quickly forget what it’s like to have to re-visit your thesis at the very point when you may have nothing left to give. In case it helps others to avoid a crisis, here’s my advice:

Although the viva is the key milestone in your PhD journey, try to bear in mind that it may not be the final one. In the UK and similar systems, you may well need to make corrections, so be sure to preserve some energy.
When tackling corrections, it’s helpful to distance yourself from your thesis. Imagine yourself as an editor looking critically at somebody else’s work. That way, you’ll find it easier to break through that barrier of being unable to see how anything could be changed.

Thanks Mary! Are you tackling corrections now, or have you completed the ones asked of you? So you have any advice to offer?

The wildcard of examination

Doing your ammendments without losing heart (or your mind)

Love the Thesis whisperer and want it to continue? Consider becoming a $1 a month Patreon and get special, Patreon only, extra Thesiswhisperer content every two weeks!

Whisper to me....

Enter your email address to get posts by email.

Email Address

Sign me up!

On the reg: a podcast with @jasondowns
Thesis Whisperer on Facebook
Thesis Whisperer on Instagram
Thesis Whisperer on Soundcloud
Thesis Whisperer on Youtube
Thesiswhisperer on Mastodon
Thesiswhisperer page on LinkedIn
Thesiswhisperer Podcast
12,087,930 hits

Discover more from The Thesis Whisperer

Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.

Type your email…

Study at Cambridge

About the university, research at cambridge.

Undergraduate courses
Events and open days
Fees and finance
Postgraduate courses
How to apply
Postgraduate events
Fees and funding
International students
Continuing education
Executive and professional education
Courses in education
How the University and Colleges work
Term dates and calendars
Visiting the University
Annual reports
Equality and diversity
A global university
Public engagement
Give to Cambridge
For Cambridge students
For our researchers
Business and enterprise
Colleges & departments
Email & phone search
Museums & collections
Current Students

Degree Committee for the Faculty of Earth Sciences & Geography

Coronavirus Guidance
About the DC overview

Meeting dates

Department contacts
Prospective Students overview
Continuing students
Current Students overview
Change in student status overview
Changing course, dept or mode
Extending submission deadline
Intermission
Withdrawal and reinstatement
Working Away from Cambridge
Supervision reports
First year review
Exams MRes & MPhil (taught) overview
Rules and Regulations
After the examination
Exams MPhil by thesis overview
Before you submit
Thesis submission
The oral (viva)
Results overview
Corrections
Revising a thesis
Exams PhD overview
Submitting a hardbound copy
PhD not awarded
LWA Research Fund
Complaints and appeals
Supervisors overview
Supervisor appointment
Roles and responsibilities overview
Supervisor role: postgraduate admissions
Supervisor role: current students
Supervisor role: examinations
Guidance for supervisors
Supervision reporting
Examiners overview
PhD or MPhil by thesis exam overview
Examiner appointment
Pre-viva actions
Post-viva actions
Submitting reports
Fees and expenses
Examining a revised thesis
MRes or MPhil (taught) exam overview
Senior/Chair of Examiners
External Examiner for taught courses
Examiners and Assessors
Plagiarism or poor scholarship
Appeals procedures
Higher Degrees overview
PhD under Special Regulations
ScD and LittD

Corrections PhD

Degree Committee for the Faculty of Earth Sciences & Geography

Types of correction

Most PhD candidates have some corrections to make after the oral. They tend to fall into three categories:

very minor (typos) - these can be completed and approved by the Examiners within a few hours, and the Examiners can then recommend a pass when they submit their reports. You will need to submit your hardbound and electronic final version before the degree can be conferred.
minor, straightforward corrections - you usually have up to 3 months to complete these; they are usually checked by the Internal Examiner. The Examiners send in their reports before the corrected thesis has been approved so you will be given conditional approval for the degree. You will only be formally approved for the degree once the corrections have been checked and found to be satisfactory and your hardbound and electronic final version submitted .
substantial, less straightforward corrections - you usually have up to 6 months to complete these; they are usually checked by both Examiners. You will be given conditional approval for the degree. You will only be formally approved for the degree once the corrections have been checked and found to be satisfactory and your hardbound and electronic final version submitted .

Making corrections

Once you have received the Examiners' reports and know what corrections you need to make, you can start work on them. Do discuss with your supervisor if you need additional guidance. If necessary (s)he can discuss your questions with the Examiners.

The time you have to complete your corrections starts from the date your official result email is sent to you by Student Registry, not the date of your oral. If you do not complete the corrections within the permitted timeframe you will be withdrawn from study. You can still hand in the corrected work for approval when you're ready - you will normally be reinstated for the purpose of degree approval when your Examiner(s) inform the Degree Committee that they approve your corrections.

We know it is often the case that Examiners provide a list of corrections directly to the candidate so they can be worked on immediately after the viva. They are not required to do so.

Submitting corrections

You are expected to make all the corrections required by your Examiners. If a change has been suggested, rather than required, you should indicate, as part of the list of corrections made, the extent to which you have taken account of such suggestions.

When you have made all the corrections the Examiners requested you should prepare a corrected version of the thesis and a separate a list of the corrections made, including the original and new page numbers. For the convenience of the Examiner, the list of corrections should describe precisely how the earlier text has been amended - with page, paragraph and line references. The list should be in page order.

The joint Examiners report (PhD2) will tell you if corrections need to be approved by the Internal, External or both Examiners. Submit the corrected work and the list of corrections directly to the relevant Examiner(s). Student Registry ask that you copy them in if you are submitting your corrections to your examiners by email, so they can update your record.

Correction approval

Your Examiner(s) will check that the corrections have been made to their satisfaction. Corrections are usually approved first time but if the Examiner(s) are not content they can ask you to have another attempt (they will never require additional corrections they had not previously identified). The degree will not be awarded until the Examiner(s) are satisfied.

When the Examiner(s) are satisfied they will inform the Degree Committee of their decision. If your examination reports have already been considered at meetings of the Degree Committee your corrections can normally be accepted as approved without further consideration at a Degree Committee meeting.

We will let you know when your corrections have been approved. If your Examiner(s) have indicated to you that they are happy with the corrections but you have not heard from the Degree Committee within 10 days please get in contact with us.

You should wait to make the hardbound copy until after the corrections have been approved.

Student Status while making corrections

University working restrictions do not apply to you while you make corrections, although students on a student visa are still expected to comply with the working conditions laid down by UK Visas and Immigration at all stages (see Working on a student visa ). You will need to apply for leave to work away if you are planning to complete the corrections outside Cambridge.

If you can't find the page you are looking for or find a broken link do let us know (please use the email link in the 'Contact us' section below).

Ukraine - University resources

Coronavirus advice from the University

Office closures

The Degree Committee for the Faculty of Earth Sciences and Geography will be closed from 5pm on Thursday 28 March 2024 and will reopen again on Tuesday 2 April 2024. Research degree theses should still be submitted by your submission deadline even if that falls over the holiday period.

Meetings of the Degree Committee and Degree Ceremonies

Essential Links

Cambridge Students portal

Code of Practice for Postgraduate Students

International Students Office

Student Registry (for staff)

Degree Committee for Earth Sciences & Geography, School of Physical Sciences, 17 Mill Lane, Cambridge, CB2 1RX. Tel: 01223 746764 / 746766

[email protected]

Site privacy & cookie policies.

