Defend, But Don't Get Defensive

Scott and Anuja share their PhD viva (or defence) experiences and how they went about selecting their examiners along with their supervisors. They offer practical advice for preparing for and undertaking a viva and how this might be different for the PhD by alternative format. Finally, they discuss some of the opportunities that the alternative format might offer after the PhD journey.

For this episode, Anuja and Scott are joined by Professor Maria Piacentini and Professor Emerita Margaret Hogg of Lancaster University, UK, and Professor Finola Kerrigan of Birmingham University, UK. The Professors share their experiences as supervisors and examiners of alternative format PhDs. They discuss how a supervisor-supervisee relationship might look different for this format, who is best suited to this format, and what are the benefits and difficulties associated with this type of PhD. Finally, they also critically muse about the interrelationship between the PhD by alternative format and the transformation of the neoliberal academic system.

In this episode, Scott and Anuja discuss the format and writing process of the alternative format thesis. They talk about the advantages and challenges of writing journal style articles as well as what goes into the ‘wrap around’ document. They discuss the process of ‘writing with’ their supervisors and offer advice on balancing writing papers alongside revising papers. Anuja and Scott also bust some common myths associated with the PhD by alternative format.

Anuja and Scott introduce the PhD by alternative format and discuss how and why they made the decision to do their PhDs this way. They talk about the role of the supervisors as well as mentors in making this decision. They share our thoughts on the advantages as well as challenges of this alternative format. Finally, They speculate as to who might be suited to this type of PhD and what that might mean for their academic careers.