Timeline for My PhD defense is next week and I am having negative thoughts about my work and knowledge. Any advice on how to tackle this?
Current License: CC BY-SA 4.0
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| Feb 21, 2020 at 18:32 | comment | added | einpoklum | @AndreasBlass: I don't think the two contradict. I would basically do the same, except that I would be oppositional during the exam and expect the candidate to have addressed the issue I had pre-informed him/her about. | |
| Feb 21, 2020 at 17:33 | comment | added | Andreas Blass | @einpoklum When I'm an examiner, I'll look for weaknesses in the thesis, but if I find any, I won't wait until the defense to ask questions. I'll ask the candidate or the adviser beforehand, to give an opportunity to correct the problem. Only if they can't or won't do that, or if the problem becomes visible only during the defense, would I act as a genuine opponent at the defense. | |
| Feb 21, 2020 at 17:26 | comment | added | einpoklum | @AndreasBlass: TBH I think it's fair that it should be a defense, that the opponents be opponents, and that they make an fair attempt to question the candidate's research findings if they have weak points etc. This may be less psychologically convenient for the candidate, but it is in the interest of science. | |
| Nov 19, 2019 at 15:24 | history | edited | einpoklum | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
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| Nov 18, 2019 at 23:41 | history | edited | einpoklum | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
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| Nov 18, 2019 at 22:08 | comment | added | John R. Strohm | "Most Ph.D.s in your field know less than you do about what you've been studying." This is basically the definition of a Ph.D. In the course of doing the research, the candidate is becoming the world's foremost authority on that particular topic. | |
| Nov 18, 2019 at 8:30 | history | edited | einpoklum | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
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| Nov 18, 2019 at 0:56 | comment | added | Andreas Blass | To further reduce the feeling of doom, let me point out that, even though this event is called a "defense" everywhere (as far as I know), the examiners are called "opponents" only in some places --- not, for example, in the U.S. | |
| Nov 17, 2019 at 21:40 | history | answered | einpoklum | CC BY-SA 4.0 |