Yesterday afternoon I acted as Chair of the viva voce examination for a PhD degree in the Department of Mathematics & Statistics at Maynooth University. I have done this once before at Maynooth, in the Department of Biology, but had to look back through my archive of blog posts to find out when that was: it was in June 2023.
For those of you not familiar with how this works, a PhD involves doing research into a particular topic and then writing up what you’ve done in a thesis. The thesis is a substantial piece of work, often in the region of 100,000 words (200 pages or so), which is then assessed by two examiners (one internal to the university at which the research was done, and one external). They read copies of the thesis and write preliminary reports on it. Then the candidate has to defend it in an oral examination, which was what happened yesterday, after which they make a recommendation to the university about whether the degree should be awarded.
There aren’t many rules for how a viva voce examination should be conducted or how long it should last, but the can be as short as, say, 90 minutes and can be as long as 5 hours or more. The examiners usually ask a mixture of questions, some about the details of the work presented and some about the general background. Sometimes, especially in Mathematics, the candidate might be asked to use the chalkboard to explain something, as was the case yesterday.
The unpredictable content of a viva voce examination makes it very difficult to prepare for, and it can be difficult and stressful for the candidate (as well as just tiring, as it can drag on for a long time). However, call me old-fashioned but I think if you’re going to get to call youself Doctor of Philosophy you should expect to have to work for it.
I found it interesting when I first arrived here that viva voce examinations at Maynooth follow a similar practice to those at my previous institution, Cardiff University my previous institution, in that each viva has a Chair as well as the usual internal and external examiners. The Chair is really only present to ensure fair play, that proper procedure is followed, and that all the paperwork is done in timely fashion. The Chair is rarely (if ever) called upon to intervene in the viva itself, though I have on some previous occasions done so, mainly to ask if the candidate and/or examiners would like to take a comfort break. Other than that it’s just a matter of sitting quietly and getting on with something else while the viva proceeds.
I have done quite a lot of examinations as internal or external examiner over the years and most institutions don’t have a Chair – only the two examiners and the candidate are present. Cardiff University is an exception: I chaired a quite a few vivas when I was there. The difference there was that the Chair was from the same School (Physics & Astronomy) as the candidate, whereas in Maynooth the Chair must be from a different Department (which is why I was asked to Chair examinations in Biology and, more recently, Mathematics).
I think having an independent Chair is a good idea, but I do understand that it involves finding a person willing to do it which, it seems, sometimes slows down the organization of a viva, as the process does not start until a Chair is appointed.
Anyway, in this case it all went well. The candidate passed, the forms were filled in and sent to the relevant people. Now there are just minor corrections to be done, everything approved at the relevant Faculty meeting, and then the PhD degree can be conferred.
In the Dark 