Is there a Dr. in the house? (PhD defense looming)

[Blane]

Hi all,

The clock is ticking down on my seemingly-interminable career as a student and i'm less than a month until my doctoral defense. Exciting but also kind of nerve-wracking. ONe of those "one-shot, don't fuck it up" events in life. I remember there are a few people on here who've gone through it before and wonder if they have any suggestions. Particularly I'm trying to figure out how to fit 4 years of work into a 20 minute presentation. Any suggestions on how best to structure it? Any other tips?

Thanks!

Edited October 5, 2009 by Guest

[Velvet]

No tips but a heap of congratulations and unneccesary wishes for good luck.

[Dr_Evil_Mouse]

It's already starting to seem like a long time since mine (2002), and I'm guessing already that the format for yours will be different - my defense consisted strictly of panel questions, for about two (or was it three?) hours, with no presentation per se. I learned more about the clash of personalities in that time than anything else; this can always be used well, to get into relevant if tangential discussions. Do you know who your externals will be? How many people are there on the panel?

As for the presentation itself, again, my own experience of boiling everything down was limited to a session of showcasing theses in a departmental open-house, but the only thing I can think of in terms of advice is to stick to the general outlines in the thesis itself, to keep it all balanced as much as possible - break it down by minutes, leave similar amounts of time for the intro and conclusion, and parse out the rest in what's left. That 20 minutes will go by like nobody's business, though - I'd be especially careful with every minute.

Do you get to use any A/V? Do you think they'll mind if you get up and walk around, and play with non-verbals a bit? Certainly, the less you're stuck to the written page, the more convincing it'll all be.

More as it comes to me - I'm still dusting the cobwebs off my memory on this .

Congratulations, btw - it's got to be thrilling for you.

[Blane]

Thanks for the informative reply. I don't know my external, nor the pro-dean really, so i'll only know part of the room. I think there are 6 or so on the panel.

I can use powerpoint, which i'll probably do just as a way of keeping myself on track and on time. will probably try to use photos to spice it up a bit.

Looking forward to getting it over with!

[Big Wooly Mammoth]

my format was also different. no formal presentation. i think that i was asked to do s a short review at the beginning. I was fortuante as I knew the external. he couldn't be there, but submitted some questions that my supervisor read out. the format at Mac, was to have the thesis commitee, an external (who was in the field) from another university. an external (from another department) from the university, and a chair, who was also from another department. It turned out that I knew the individuals from the other departments based on previous work that I had done. And my supervisor provided a list of suggested questions that I should be prepared to address. The 15 minutes or so of waiting outside of the room while they deliberated was quite nerve-racking. It was about 10 years ago. Fall 1999.

good luck. it's a great feeling to finally be done. everybody will be familar with the dissertation, so the presentation can be prety high level, I imagine. you know the work better than anybody else, so that shouldn't be too much of a problem. and I can't imagine that the presentation will make or break it for you.

what's the subject?

[Dr_Evil_Mouse]

what's the subject?

^ What he asked.

(And what about your own, BWM?)

[Big Wooly Mammoth]

PhD is in economics, or more specifically, health economics. dissertation title was "valuing health and air quality using stated preference methods."

[edger]

BWM, did you happen to work with Steve Birch?

I'm 2 and a half weeks away from my comps exams, so a little behind you folks, and therefore probably not in much of a position to be giving advice.

Blane are you doing a 'sandwich' thesis or a more basic format? The last defense I attended was the former, and my only advice if you're doing the same would be to ensure that the connection between papers is explicitly clear.

How exciting!! Best of luck!

[Guest Low Roller]

Good luck with the defense Blane!

[Big Wooly Mammoth]

BWM, did you happen to work with Steve Birch?

not directly. I did a fellowship (studentship?) at CHEPA and have worked with others there. I do know Steve, though.

what's your connection?

what are you doing your PhD in?

Edited October 7, 2009 by Guest

[phishtaper]

Thankfully, my only experience with SB is watching him complain about the state of affairs at annual CHEPA meetings.

[edger]

BWM' date=' did you happen to work with Steve Birch?

