PhD viva preparation
Practice with the questions your examiners are likely to ask.
Yes, we help you prepare for your PhD viva-voce and the pre-submission presentation, with slide review and mock vivas on video call.
By viva time you have lived with your thesis for years, and that itself is the difficulty. Some step is clear to you because you did it, but a new reader gets stuck there and you will not notice it. The external examiner reads it fresh and goes to those weak places first. Why this sample, why this test, what does the result mean in practice, and what would you do another way now?
In a mock viva these same questions come to you some weeks before, and you have to answer them by speaking, so there is still time to go back and think properly. We read your thesis and slides, list the questions an examiner is likely to ask, and then question you on video like a viva board. You answer in your own words. After every mock session we tell you which answers came out clear and which ones went round and round without reaching the point.
Who this suits
- Your pre-submission presentation is near, and you have made 80 slides for a 20-minute slot.
- Both examiner reports have come, the viva date is fixed, and one report has a point you are not sure how to answer.
- Your viva is online and you have never presented to an external examiner on video call.
- With your results you are quite comfortable, but the moment somebody asks about the method or the statistics you go blank.
What you get
- Slide review
We mark what can be removed, which tables will look better as a figure, and how many slides fit your time. In most open presentations one slide for one minute is about right, three is too many.
- A question list from your own thesis
The questions come from your chapters only. Mostly we start from the research gap and objectives, then method and results, and last the limitations and what is new in your work. We don’t download some common list from internet and forward it.
- Mock viva sessions on video
Each session runs 45 to 60 minutes and we act as the viva board. If your answer is going too long we will stop you in between, same like some examiners do. Many times we keep asking “why?” after your answer also, till you reach the real reason. You can record the sessions.
- Feedback after each session
After every mock session we send short written feedbacks. They say which answers were clear, which were too long, and which still need preparation. We also mention the thesis pages to read again.
- Help with examiner report points
If the examiners raised queries in their reports, we take each one with you and plan an answer you can say with confidence on the day.
- An online viva check
For an online viva we test your camera, light, sound and screen-sharing on the same platform your university will use. We also fix a backup plan with you, in case the connection drops in middle of the viva.
How the work runs
Send the thesis and the date
Send us the thesis, or the synopsis if it is for the pre-submission presentation. Slides we also want to see if you have made them already, and the examiner reports if they came, and the viva date. Also tell us your presentation time and who will be in the room.
We read and build the question list
We go through your thesis like an outside examiner and send the question list chapter by chapter, with the hardest questions marked so you can start with those.
Slides first
First we review the slides and you revise them. After that you present them to us out loud, same as you will do on the day. When the presentation goes clearly, the questions that follow mostly start in a better mood.
Mock sessions
We do two or three mock viva sessions with a few days gap between them. In that gap you work on the weak answers. The last session is a full run in real time, presentation plus questions, like the actual viva.
Ask about phd viva preparation
Only four fields to fill. We will call or WhatsApp you back by the next working day, and many times earlier than that. First talk with us is free, you don’t pay anything for it.
How long it takes
| Work | Typical time | Depends on |
|---|---|---|
| Reading your thesis and making the question list | 4 to 6 working days | Length of the thesis and the subject |
| Slide review, with one round of revision | 2 to 3 working days | How many slides there are and how far over the time limit they go |
| One mock viva session | 45 to 60 minutes, and the written note within a day | The time you are free |
| Full preparation (question list, slides and three mocks) | 2 to 3 weeks | How much time you can give between the sessions |
If possible, start three or four weeks before your viva date. Even one week is useful, but then there is time for only one or two sessions.
What it costs
The fee depends on how much reading we have to do and how many sessions you take. A full thesis reading with three mock vivas will cost more than a slide review with one session before the pre-submission meeting. Whatever you decide to take, we write it down in the scope before starting, with number of sessions and the fee in it.
The quote depends on
- How long the thesis is and how technical
- How many mock sessions you want
- Whether you want the slides reviewed
- Any examiner report points that need an answer
- How near the viva date is
Who you’d be working with
Thesis Writing Service is run by Saaira Technologies from Nagercoil, Tamil Nadu. We work with scholars by phone, WhatsApp, email and video, so you never need to travel. The figures are the company’s own.
- years of research support
- 10+
- scholars helped
- 1,500+
- subject areas
- 12+
- countries
- 25+
Questions scholars ask
How does a PhD viva work in India?
As per the UGC regulations of 2022, your thesis is sent to at least two external examiners. The viva happens only when both of them recommend it. The board has your supervisor and one or more of these external examiners. Members of your Research Advisory Committee, faculty and other scholars may attend, and the viva can be online. On top of this each university has some rules of its own, so please read your university ordinance once.
What is the pre-submission presentation?
As per the 2022 regulations, before submitting the thesis you have to give a presentation of your work in front of the Research Advisory Committee. Any faculty member or research student can attend this session. Every university does it in its own way. At Bangalore University it is a colloquium held in the department. There you explain your method, your data and how you analysed it. VTU allows up to three attempts for its colloquium. If a scholar fails the third time, the registration gets cancelled.
What do examiners ask most?
In almost every viva the examiners ask what gap your work fills, and why you chose this method and this sample. Then they want your main finding in one sentence. Its limitations come next, and also what you plan to do after this. Practise these five out loud till each answer takes less than two minutes.
How many slides should I have?
That depends on your time. Roughly, keep one minute for one slide, and show the method and results as figures where you can. For example, IIT Madras gives around 20 minutes for its thesis-submission meeting, so 18 to 22 slides will be fine there.
Should I memorise my answers?
Better not to. Examiners can hear it when you are repeating a by-heart answer. And if they change the wording of the question a little, the memorised answer just falls apart. Keep the points clear in your mind and practise saying them differently. In the mock sessions we ask one question three ways till your answer stays steady.
What if I don’t know an answer?
In most vivas there comes one or two such questions for which you have no idea. Tell the examiner honestly that you are not sure, and then say how you will find the answer. For example you can say “I didn’t test that, but I would expect…, and I would check it by…”. Examiners mostly accept this. Making up some answer on the spot is the worst thing, they catch it very fast.
Can I practise in Tamil or Malayalam first?
For most theses the viva is in English, so the practice also should be in English. But with some concept you may be struggling to explain even after reading many times. For that one, first try telling it to yourself in Tamil or Malayalam, or whatever language you think in, till it makes sense. After that say it in English aloud, again and again.
Is there anything I can use on my own?
Yes, we have free viva tools. One lets you practise with common viva questions, and the other predicts likely questions from your abstract. Use them as a warm-up before a mock viva session.
Stuck on a chapter? Talk it through with us.
Call or WhatsApp, say where you are in your thesis, and we’ll tell you plainly what kind of help makes sense, if any.