3. Thesis examination

The purpose of an oral examination is to:

• Provide you with a developmental learning opportunity
• Authenticate the contribution you have made to the thesis
• Establish that you fully understand the work and its wider implications
• Provide you with an opportunity to reply to criticism or challenge
• Enable you and your examiners to clarify issues, corrections and revisions

The following people will attend your oral exam:

• Chair of Examiners
• Thesis examiners (either in person or via video call).

Your advisory team will not attend.

You will be required to do an oral exam if you:

• commenced after 1 January 2017 and have included publications as part of your thesis
• commenced after 1 January 2018, or transferred your HDR program after 1 January 2018
• received a Career Development Scholarship Extension, or
• volunteered to do one (students who commenced before 1 January 2018). You can indicate your interest on your Nomination of Examiners request.

Some disciplines and HDR programs (for example, joint PhDs or collaborative programs) also require candidates to undergo an oral examination.

For more information about oral examinations, see the Higher Degree by Research Examination Policy, or read the information below.

Before the oral exam

Understand the viva process, the roles of each panel member and their expectations. Be familiar with your thesis – allow enough time to re-read it in its entirety. You will be surprised at how many detailed you forget between submission and oral examination!

You should also use the examiner’s reports to prepare answers to issues that have been flagged. Prepare a list of questions you have for the examiners based on their reports.

Organise a ‘mock oral examination’ presentation with HDR peers and/or your advisory team to practice your delivery. Video record your presentation and watch it to identify opportunities for improvement.

During the oral exam

An oral exam should be a productive and professional ‘meeting of the minds’ and we hope you’ll find it a positive experience.

The panel will want to be supportive and helpful, while offering advice and points of improvement.

Some of the best preparation you can do is minimise your stress levels – try to relax, prepare thoroughly, and take the process in your stride.

First 10 to 20 minutes

You will deliver a brief presentation of your thesis, including:

• the rationale for the research,
• key findings,
• contributions and
• significance of your work.

Your presentation is about the content (what you say) as well as the delivery (how you say it). Think carefully about what you want to say and how you want to say it – while many students use PowerPoint slides (or similar) there is no mandatory requirement to use visuals.

Remember to dress professionally, make eye contact and maintain a positive composure. Speak clearly and confidently and present your content in a logical sequence.

In your summary, and throughout the oral exam, you should aim to demonstrate your knowledge and explain your processes. It’s important to be realistic about what you have done, and be clear about your contributions and results.

This isn’t the time to apologise or to be too self-critical. It’s an opportunity to acknowledge that your work has limitations and to talk about what these might mean.

We encourage you to provide some personal insights into your understanding of your work and its significance. Feel free to refer to the content of your thesis when you give your summary. This personal summary will help to answer some of your examiners’ questions upfront and give them some ideas of additional questions to ask.

Remainder of examination

A typical oral exam can go for up to 3 hours, so make sure you’re prepared for a stimulating and constructive intellectual exchange.

The panel will not expect perfect answers to questions and will be considerate of your situation. Take your time when answering questions, clarify ambiguous questions or ask for them to be repeated, and request a short break if you need it.

You’re allowed to respectfully disagree with your examiners. The panel will be impressed by thoughtful academic argument more than agreeableness.

While you’re in the room, it’s important to pay attention to what your examiners are saying and try to get the right level of detail in your answers. Try to give thoughtful and specific answers, while demonstrating your knowledge and explaining your thinking. Treat it like a dialogue. If you can do this, both you and your examiners are likely to be relaxed throughout the entire process.

As long as you are familiar with the work in your thesis, can explain it, and can answer questions reasonably well, then there is no reason to be anxious.

At the end of the session the Chair of Examiners will ask you to leave the meeting so that the panel can deliberate on the outcome. You will then be invited back into the meeting and the Chair will provide a verbal summary of the outcome and feedback in the next steps.

After the oral exam

Your Chair of Examiners will submit a written report summarising the oral exam panel feedback to the Dean of the Graduate School, who will decide what your examination outcome is.

In making a decision, the Dean will consider both your thesis examiners’ reports and the report from the Chair of Examiners.

The Graduate School will send you an email with your examination outcome and the report of the oral exam panel.