Tips for Defending Your Thesis

By
Dr. Mani Maran Ratnam

Before the viva:

1. Read through your thesis once again and make sure that you understand what you
have written.
2. Read through the papers listed in your references so that you understand the
significance of your work in relation to other researchers work.
3. Read through the relevant theories related to your thesis.
4. If you spot errors in your thesis, prepare an error list and the replacement pages. Give
it to the panel before the viva starts. Apologize for the errors and dont wait for the
examiners to point out the errors.
5. Write down the questions the examiners are likely to ask in each chapter of your
thesis. Prepare the answers to these questions. Be prepared for more difficult
questions like What is the significance of your findings?, How did you do your
literature search? etc.
6. Prepares slides for your presentation. Remember, you have to present your two or
three years work in 15 to 20 minutes! Therefore, prepare well so that the examination
panel can understand what your problem is, how you solved it and what you have
achieved. Do not explain the theories in your presentation. The examination panel do
not want to listen to a lecture! Make sure your slides consist of at least: Title page,
Objective of research, Past work (literature review), Experimental and analysis
procedure, Discussion of results, Conclusion and Further work. Include a list of
publications, if you have published any part of the work. Use large font size (at least
24) and do not put too much text on each slide. Choose good contrast colors so that
the texts stand out sharply from the background. Do not use fancy background
graphics or annoying animations. Use plain background if possible. Use more pictures
and diagrams to make your presentation interesting. Do not read from the slides!
Prepare about 20 to 25 slides for a 20-minute presentation.
7. Burn your slides on a CD and bring it along, just in case your pen drive or hard disk
fails!
8. Remember to bring your copy of the thesis!!

During the viva:

1. Come at least 30 minutes early and prepare your presentation. Test the computer and
projector so that everything works fine. Dress properly. Remember, viva is a formal
event.
2. Be relaxed when you start your presentation. Remember that you know more about
your work that the examiners or the panel members. But, the examiners may know
more about the technical issues related to your field of research.
3. Understand the question fully before answering. Take your time to answer the
questions and restrict your answer to the question. Be frank. If you are not sure of
something, dont defend it very strongly. This will only encourage the examiners to
dig further to test your knowledge.
Good luck!