Contact the University
Accessibility
Freedom of information
Privacy policy and cookies
Statement on Modern Slavery
Terms and conditions
University A-Z
Undergraduate
Postgraduate
Research news
About research at Cambridge
Spotlight on...

Slip to main content

Lex Academic®

Blog & Resources

How to Avoid Major PhD Corrections | Lex Academic Blog

18 November 2021

In the UK, PhD students usually pass their viva voce – that is, an oral defence of their thesis – with minor or major corrections. As a follow-up to our recently published how-to guide to avoiding minor PhD corrections , we thought it would be useful to produce a post on avoiding major corrections. Whereas minor corrections encompass relatively straightforward issues like typos and formatting (for which we keenly recommend our PhD proofreading service ), as well as small amounts of rewriting, major corrections involve substantial rewriting and restructuring. Passing with minor corrections shows that your thesis is at the right standard. Passing with major corrections, as the University of Sheffield explains, means that ‘the thesis has the potential to merit the award of the degree for which it has been submitted, but does not yet satisfy the requirements for award and contains deficiencies that are in excess of editorial or presentational corrections’. Because major corrections entail more work, then, students are usually given six months, rather than three, to resubmit their thesis.

Despite this, passing with major corrections is by no means a bad result. The key word is ‘passing’, not ‘corrections’, and, in the UK at least, corrections are unlikely to have a long-term impact on your academic career or profile. In the short term, though, there are some very good reasons to try to avoid major corrections. If, in the time between submission and your viva , you’ve managed to obtain your first academic job, the difficulty of juggling major corrections with a full-time post could mean correcting your thesis on a part-time basis and resubmitting after twelve months rather than the usual six. To avoid this, you might solicit help from us, so that we can edit the corrected thesis, and ensure you’ve adequately addressed your examiners’ comments. Additionally, even if it’s not a bad outcome in the long term, passing with major corrections can feel like a blow. Amending typos is relatively painless, but having to make corrections that involve reworking entire sections of prose is daunting and tiring after the years you’ve already put in to reach this point. Here, then, is some advice for avoiding major corrections.

Some of the points in our post about avoiding minor corrections are equally relevant here. Firstly, your literature review – the part of the thesis where you critically analyse the major contributions to and trends within your field – should be complete and up-to-date. Secondly, at your viva , it’s essential to react to constructive criticism positively, rather than defensively. Regarding major corrections specifically, though, this award usually means that, although the research is satisfactory, it has not been articulated clearly or fully enough. One excellent way to assess how well you articulate ideas is to present parts of your thesis at conferences. If your papers regularly elicit questions (the more probing, the better), your ideas are probably clear, since this demonstrates that listeners were able to follow your paper. Take particular note of questions that imply a flaw in your argument or that ask for clarification, then address the relevant sections the next time you sit down to write. Similarly, it’s worth trying to publish a section of your thesis as a journal article (note, however, that publishing too much of your thesis may make publishing it as a book harder, since publishers prefer to publish original material). If you can successfully get an article through peer review, this suggests that your thesis is at the right standard and therefore doesn’t require major corrections. If your article is rejected, the reviewers will (hopefully) explain how to improve it. The point is that feedback from a variety of sources – not just your supervisor(s), who are almost as close to the subject as you are by the end – is valuable if you aim to avoid corrections.

Another common reason for major corrections is that the thesis lacks a clear main argument, structure, or method. Examiners often begin the viva by asking the student to explain the rationale for their thesis and to summarise its main argument or findings. When preparing for your viva , prepare answers to general, predictable questions like ‘why this topic?’, ‘what is your main argument?’, ‘why this methodology?’, and ‘why this structure?’. You should also reflect on why you haven’t used an equally valid alternative structure or methodology. It’s easy to dismiss such questions as too easy and focus instead on the nitty-gritty. But in fact, being able to answer these questions clearly and concisely suggests that, broadly speaking, your thesis is sound – in other words, there’s no reason it should require major corrections. If you don’t have answers to these questions, this implies a fundamental problem. As implied earlier, what you say in your viva can determine the level of corrections imposed.

Be notified each time we post a new blog article

Docs »
Thesis, Viva, and Corrections
View page source

Thesis, Viva, and Corrections ¶

All PGRs must produce a thesis, which describes in full detail the wider context of the research field including a literature review, the motivation for the research, the research which was carried out, an evaluation of the results, and a discussion of the contribution made to the field by the research and what should be done in the future. This needs to be submitted by three days before the end of the fourth year. For the relevant University policies, see ‘Policies’ Chapter.

There are two formats in which the thesis can be produced: traditional format and alternative format. Traditional format is probably what most people imagine a thesis is like, a very substantial report presented as a self-contained exposition. The alternative format thesis “… allows a postgraduate doctoral or MPhil student to incorporate sections that are in a format suitable for submission for publication in a peer-reviewed journal.” Presentation of Thesis Policy 2 . The alternative format thesis is often thought of as a collection of publications, with a short commentary associated with each one, tying the works into a unifying thread, or “thesis”.

Which you use is a decision you will need to make with your supervisor .

The advantages of the alternative format thesis are that if you already have several papers, you can more easily produce a thesis out of them. Also, if you have plans to write several papers, you can write your thesis in such a way that it will be easier to facilitate these plans, because writing the thesis will be build around writing papers. The papers can be submitted after the thesis.

The disadvantage of the alternative format is that it is less widely used in the UK, so many supervisors and examiners may be less comfortable with it.

A Q&A on the Alternative Format Thesis 1 can be found here . Note that it says in Section 4,

“…it may not be until year 2 or 3 that you feel you are in a position to use the alternative format.”

but it says in Section 5 that a request must be made in writing by the end of year 2. Thus, if you are considering using alternative format, apply for it by the end of year 2 . You can revert to traditional format without asking permission formally.

Plagiarism ¶

All PGRs should make sure they are familiar with what the university expects from its PGRs. All PGRs are also required to complete a plagiarism course.

In view of the serious consequences of plagiarism and academic malpractice, it is essential that all PGRs familiarise themselves with the accepted format for referencing work in their discipline, and that they start using the accepted form as soon as possible.

Ignorance of the proper format, or ignorance of the definitions of plagiarism and academic malpractice used by the university, is not a valid defence against a possible claim of plagiarism or other instance of academic malpractice.

Writing Advice ¶

Whichever format you choose, you must give yourself sufficient time to produce the thesis. You must know yourself, and how quickly you are able to write. Six months is a minimum time for most people. Some may need nine.

Be sure to leave enough time in your planning to write the thesis. Most people take between 6 and 8 months, depending on how quickly they write and how much of the writing already exists in papers and reports. Your supervisor can give you advice on how to write the thesis. It’s a good idea to use the LaTeXstyle 3 file for University of Manchester Thesis format.

Do not feel that you need to write it in order; start with the easiest parts first. Usually the technical sections on the research done by you are the easiest, because you know them well. The literature review may be next easiest. The introduction is usually the hardest to write, and many advise that it be written last.

The University COVID 19 Statement below can be included.

COVID Statement ¶

Acknowledging the impact of COVID-19 on postgraduate research programmes: guidance for PGRs, Supervisors and Examiners on inclusion of a COVID-19 impact statement with theses submitted by PGRs at the University of Manchester.

The University of Manchester recognises that the COVID-19 pandemic, and consequent closure of our campus (18 th March 2020) and national and international lockdowns, has directly or indirectly impacted the work of many of our postgraduate researchers (PGRs). Although the campus began re-opening from mid-June 2020, some researchers will be disrupted until all campus research facilities are open, and operational at adequate capacity, fieldwork can resume safely and/or personal circumstances become more manageable.

