Course selection
PhD viva examinations: best practice
Audience: Academic staff, Research supervisors
Date: Thursday 21 November 2024
Times: 09.30 to 12.00
Programme: Academic Staff Development Programme
Key details: A workshop for academic staff new to the process of leading a viva. Discuss the challenges and how to deal with them with experienced colleagues.
Target audience
Academic staff from all disciplines who are new to examining vivas.
Course mapped to
Vitae's Researcher Development Framework domain: C1 (Professional conduct)
Course information
The PhD viva is a core part of the examination of PhD students and yet there is very little written about, and training given, in how to effectively examine PhD students. For many examiners the only training will have been their own viva and learning from peers on the job. This workshop aims to support academics in becoming more effective examiners by exploring issues such as:
- The University of St Andrews processes and expectations for viva examination.
- What is regarded as best practice in terms of conducting a PhD viva.
- How to effectively structure the viva to ensure that the process is rigorous and fair.
- How to deal with difficult situations within the viva including challenging candidates, difficult examiners, and difficult outcomes.
The workshop will be facilitated so that participants have an opportunity to discuss their own approaches and experiences of the viva process, share best practice, and discuss the issues that they find more difficult within the viva process. The workshop will be led by an experienced facilitator who has previously worked as an academic and has examined a number of PhDs.
What participants have said about a previous version of this course:
- The event is extremely useful for new PhD supervisors and the chairs covered everything in a competent fashion. For experienced supervisors it is always nice to confirm that we are doing the right thing and always good to get any updates on the matter.
- The interactive discussion helped to ensure all our questions were asked and answered. The guided discussion on the topic followed an excellent structure and was extremely well delivered.
- All the information was very helpful, and I put it to use right away as I was acting as an internal examiner/convener on the following week. It was very helpful indeed.
Aims and objectives
By the end of this workshop you should understand:
- The University of St Andrews processes and expectations for viva examination.
- What is regarded as best practice in terms of conducting a PhD viva.
- How to effectively structure the viva to ensure that the process is rigorous and fair.
- How to deal with difficult situations within the viva including challenging candidates, difficult examiners, and difficult outcomes.
Tutors
Dr Robin Henderson
Dr Charles Warren