The workshop will be interactive and will include: demystifying the viva by dealing with common questions and myths; an explanation of the processes involved and rationale for beginning personal preparation as early as possible during doctoral registration;  a review of the criteria used by examiners; opportunities to consider question areas about the thesis and commonly used questions in the viva; practice in responding to questions with feedback to improve performance; advice on how to continue preparation and deal with the practicalities of the viva day.

A key objective of this session is to raise the confidence and skills of researchers by providing them with key knowledge and experience of the procedures and activities involved in doctoral assessment.

Doctoral researchers at any stage, but particularly those early in their studies, are warmly welcomed to this session. The structure of the day will be as follows:

Facilitators 

Professor Pam Denicolo, having supervised and examined an extraordinary number of doctorates and taught research methods for over 30 years, is a prolific author on topics related to doctoral education and research methods. She established and ran a Graduate School, has acted as a consultant to universities on the development of doctoral education and training and continues to provide workshops for researchers, supervisors, and examiners nation and worldwide.

Dr Julie Reeves, a Researcher Developer since 2002, is currently based at the University of Southampton where she works with research staff. She was the Capacity Development Co-Investigator for BRECcIA-GCRF , has established ReMNet for international research management networking, and co-ordinates the South East Researcher Developers (SERD) network.    

Pam and Julie are co-convenors of SRHE Postgraduate Issues Network (PIN), were substantial contributors to Vitae’s Researcher Development Framework (RDF), and co-edit and contribute to the Sage Success in Research series.