Many of our PGRs have been/will be able to accommodate the disruption to their research plans by changing the scope, phasing or design or their project; others have/will have circumstances that necessitate an extension to programme or to the thesis submission date.

We encourage PGRs who wish to make their Examiners aware of the impact COVID-19 has had on their research plans and thesis to prepare an Impact Statement for consideration during the examination process.

The University recommends that Examiners take the Impact Statement into account when assessing the thesis, and PGR at viva, albeit without compromising standards as set out in the University’s ordinances and the QAA’s expectations of doctoral outcomes , which emphasise that doctoral degrees should be awarded based on the quality, rather than quantity, of research undertaken and the candidate’s acquisition of intellectual and practical competencies.

Examiners should use their academic judgment when deciding whether, as set out in the Examinations of Doctoral Degrees Policy , the following criteria have been met:

the candidate possesses an appropriate knowledge of the particular field of learning within which the subject of the thesis falls; the research which is reported in the thesis contributes a substantial addition to knowledge; the results of the research show evidence of originality and independent critical judgement; the thesis is presented in a lucid and scholarly manner; the thesis and the work reported in it are the candidate’s own;

whilst bearing in mind that they should judge the ‘ substantial addition to knowledge ’ in relation to what can be reasonably expected within a period of study (3, 3.5 or 4yrs FT) that has been conducted in the context of disruption caused by COVID-19.The Impact Statement should include the following information:

Details on how disruption caused by COVID-19 has impacted the research (for example, an inability to collect/analyse data as a result of travel restrictions/restricted access to labs/additional caring and health responsibilities - 500 words maximum); A description of how the planned work would have fitted within the thesis’ narrative (e.g. through method development, development of analytical skills or advancement of hypotheses - 500 words maximum); A summary of any decisions / actions taken to mitigate for any work or data collection/analyses that were prevented by COVID-19 (500 words maximum).

PGRs are encouraged to discuss the statement with their supervisory team before submitting the statement within the thesis presented for examination and should refer to section 6.3 in the Presentation of Theses Policy for details.

Thesis Writing Advice ¶

Sage advice from Prof Bill Buchanan OBE, PhD, FBCS - Professor at Edinburgh Napier University:

