Comments | bailiff: The Viva Voce.

bailiff

The Viva Voce.

Sep 20, 2005 19:25

I finally had my Viva Voce on Tuesday 13/9, the last official procedure for earning a PhD. Details differ from place to place, consisting of a tough oral exam in some, and a pleasant half-hour presentation (as in my case) in others.

The session included a Powerpoint slide-show, and an overview of my research. I'd already experienced a "practice ( Read more... )

Comments 6

victorfox September 20 2005, 13:00:08 UTC

Congratulations! And I thought it was the name of a story you'd completed.

What is the proper mode of address now? "Doctor", I suppose? (You may call me Master.)

bailiff September 23 2005, 11:38:55 UTC

Thank you, thank you! :) Officially, yes, it's "Doctor", but I read once that non-MDs aren't supposed to use the title outside of an academic context (i.e. outside of a conference, or off-campus), because doing so misleads others into thinking they're *medical* doctors. This is old-fashioned etiquette, though, and nobody pays attention any more. :)

>(You may call me Master.)

Sure, but only if you address me by my Sith name: Darth Lecherous!

Beware the Sweaty Side of the Force...

shockwave77598 September 20 2005, 14:51:56 UTC

Congrats! That's pretty cool.

But I wonder if the gentlemen were deliberately trying to rattle you. Part of the procedure or something.

bailiff September 23 2005, 11:39:11 UTC

Thank you! :)

Yes, that possibility occurred to me, but it pissed me off as much as a simple lack of manners. :/

kylet September 21 2005, 13:52:20 UTC

Hey, congrats! Must be quite a load off yer shoulders. Ya celebrate? ;-)

bailiff September 23 2005, 11:39:31 UTC

Me, celibate? Why do you ask? ;)

The Viva Voce was little more than a formality, really (though I know some institutions place *great* emphasis on it). The central component was the thesis, which I submitted last year on 25 November. (My examiners were a trifle slow evaluating it, and the Viva could've been scheduled earlier than this.)

All celebrating was done *last* year. :) I also had a mild case of food poisoning, which started the Saturday *before* the Viva Voce, and lasted about a week... Luckily it was mild enough to ignore, and didn't affect me! (The Chinese Mooncake Festival was on 18 September, the night of the full moon, and I'd been stuffing myself with mooncakes for a fortnight before the Viva - one of them probably disagreed with me. :)