[/quote']

not directly. I did a fellowship (studentship?) at CHEPA and have worked with others there. I do know Steve, though.

what's your connection?

what are you doing your PhD in?

I actually don't really know Steve that well. I almost signed on to a project that he is involved with looking at health care equity in South Africa, but declined after finding out I was pregnant.

I work with John Eyles who has worked with Steve and other CHEPA members on a couple of projects. My PhD is in Geography. More specifically I'm interested in the role of power/knowledge within environmental health governance. Basically a focus on interactions between science/'evidence' and politics at various scales of governance. These days i'm focusing on how this all plays out within chemical management.

In the past, I have taken a few courses with Alina Gildiner who is pretty active with CHEPA as well.

Small world.

[Big Wooly Mammoth]

I work with John Eyles who has worked with Steve and other CHEPA members on a couple of projects. My PhD is in Geography. More specifically I'm interested in the role of power/knowledge within environmental health governance. Basically a focus on interactions between science/'evidence' and politics at various scales of governance. These days i'm focusing on how this all plays out within chemical management.

In the past, I have taken a few courses with Alina Gildiner who is pretty active with CHEPA as well.

Small world.

sounds interesting.

I know John from my days at Mac.

are you involved with Clean Air Hamilton at all? I was involved with its predecessor - the Hamilton Air Quality Initiative. I got funding for my thesis from that.

[phishtaper]

In the past, I have taken a few courses with Alina Gildiner who is pretty active with CHEPA as well.

Small world.

Smaller and smaller. I ran into Alina on College St last Friday before the Gordo show. She's left Mac and is now with MOHLTC at Queen's Park.

[edger]

Apologies in advance for the hi-jack Blane...

BWM I am not involved with CAH. I used to , and on a less frequent basis, still do cross paths with many of the project members through work with Environment Hamilton. I thought you might have known John given your thesis title. Maybe I'll look it up

Phishtaper, what exactly if your connection/area of study? I have often wondered this based on some of your postings. I always enjoyed my interactions with Alina. She has also helped me out by providing references in the past. It has been a while since we have chatted. I am a little embarassed to say that I was not aware of the fact that she left Mac. Not surprised about the move given her background. I never knew she was a 'gordo fan' either

[phishtaper]

edger, im abd and stalled, but ive been a member for a few years and have worked with a lot of the people there. truth be told, i didnt know that alina had moved either. i worked with her a few years ago on some policy reform stuff but i rarely see her on campus and just happened to bump into her in toronto. she lives in that area, and wasnt on her way into gordo. she was just walking by.

re: blane's request:

1) all academics like donuts, Blane. bring some to your defense. academics can be easily bribed. baked potatoes are also suitable for an afternoon session.

2) think about carving out what you think is the most interesting/informative aspect of your thesis and focus a bit on that - likely the first paper you want to get out of it. assume that everyone there has read it. its difficult to present the whole deal in 20 min without being reductionist.

3) if you anticipate specific criticism from a particular committee member or in general, delicately meld that into your initial presentation to cut them off before they begin. "A lot of people would suggest that I should have taken approach X. I decided not to in order to blah blah." this takes the wind out of their sails before they get into the water.

and 4) most importantly, have fun. your super would not have allowed you to submit if they didnt think you were ready. you have this in the bag before you even walk into the room, Blane.

[Dr_Evil_Mouse]

Ditto on no. 3, especially.

[Blane]

heady vibes welcome. Tomorrow's the day.

[Big Wooly Mammoth]

heady vibes your way. you'll kick ass!

[bouche]

{{{ super headiness in my vibes coming your way }}}

[Hartamophone]

Woot woot!

Give 'er shit, or something like that. As was mentioned above, if you weren't 100% capable and prepared, you wouldn't be in this position to begin with.

[PassedOutGuy]

give er hell Blane. Good luck brother!

((((((((headyvibesforBlane))))))))

[Blane]

well, thanks for the vibes y'all! They must have worked. WEnt really well and had lots of positive feedback from everyone. No major revisions, just some proof reading.

Time to go get pissed I suppose.

[Dr_Evil_Mouse]

Right on - kudos to ya!

[bouche]

my super heady vibes always work.

congrats.