Say up-front what the problem is, what other people have done, and how you have added to it. The Introduction chapter is the most important chapter of all, and you need to grab the reader, and tell them what the problem is, and how you have solved it. If the examiner understands the thesis after the Introduction, you are half way there. I’ve read a few thesis’ where I had no idea what the point was until I actually got to the end, and the contribution was revealed on the last page. This is a major gamble, as some readers may give up before that point, and not know the end contribution. Be fair on the reader and tell them the contribution, and keep telling them. Get rid of those typos! You wouldn’t believe the number of PhD thesis’ I have read that have a typo in the very first line of the thesis. A reader becomes annoyed if they have to keep correcting typos, and the more annoyed the reader, the more time they are taking away from actually reading the content. Try and start off on a good footing, so that the Abstract and Introduction chapter have been read over several times - typically talking them out loud. If possible get someone else to read the Introduction, and see if they understand what the point of work is. Bad grammar shows bad practice and a weak supervision. Part of doing a PhD is learning how to write and present ideas, and how to review and edit. One of the most important things that you learn in a PhD is how to write, so that others can understand your ideas. A good part of this is for supervisors to get involved reading the work, and in giving detailed feedback. It is often a good idea for supervisors to mark up early drafts with red pen, so that PGRs get an idea on the amount of checking and editing that is often required. Superlatives are not very good! A PhD is a scientific study, and the usage of superlatives should be avoided, along with weak words like “big” … “the measure gives a very big number”. If a number is large, define what large actually means, as everything is relative. Significance matters. I’ve read thesis’ that draw a graph, and then gives me values of 10 decimal places, and then to be told that there is an importance of one thing to another. But is it significant? If I move from 100.01254632 to 100.1263241, is that a massive change and why do we need so many decimal places? Every measurement has an accuracy, and this should always be included in the presentation of the values. Examiners want to know the significance of something, and if it isn’t significant, then just tell them. One table tells much more than a whole lot of numbers. Again I’ve read so many thesis’, where the writer continually presents a whole series of numbers and graphs, and where they could all be moved into an appendix, and compiled into a single table (or graph). A good supervisor should be able to spot how to collapse lots series of tables into a single one, as they often have to do it for papers. Many PGRs rely on drawing graphics for presenting trends whereas tables are often better, especially in defining changes within the figures presented. A great tip is to normalise values, and show how the values vary between each other. Relative values are often easier to understand than absolute ones - remember too that most values have units, and that units matter. I’ve quizzed many PGRs on whether they are talking about Mbps or MBps - there’s a difference of eight in there! Draw some pictures. There is no place for trivial graphics and clip art in a PhD thesis, but there is a place for the abstraction of complex ideas, especially in the introduction. There no real need to just copy the graphics from others, as they should come from the ideas inspired by the writer. I’ve read quite a few thesis, where the text just goes on and on. Break the text up every now and then, and give the reader something to ponder over. Break up and but keep a narrative. There’s a careful balance here. If you keep your sections short, it becomes to “bitty”, and if you make them too long, they become long and unwieldy. I personally read whole sections in a single sitting, and try and take in the ideas, and I won’t move on until I understand it. A long section, especially where there are no sub-sections, often introduces too many concepts which can make it difficult to read. I normally recommend a maximum of a page and a half of text before there should be a break (such as a sub-section break). Long paragraphs are not a good thing as it becomes difficult to take in all the concepts introduced. Try, if possible, not to make them too short, but not too long. A paragraph that goes on for half a page is probably too long, and one that has only two sentences is probably too short. Along try and avoid too many sub-sub sections, as it becomes difficult for the reader to put it all into context. Avoid using the words of others too much. A thesis is written by the writer, and it is their words. A long series of indented text items of quoted material becomes fairly generic, where you get little of the sense of the thoughts of the writer. If you must reference others, pull it out, and indent. Be precise. A PhD thesis should be a scientific document which abides to certain standards for the articulation of ideas. It is always sloppy to see a candidate writing 9*6^3, where the “*” is a sloppy way of writing a multiply symbol (x) and ^ should be “to the power off”. If it’s an equation, it should be pulled out of the text, and a proper equation editor should be used, with a proper numbering system for the equation. Every diagram and table should be referenced in the text. I have read many thesis’ (typically drafts) where the writer just assumes that the reader knows how a diagram or table should integrate with the narrative. Every figure and table should thus be referenced in the text, so that the reader knows when to look at it. If possible don’t break up your narrative with a diagram, and move it a little later on, as long as it is after then text which is referring to it. Don’t ever put a diagram in the text before it is actually referred to, as the reader is left confused as to why the diagram is there. Be critical of yourself and others. One of the key things within a PhD is the ability to critically appraise the work of others, both for the strengths and weaknesses of their work, and also of the candidate’s work. I often circle the first signs of critical thought in a thesis. If it happens on Page 50, there’s a problem in not being able to critically appraise work. Along with this some candidates can think that everything is perfect with their work, and that it addresses every single problem in their field. Try to always define both the strengths and weaknesses your own work, and identify how these could be improved. The scope of the impact should never be overestimated, but also not underestimated. If you’ve developed something that completely changed something, be up-front and tell the reader. Most of the times, be honest to say that you are just enhancing something a little bit. A thesis is not a diary! I have read so many thesis’ which are basically just a chronological flow of their research. You can often spot this as the literature review runs out of references which are up-to-date. I have read several thesis’ where the latest reference in the literature review is two years ago, and it points to the fact that it has not been updated since it was initially written. A literature review should be written for the thesis, and many parts of the original literature can be dumped, and replaced with newer references which fit in with the contribution. Focus the literature review on the contribution. One literature review of PhD thesis I read was almost 200 pages long, and my head was spinning at the end of it. It covered so many points, and few of them actually went anywhere in the following chapters. Try and focus the literature review on covering the 4 or 5 key concepts involved in the thesis, and not in the research project. A good supervisor can often spot redundant sections, and advise for them to be cut. If the thesis is still the same by taking something out, there’s no need for it to be there, as every paragraph and every word should count, and be carefully crafted as part of the whole story. Make sure the aim is “of the thesis, and not “of the initial research project”. Many thesis’ start with “The aim of this research project is …” which often is a sign that the original project aim has not changed in the writing of the thesis. Overall the aim is the aim of the thesis, as the research project has finished. Every should be written from a point-of-view that the work has finished, and this is the write-up. Get the flow right. A strong flow of literature, method, build and evaluation helps the flow of the thesis, and where you often see references to literature tailing off as the thesis develops. I’ve seen some thesis’ where there are whole chapters that lack any form of reference to other work. This is poor practice as a PhD thesis should show how every aspect of the work fits in with the work of others. I like to see a reference to other work in the introduction of a chapter, as it shows some key influences for the work. I personally don’t like an introduction that says “Section 1 says this, and Section 2 says that, and Section 3 says something else”, as I can see from the table of contents what the contents are. If possible the reader should tell the reader what is likely to be revealed and what the significance is. A reinforcement of the main drive of the work also helps to bring the focus onto the main contribution of the work. If you don’t know it … don’t say it! This one seems so obvious, but you won’t believe the number of times that you ask in a Viva about the detail of a paper, and the method used, and for the answer to be that they don’t actually know what it does. You always increase your exposure to probing if you include things you don’t quite understand, so dump them (if they are not a core topic). Explain it simply. There’s nothing nicer for an examiner when the candidate takes a complex idea and gives their own viewpoint on it, in a simple way, using new material. It shows that they can articulate complex ideas in a simple way. The standard test for any thesis is that a 14-year old child should, at least, be able to read it, and understand some of the key concepts in it. Show that you love the subject and that it is relevant. Three years is a long time, but the sustainment of interest is a key part of the work, so try and show that this is an important topic and that your thesis is exactly what is required, and in the impact that it could have. Again the Introduction chapter is a great place to grab the reader, and show how important the work is. If possible try and find something that has just happened in the news in the introduction that shows how important your work is. The Introduction chapter, at least, should be readable by all, and where, at the end of it, most readers would want to read on, as it sounds so interesting. Make your thesis a sandwich. With a good thesis, we open with the Introduction and close on the Conclusions. The bit in-between justifies what you have opened with and the conclusions should show what you have uncovered to justify your argument. The same goes for each chapter, where the introduction (half a page, typically) shows what you’re going to tell them, and the conclusion confirms it. Do not make conclusion into a summary, as the reader has no time to read summaries, and just wants you to conclude the most important things that go forward (and so they can dump all the other things that you covered). If possible say why you are not taking some things forward in the conclusions (and justify using the work of others, if possible). Don’t just pick without reviewing and justifying. There is no justification in a thesis for picking something just because it is easy to get. If possible all the things that are selected have at least been reviewed, and a sensible solution is selected (and justified). Try always to select a few competing methods and tools and put them against each other. Validate before Evaluate. You won’t believe the number of Vivas that I’ve done where I’ve asked if they validated their system or software before they went onto evaluating it. So “How do you it takes 5 milliseconds to get from here to there?, the wrong answer is “… because the package said it was 5 milliseconds”. Good experimenters will do “fag packet” calculations, to estimate things and know the limits of what they expect. I always like to see validation tests within the test data, so that the researcher knows that their system is working correctly. There’s nothing work in finding there is a bug in your results, after you have published them … so always have a sanity check. Get that scientific method. There are so many occasions in a thesis where you have no idea what a graph is telling you, as the axis’ are not numbered properly, or where they are poorly scaled. If the variation is between 990 and 1000, don’t draw a graph which goes from 0 to 1000. Work out what the graph is trying to say, and pick the graph type (eg pie chart to show significant of one method against another) to show this. Must be based on a method and be repeatable. There must be a method in the processes used, and designed in a scientific way. Along with this the thesis should outline the procedure in a repeatable way, so that someone else can perform the same evaluation and get the same results. So candidates should always say to themselves… “Is there enough information for someone to build the artefact?”, “Is there enough information to repeat the experiment?”, and “Do I have the data that the examiner can look at, in order to verify the evaluation?” Evaluate your method against others. The standard method to show a contribution is to take your method and evaluate it against other competing methods. The best approach is to use the best competing method and show an improvement. This can sometimes be difficult, so, at least, there is an evaluation against other methods. Showing an improvement is obviously a good thing, but there is often nothing wrong with an evaluation which shows a negative impact, especially if it is backed-up with a strong critical appraisal. Be fair and honest with your experiments. Often an experimental procedure is selected to benefit your own method. If possible be fair on all the methods and do not bias your approach to your one. It does no harm to show weaknesses and downsides to your own contribution, as it gives you a chance to critically appraise and show how future work could improve things. Your experimental procedure and the associated data collection should be repeatable and verifiable, so don’t delete that data you have gathered. If possible, know your examination team. While the thesis should stand-alone you should also know your examination team before the Viva, so avoid patronising them with background theory which they know inside-out, or provide some background which might help the examiners to understand the area. Often an examiner, as part of the Viva, will give advice on moving things between the core material and appendices, in order to address the target audience for the thesis. Show that you are now an expert in your area. People expect those with a PhD to be an expert in the area of study, so make sure you know your core principles in the subject area. If you are doing a cryptography PhD read around the subject, and know the core principles of the most important methods. For me, anyone doing a PhD in electrical engineering, for example, should know Ohms Law, and the same should go for other subjects. Use appendices. Many PhD thesis’ are full of material that is irrelevant to many of the key arguments, and writers are often too sensitive about removing material. If you can, put unrelated material in an appendix, and just refer to it. As a measure, if any material doesn’t help your core arguments, then remove it, as you are wasting the reader’s time. Quality is better than quantity. Some of the best thesis’ I read have been relatively short and sharp, but where the quality is high. A good eye for moving material in appendices is important and helps the examiner. For some reason, candidates like to produce a thick thesis, and they think that the more pages there, the better the material. This is often the opposite, and a thesis written with self-contained papers for chapters - which link together - are often the best in their presentation. Define published work. A key part of PhD study is the dissemination of the work, especially with peer reviewed. The examiner often needs to know what has been published. Watch those unreliable references. In a PhD thesis, the references should be credible and verifiable references, and references to industry-focused white papers or general Web pages cannot be trusted providing credible viewpoints. Look for small-scale to large-scale experiments. A good researcher will often start small scale and prove the principle, and then look for a large-scale experiment. The sign of small experiments, along with a large-scale experiment which properly evaluates the methods presented, is a good sign of a strong research ethos. Few abstracts are actually any good in first draft. For some reason most PGRs struggle to write an abstract, and often it is written more as an introduction rather than a distilled version of the thesis. Remember that the abstract is the first thing that the reader reads, so if it is not focused on presenting the whole of the thesis, you have missed an opportunity to get the reader on your side. If possible an abstract should be a page in length, and outline the problem, the contribution, the most significant methods, the thing that has been designed/modelled, what has been evaluated, and what the most significant result is. Conclusions should conclude the whole thesis. Often the thesis just verifies aims and shows the significance of the results, but it should also recap the key parts of the literature and the other chapters. Mind those commas. Commas seem to be a dying breed, but are there to help speak directly to the reader. Try and read out loud, and if there’s a slight pause, add a comma. End on a high! Don’t spoil your thesis, by adding another chapter after the main contribution. Leave the reader on a high, and get them into the Conclusions, and leave the stage. I’ve read a few thesis’ where the last chapter is a real let-down, and contributes very little to the overall focus of the work. If you want, put your lovely new models in an appendix, and refer them in the main chapters, but try and finish the main chapters with the answer to the question posed at the start. The last dot of the last main chapter cements the argument, so don’t run on into something else that you just happens to be which you are currently looking at, as just feel your thesis isn’t thick enough yet! Sign post your work. Remember the thicker the thesis, the longer it takes to read, and if it doesn’t get to the point, the more annoyed the reader becomes in actually showing how you have addressed the problem and your main contribution. The more focused the thesis, the shorter time it will take to understand it, and the happier the examiner will be when they are reading it. Add pointers to “wake up” the reader and tell them that they really should read this bit … as I’m telling you something important. Guide but stay on the academic track. Guide them through difficult areas, and allow them to learn from your love of the topic and your new insights, but stick to well-defined academic principles for writing a thesis … such as not adding your own opinions in literature review parts. Leave your thoughts for the conclusion section with a chapter. Try not to hint that you’ve solved every problem in the area, and rely on showing your contribution on the back of others, including within the main conclusions. Be humble. Show that you are humble in your writing and respect (and know) the most important people in your area (including your external examiner), and that you want to be an active part of your community, and help them. The PhD is not an end-stop, but shows how you will work in the future … either in academia or industry. So just because you are off to a job in industry, doesn’t mean that your research career ends at the graduation … you have standards and methods to set for others to follow.

