My PhD Advice, Part 7: Endgame – the Viva

The end is nigh – you’ve finished and submitted your thesis.  Now you’ve got to just get that doctorate…I must warn you all at this point.  I’m aware that the assessment system for PhDs varies greatly between countries.  Having only got one PhD, I can only relate my own experience (which of course are relevant for UK PhDs).  For example, Australian PhDs have no oral defence (although the thesis is still assessed by two examiners), and other countries’ oral defenses are extended seminars given to a larger audience.

My PhD Advice, Part 6: The Thesis

OK, so my font of wisdom is drying up now – I’ll head towards the end of this series of posts (see here for Parts one, two, three, four and five) with the penultimate event of your PhD – the thesis.

Thesis Anthology: The End

I’ve spent five posts discussing what’s in my PhD thesis (check them out under the Thesis tag).  There’s not much left to do, except wrap it all up!  As you’ve read, I have been making computer models of early solar systems – watching them evolve on their own and under the influence of binary companions.  I’ve been devising ways of improving the physics that goes into the model, as well as ways of “seeing” the model in the way telescopes might see them in real life.

And this is the end!  I’ll be submitting my thesis this week, and taking some time off from blogging.   Thanks for reading, and I’ll see you in a few weeks.