How to Pass Your PhD Defence

…And Maybe Even Enjoy the Experience!

My published doctoral dissertation along with some of the cards I received whilst studying for my PhD and for my defence. Image: author’s own.

It is now just over a year since I defended my PhD thesis in Human Geography at the University of Eastern Finland.

It was a misty and murky November morning, Friday the 13th November to be precise, when I arrived on campus to defend my doctoral dissertation in front of both an in-person and an online audience.

I was carrying a heavy bag, full of hard copies of my thesis monograph to hand out to those attending, including dedicated and signed copies for colleagues who had been co-authors for articles I had written alongside my monograph.

This was finally it. The day that would officially and ceremoniously mark the end of almost five years of study, research, and writing.

Most doctoral candidates have to have to have a ‘defence’ of some sort in order to finally gain their doctorate. But the form this takes varies by country. In the UK, for example, the doctoral candidate has a viva voce — a private oral examination of the work by two external experts behind closed doors.

In Finland, where I earned my doctorate, PhD candidates have to go through a public defence of their work where they are questioned by an ‘opponent’ from the same field of study in front of an audience.