Submission ¶

You must submit your thesis within three years and six months (allowing for any interruptions or extensions that you may have been granted). When you are ready to submit your thesis you need to complete a Notice of Submission Form not less than six weeks before submission.This form is available in eProg in the Examination Summary section. You will also need to read Regulations for the Presentation of Theses and Dissertations. Giving notice of submission triggers the process of appointing the examiners, who are then expecting the thesis to arrive on time.

If a thesis is not submitted before the end of the programme or submission pending period, you will not be able submit your thesis without exceptional circumstances.

You must submit an electronic copy of your thesis no less than 3 days before your final submission deadline. You must submit two hard copies to the Faculty Graduate Office by the deadline. The electronic and hard copies must be identical.

If you wish to submit a thesis more than 3 months before the end of your programme (or 6 months if part time) you will require a permission of your supervisor and the University. If you are granted permission to submit early then you will still be required to pay full fees for the degree period for which you originally registered.

Using eProg for everything. You first need to submit a notification that you are ready to submit within 6 weeks - a submission ‘window’ will then be opened. You can then submit at anytime within that six weeks. If you do not submit you have failed.

Open access: submit and share your research

‌Once you have submitted your thesis you should consider how you will share your research more widely. Making your outputs OA can provide important benefits to you as a researcher, to the research community, and the wider world.

University of Manchester Postgraduate research students are required to share journal articles and peer-reviewed conference proceedings under the institutional Publications Policy . Making these outputs Open Access (OA) is also required by Research England in order for papers to be eligible for submission to the REF, and many research funders require OA for these outputs too. Use the Library deposit form in the Open Access Gateway to submit your papers for deposit to ensure they are made OA as required.

If you wish to ask a general question about Open Access, you can contact the Library’s OA team using the Open Access enquiry form or via email: uml . openaccess @ manchester . ac . uk

The Thesis Defence (Viva) ¶

You will need to defend your thesis in an oral examination which is often called a ‘viva’ (for viva voce). You will typically have two examiners comprising either (i) an internal examiner (a member of academic staff from Manchester who has expertise in your research area) and an external examiner (a member of academic staff from another university or another suitably-qualified and research-active expert), or (ii) two external examiners and an internal independent chair. The internal examiner or independent chair will arrange the date and time of your oral examination. There may also be an independent chair when one of the examiners lacks experience in examining doctorates and in other situations.

In the oral examination you will be examined orally on the content of your thesis and its wider context. After the examination the examiners will make a recommendation to the Faculty PGR Degrees Panel on the outcome of the exam. The examiners may communicate what their recommendation is to you, but it should be clear that this is unofficial and the final decision is made by Faculty.

The outcomes are:

recommend the award and no corrections are necessary.

recommend the award subject to minor corrections being completed.

refer: the thesis is satisfactory in substance but defective in presentation; allow resubmission without the need for a further oral examination.

refer: the thesis is satisfactory in substance but defective in presentation; allow resubmission and require a further oral examination.

refer: the thesis requires further research to be done; allow resubmission and require a further oral examination.

award MPhil on the basis of the thesis presented.

award MPhil on the basis of the thesis presented, subject to minor corrections being completed.

reject, but invite the candidate to revise and resubmit the thesis for the degree of MPhil within six months. A candidate will be permitted to resubmit on only one occasion. A fresh examination of the thesis will be required and may include a further oral examination.

no award be made to the candidate and no resubmission be permitted.

The most common outcome is A(ii). Normally minor corrections required under A(ii) must be completed within 4 weeks of the result being communicated to you by the Faculty PGR Degrees Panel. Likewise with the outcome C(ii) the minor corrections required for award of MPhil must be completed within 4 weeks.

PGRs with outcomes B(i)–B(ii) and C(iii) normally have up to six months to resubmit their thesis (in the latter case for MPhil). PGRs with outcomes B(iii) have one year to resubmit their thesis. A resubmission fee is charged.

Viva Format ¶

Following the relaxation of national COVID restrictions on 19th July 2021 vivas can now be held either entirely in-person, remotely via video link, or a hybrid approach can be adopted whereby one or more members of the examination appear via a video link.

As the PGR this is pretty much your choice - although we suggest you discuss it with your supervisory team and make sure the examiners are happy with the choice before the agree to whichever ‘flavour’ or viva is chosen.

Viva Advice ¶

Further advice from Prof Bill Buchanan OBE, PhD, FBCS - Professor at Edinburgh Napier University:

Be ready to defend, up to a point. You are unlikely to ever win with a debate with the External Examiner, as they typically have the experience to know when they are right. The Examiner does want to see you putting up arguments against theirs, and not bend. A strategy is often to debate the case, and try different routes of explanation, but then to take on their advice for any changes that would be required. Draw it out and keep it simple. Drawing diagrams and abstracting is a great way to explain your ideas, so wherever possible try to draw an abstraction to show a key point. Try not to over complex things, as they examiner is often looking for you to article complex ideas in a simple and understandable way. The simplest things are often the most difficult to explain. Many candidates go into a Viva thinking they will get probed on the complex areas of their work, but end up having to justify an extremely simple concept, that they have taken for granted. An examiner can often spot a weakness in some fundamental areas and probe around that, in order to see how the candidate thinks through a problem. So candidates should also try and be well versed on the fundamentals areas, especially when it involves maths. Know your examiners. Every examiner is different, and they have their own style. Some go from page to page, others read generally around significant parts of the work. They will generally have expertise in certain areas, so try and understand their motivations in their research, and some of their specialities, as they are likely to draw on these for questions. Don’t leave it too long for the Viva. The best time for a Viva is straight after you’ve written your thesis, so try and don’t leave it too long for the Viva, as you will forget a few things. Stay calm and enjoy. It is your opportunity to lock horns with an expert in their field, so enjoy it, as you’ll probably never have the chance to do something like this in your career. Be humble. A PhD is a long road, and you learn along that road. The end result should setup you up for the even longer road ahead, but you now have all the tools to be ready for a career in research. None of us truly knows the formula for a successful PhD, but the methods applied by examiners and supervisors have stood the test of time, and do actually result in something that can contribute to the body of science. Remember that you are standing on the shoulders of giants. A key thing is knowing whose shoulders you are standing on, and help the others who could stand on your shoulders. Enjoy your time! And finally, for a bit of advice, have a look at Ralph Merkle’s time. He invented key exchange while an undergraduate, but his professor rejected his ideas because he didn’t articulate them properly, and Ralph then tried to publish a paper on it, but it was rejected because he had no literature in the paper. So, try and write well … and perfect the art of speaking directly to the reader, and also follow the rules of research that have been laid down over the centuries, and you’re halfway there.

Corrections ¶

Once you have had your viva you will typically get corrections. Once you have completed the corrections, they send a PDF copy of the corrected thesis directly to the internal examiner for approval.

Once the examiner is happy the corrections have been completed, they need to fill out the Corrections Sign Off Form on eProg. Once that’s been completed, we can open a Final Submission Window for you to submit in eThesis. Once received and acknowledged, We can then produce an award letter and complete yout studies on Campus Solutions.

http://documents.manchester.ac.uk/DocuInfo.aspx?DocID=15216

http://documents.manchester.ac.uk/display.aspx?DocID=7420

http://studentnet.cs.manchester.ac.uk/resources/latex/MUThesis/

Turn Your Curiosity Into Discovery

Latest facts.

9 Facts About National Train Day May 11th

12 Facts About National Coq Au Vin Day May 29th

40 facts about elektrostal.

Written by Lanette Mayes

Modified & Updated: 02 Mar 2024

Reviewed by Jessica Corbett

Elektrostal is a vibrant city located in the Moscow Oblast region of Russia. With a rich history, stunning architecture, and a thriving community, Elektrostal is a city that has much to offer. Whether you are a history buff, nature enthusiast, or simply curious about different cultures, Elektrostal is sure to captivate you.

This article will provide you with 40 fascinating facts about Elektrostal, giving you a better understanding of why this city is worth exploring. From its origins as an industrial hub to its modern-day charm, we will delve into the various aspects that make Elektrostal a unique and must-visit destination.

So, join us as we uncover the hidden treasures of Elektrostal and discover what makes this city a true gem in the heart of Russia.

Key Takeaways:

Elektrostal, known as the “Motor City of Russia,” is a vibrant and growing city with a rich industrial history, offering diverse cultural experiences and a strong commitment to environmental sustainability.
With its convenient location near Moscow, Elektrostal provides a picturesque landscape, vibrant nightlife, and a range of recreational activities, making it an ideal destination for residents and visitors alike.

Known as the “Motor City of Russia.”

Elektrostal, a city located in the Moscow Oblast region of Russia, earned the nickname “Motor City” due to its significant involvement in the automotive industry.

Home to the Elektrostal Metallurgical Plant.

Elektrostal is renowned for its metallurgical plant, which has been producing high-quality steel and alloys since its establishment in 1916.

Boasts a rich industrial heritage.

Elektrostal has a long history of industrial development, contributing to the growth and progress of the region.

Founded in 1916.

The city of Elektrostal was founded in 1916 as a result of the construction of the Elektrostal Metallurgical Plant.

Located approximately 50 kilometers east of Moscow.

Elektrostal is situated in close proximity to the Russian capital, making it easily accessible for both residents and visitors.

Known for its vibrant cultural scene.

Elektrostal is home to several cultural institutions, including museums, theaters, and art galleries that showcase the city’s rich artistic heritage.

A popular destination for nature lovers.

Surrounded by picturesque landscapes and forests, Elektrostal offers ample opportunities for outdoor activities such as hiking, camping, and birdwatching.

Hosts the annual Elektrostal City Day celebrations.

Every year, Elektrostal organizes festive events and activities to celebrate its founding, bringing together residents and visitors in a spirit of unity and joy.

Has a population of approximately 160,000 people.

Elektrostal is home to a diverse and vibrant community of around 160,000 residents, contributing to its dynamic atmosphere.

Boasts excellent education facilities.

The city is known for its well-established educational institutions, providing quality education to students of all ages.

A center for scientific research and innovation.

Elektrostal serves as an important hub for scientific research, particularly in the fields of metallurgy, materials science, and engineering.

Surrounded by picturesque lakes.

The city is blessed with numerous beautiful lakes, offering scenic views and recreational opportunities for locals and visitors alike.

Well-connected transportation system.

Elektrostal benefits from an efficient transportation network, including highways, railways, and public transportation options, ensuring convenient travel within and beyond the city.

Famous for its traditional Russian cuisine.

Food enthusiasts can indulge in authentic Russian dishes at numerous restaurants and cafes scattered throughout Elektrostal.

Home to notable architectural landmarks.

Elektrostal boasts impressive architecture, including the Church of the Transfiguration of the Lord and the Elektrostal Palace of Culture.

Offers a wide range of recreational facilities.

Residents and visitors can enjoy various recreational activities, such as sports complexes, swimming pools, and fitness centers, enhancing the overall quality of life.

Provides a high standard of healthcare.

Elektrostal is equipped with modern medical facilities, ensuring residents have access to quality healthcare services.

Home to the Elektrostal History Museum.

The Elektrostal History Museum showcases the city’s fascinating past through exhibitions and displays.

A hub for sports enthusiasts.

Elektrostal is passionate about sports, with numerous stadiums, arenas, and sports clubs offering opportunities for athletes and spectators.

Celebrates diverse cultural festivals.

Throughout the year, Elektrostal hosts a variety of cultural festivals, celebrating different ethnicities, traditions, and art forms.

Electric power played a significant role in its early development.

Elektrostal owes its name and initial growth to the establishment of electric power stations and the utilization of electricity in the industrial sector.

Boasts a thriving economy.

The city’s strong industrial base, coupled with its strategic location near Moscow, has contributed to Elektrostal’s prosperous economic status.

Houses the Elektrostal Drama Theater.

The Elektrostal Drama Theater is a cultural centerpiece, attracting theater enthusiasts from far and wide.

Popular destination for winter sports.

Elektrostal’s proximity to ski resorts and winter sport facilities makes it a favorite destination for skiing, snowboarding, and other winter activities.

Promotes environmental sustainability.

Elektrostal prioritizes environmental protection and sustainability, implementing initiatives to reduce pollution and preserve natural resources.

Home to renowned educational institutions.

Elektrostal is known for its prestigious schools and universities, offering a wide range of academic programs to students.

Committed to cultural preservation.

The city values its cultural heritage and takes active steps to preserve and promote traditional customs, crafts, and arts.

Hosts an annual International Film Festival.

The Elektrostal International Film Festival attracts filmmakers and cinema enthusiasts from around the world, showcasing a diverse range of films.

Encourages entrepreneurship and innovation.

Elektrostal supports aspiring entrepreneurs and fosters a culture of innovation, providing opportunities for startups and business development.

Offers a range of housing options.

Elektrostal provides diverse housing options, including apartments, houses, and residential complexes, catering to different lifestyles and budgets.

Home to notable sports teams.

Elektrostal is proud of its sports legacy, with several successful sports teams competing at regional and national levels.

Boasts a vibrant nightlife scene.

Residents and visitors can enjoy a lively nightlife in Elektrostal, with numerous bars, clubs, and entertainment venues.

Promotes cultural exchange and international relations.

Elektrostal actively engages in international partnerships, cultural exchanges, and diplomatic collaborations to foster global connections.

Surrounded by beautiful nature reserves.

Nearby nature reserves, such as the Barybino Forest and Luchinskoye Lake, offer opportunities for nature enthusiasts to explore and appreciate the region’s biodiversity.

Commemorates historical events.

The city pays tribute to significant historical events through memorials, monuments, and exhibitions, ensuring the preservation of collective memory.

Promotes sports and youth development.

Elektrostal invests in sports infrastructure and programs to encourage youth participation, health, and physical fitness.

Hosts annual cultural and artistic festivals.

Throughout the year, Elektrostal celebrates its cultural diversity through festivals dedicated to music, dance, art, and theater.

Provides a picturesque landscape for photography enthusiasts.

The city’s scenic beauty, architectural landmarks, and natural surroundings make it a paradise for photographers.

Connects to Moscow via a direct train line.

The convenient train connection between Elektrostal and Moscow makes commuting between the two cities effortless.

A city with a bright future.

Elektrostal continues to grow and develop, aiming to become a model city in terms of infrastructure, sustainability, and quality of life for its residents.

In conclusion, Elektrostal is a fascinating city with a rich history and a vibrant present. From its origins as a center of steel production to its modern-day status as a hub for education and industry, Elektrostal has plenty to offer both residents and visitors. With its beautiful parks, cultural attractions, and proximity to Moscow, there is no shortage of things to see and do in this dynamic city. Whether you’re interested in exploring its historical landmarks, enjoying outdoor activities, or immersing yourself in the local culture, Elektrostal has something for everyone. So, next time you find yourself in the Moscow region, don’t miss the opportunity to discover the hidden gems of Elektrostal.

Q: What is the population of Elektrostal?

A: As of the latest data, the population of Elektrostal is approximately XXXX.

Q: How far is Elektrostal from Moscow?

A: Elektrostal is located approximately XX kilometers away from Moscow.

Q: Are there any famous landmarks in Elektrostal?

A: Yes, Elektrostal is home to several notable landmarks, including XXXX and XXXX.

Q: What industries are prominent in Elektrostal?

A: Elektrostal is known for its steel production industry and is also a center for engineering and manufacturing.

Q: Are there any universities or educational institutions in Elektrostal?

A: Yes, Elektrostal is home to XXXX University and several other educational institutions.

Q: What are some popular outdoor activities in Elektrostal?

A: Elektrostal offers several outdoor activities, such as hiking, cycling, and picnicking in its beautiful parks.

Q: Is Elektrostal well-connected in terms of transportation?

A: Yes, Elektrostal has good transportation links, including trains and buses, making it easily accessible from nearby cities.

Q: Are there any annual events or festivals in Elektrostal?

A: Yes, Elektrostal hosts various events and festivals throughout the year, including XXXX and XXXX.

Was this page helpful?

Our commitment to delivering trustworthy and engaging content is at the heart of what we do. Each fact on our site is contributed by real users like you, bringing a wealth of diverse insights and information. To ensure the highest standards of accuracy and reliability, our dedicated editors meticulously review each submission. This process guarantees that the facts we share are not only fascinating but also credible. Trust in our commitment to quality and authenticity as you explore and learn with us.

Share this Fact:

Phone: +90 (212) 875 19 08

E-Mail: [email protected]

Company Profile
Company Policy
Mission and Vision
Certificates
Aluminium Windows
Aluminium Doors
Aluminium Sliding Elements
Aluminium Curtain Walls
Aluminium Skylight Elements
Aluminium Frames for Safety and Security
Aluminium Conservatories
Metal Panel Sheet Claddings
Aluminium Entrance Frames
Glass Structures
Complementary Items
Lightweight Steel Structures
Human Resources OPEN

Mimsa Aluminium - Istanbul

Fasad Stroy - Moscow

Contact Form

Address: bosb mermerciler san. sitesi 4. cadde no: 7 34520, beylikduzu / istanbul / turkey, fax: +90 (212) 875 58 17, email: [email protected], address: gorkogo street 38, elektrostal - moscow region / russia, phone: +7 (495) 748 07 95.

IMAGES

Paulina Lenik Passed her PhD Viva with Minor Corrections
Jakob Hauter passed his PhD viva with minor corrections
Laura Hart passes her PhD viva with minor corrections
Yulia Klimova passed her PhD Viva with minor corrections
Jingzhu Chen Passed her PhD Viva with Minor Corrections
Paula Borowska passed her PhD viva with minor corrections

VIDEO

9. PhD Viva Riddle #phd #ilovephd #thesis
After PhD Master Viva, what Results to EXPECT?
Question asked in PhD interview 😲
How to Prepare for PhD Viva / PhD Viva / PhD Virtual Viva
THE 7 CHURCHES OF ASIA MINOR, BISHOP WILLIAM L HOLT PHD
PhD final Defense Viva

COMMENTS

Thesis outcomes and corrections
Minor corrections. Your examiners have a few minor suggestions that they would like you to incorporate; Major corrections or resubmission. The thesis needs further work to be of doctoral standard. ... Thesis corrections. After your viva you are likely to have some corrections to complete before you are awarded your doctorate. The extent can ...
PhD Viva Voces
There are six outcomes of a PhD viva: (1) pass without corrections (2) pass subject to minor corrections, (3) pass subject to major corrections, (4) downgrade to MPhil with no amendments, (5) downgrade to MPhil subject to amendments, (6) immediate fail. Almost all students who sit their viva pass it, with the most common outcome being ' (2 ...
How to deal with post-viva PhD thesis corrections
Create a matrix. You should list all of the suggested revisions in a spreadsheet, together with your notes. This will allow you to create an audit trail as you work through them. To start, create a spreadsheet with three columns. In column one, you list each revision listed in the report on a separate row.
I had a brutal PhD viva followed by two years of corrections
At the end of the viva, the examiners will decide between four options: pass with no corrections, minor corrections, major corrections or failure. Minor corrections are those that the examiners ...
How to Avoid Minor PhD Corrections
There's no shame in passing your PhD with corrections. On the contrary, in the UK at least, most students pass their viva voce - that is, the verbal defence of their thesis - with 'minor corrections'.You receive a list of corrections from your examiners, attend to them and resubmit your thesis for a last look-through, usually within three months.
Passed, with minor corrections
Passed, with minor corrections. 3 March 2019 Frances Ryan. I am very pleased and extremely relieved to be able to (finally!) announce that I have passed my PhD viva - and with only minor corrections! This good news comes after more than five years of hard work and emotional turmoil, and I am just so thankful that my PhD Dreams are almost a ...
What is the PhD Viva?
The viva voce is the final assessment for a PhD. It is an oral examination where the student defends their research to two academic examiners. This involves answering questions about your work, typically related to the literature, methodology, your findings and the significance of your conclusions. In some countries (like the USA) the viva is ...
After the viva (oral examination)
Process following the oral examination. Degree Committee and Postgraduate Committee meeting dates can be found here. Congregation dates can be found here. With the exception of being offered a lower degree only or outright failure, the steps following your viva are as follows: Your examiners complete a joint report and make a recommendation ...
PhD Viva: What it is and How to Prepare
The final stage of every PhD viva is to invest time in making amendments and minor corrections to the thesis and resubmitting your work. Afterwards, you can celebrate with your loved ones that have achieved the greatest level of education. Typical PhD Viva questions asked by external examiners. Summarise PhD thesis in two or three minutes.
What is a PhD Viva?
Recent viva experience research has highlighted that 84% of PhD candidates must make minor corrections to pass. Typically, the minor corrections will be small issues with the thesis, such as grammatical errors, typos, typograph issues, or presentational faux pas, which can be quickly edited.
Viva Examination and Corrections
You have 6 months in which to submit your corrected thesis and list of corrections to your Examiner (s). Check your reports to see if corrections need to go to the Internal/External or both Examiners. The 6 month deadline begins from the date of the Board of Graduate Studies meeting. Count on six months from the date of the meeting to work out ...
The PhD viva: a space for academic development
The majority were awarded their PhD with minor corrections, considered their viva as a summative assessment, and emphasised its purpose as authentication, examination and defence. Most felt well prepared yet few had experienced a 'mock viva' or viva workshop. Even those with minor corrections identified aspects of the viva for improvement.
Difference between minor and major corrections?
More substantial changes needed than minor corrections. Candidates are given 6 months to make changes. Both external and internal need to check changes before awarding PhD. Deciding on awarding minors or majors depends on examiners opinions and in some cases, performance at viva. Both minor and major corrections are viewed as a 'PhD pass' and ...
Passed my viva with minor corrections, but... : r/PhD
I passed my PhD viva with minor corrections, but with both examiners essentially saying "it seems like you don't understand the basic maths required for the main method of your thesis" (paraphrasing). I just feel like I let myself down a lot, because I came across really unsure of basic aspects of the method and couldn't derive a certain proof ...
The Thesis Whisperer
Nobody warns you that you'll need to re-gather your energy and brainpower to tackle them. That, for me, turned into a struggle for which I was completely unprepared. Let's be clear: getting through your viva 'with minor corrections' is a great achievement. Your work is definitely of the required standard, but there are still tweaks to ...
Corrections PhD
Types of correction Most PhD candidates have some corrections to make after the oral. They tend to fall into three categories: very minor (typos) - these can be completed and approved by the Examiners within a few hours, and the Examiners can then recommend a pass when they submit their reports.
How to Avoid Major PhD Corrections
In the UK, PhD students usually pass their viva voce - that is, an oral defence of their thesis - with minor or major corrections. As a follow-up to our recently published how-to guide to avoiding minor PhD corrections, we thought it would be useful to produce a post on avoiding major corrections.Whereas minor corrections encompass relatively straightforward issues like typos and ...
Thesis, Viva, and Corrections
Thesis, Viva, and Corrections ... Normally minor corrections required under A(ii) must be completed within 4 weeks of the result being communicated to you by the Faculty PGR Degrees Panel. Likewise with the outcome C(ii) the minor corrections required for award of MPhil must be completed within 4 weeks. ... A PhD is a long road, and you learn ...
A Guide for Internal and External PhD Examiners
Completing a post-viva report and, if appropriate, outlining corrections. Post-viva checks or re-examining. The internal examiner will usually have responsibility for checking and approving minor corrections. Where more substantial changes to the thesis are required, both examiners are usually expected to approve them and then to
PDF Ancha Baranova, PhD
Ancha Baranova, PhD Professor, School of Systems Biology Director, the Chronic Metabolic and Rare Diseases Systems Biology Initiative (ChroMe RaDSBIn) Education PhD in Molecular Biology, DSci in Genetics, Moscow State University, Moscow, Russia Key Interests Human Genetics | Personalized Medicine | Metabolic Syndrome | Aging | Systemic
40 Facts About Elektrostal
40 Facts About Elektrostal. Elektrostal is a vibrant city located in the Moscow Oblast region of Russia. With a rich history, stunning architecture, and a thriving community, Elektrostal is a city that has much to offer. Whether you are a history buff, nature enthusiast, or simply curious about different cultures, Elektrostal is sure to ...
Contact
Address: BOSB Mermerciler San. Sitesi 4. Cadde No: 7 34520, Beylikduzu / Istanbul / TURKEY
(PDF) Natural Molecular Hydrogen Seepage Associated with Surficial
correspond to minor morphological depressions. In cultivated areas, the periphery of these ... air correction very difﬁcult. However, looking at the. O. 2 /N. 2. ... PhD dissertation. IFP Energies.

Thesis outcomes and corrections

Thesis corrections

Thesis resubmission

Bookmark & Share

What Is a PhD Viva?

Who Will Attend a Viva?

How Long Does a Viva Last?

What Happens During a Viva?

Introductions

Procedure Explained

Warm-Up Questions

In-Depth Questions

Closing the Viva

What Happens After the Viva?

PhD Viva Outcomes

What Is the Pass Rate for Vivas?

How Do I Arrange a Viva?

Can I Choose My Examiners?

Can I Take Notes Into a Viva?

How Do I Prepare for a PhD Viva?

Browse PhDs Now

How to deal with post-viva PhD thesis corrections

Wait for the committee’s report

Try not to be disheartened

How to deal with unhelpful feedback

Only do what the examiners ask for

Your PhD thesis. All on one page.

Don’t freak out

Create a matrix

Get started quickly

Check the paperwork

Read through the entire thesis

Create a cover letter

Prepare for your viva. One question at a time.

Hello, Doctor…

Share this:

Submit a Comment Cancel reply

Search The PhD Knowledge Base

The PhD Knowledge Base Categories

Passed, with minor corrections

Be social and share!

Join the conversation! Cancel reply

Study at Cambridge

This information is for postgraduate research students.

Process following the oral examination

How long do I have in which to submit my corrections?

Do I need to go through another Degree Committee meeting?

What happens next?

Revising and Resubmitting the Thesis

Temporary withdrawal/Reinstatement

What is a PhD Viva?

PhD Viva Questions

How Long Does a PhD Viva Take?

Who Will Be on Your Viva Panel?

What Are the Outcomes of a Viva Exam?

1. Awarded PhD Degree with No Corrections

2. Minor Corrections Required to Pass

3. Major Corrections Required to Pass

4. Revise and Represent to Pass

5. Awarded an MPhil Degree

6. Immediate Fail

PhD Viva Tips:

Treat the Examiners as Equals

Mindset Matters

Ask for a Mock Viva with Your Supervisor

How long is a PhD?

You might also like

Do You Get Paid for a PhD?

Where Can a PhD in Finance Take Me?

Should I Do a PhD in London?

Enquire with us

Study at Cambridge

Work with us

Reinstatement to the Register for Graduate Students

I am leaving the UK - do I have to return to undertake the oral examination?

Can I have my oral examination via video conference?

Can I request adjustments to my oral examination on the grounds of disability?

What happens at the oral examination ?

What is the purpose of the oral examination?

What is the process following my oral examination?