13 months later
A diverting piece in the Indy today about how UK PhD candidates would benefit from more public examinations, to bring openness and, more importantly, a sense of occasion, to the end of an arduous process.
Indeed, the end of a PhD here is a long drawn out affair. The first moment of triumph, and sense of completion, is at the submission of a thesis; after many months of writing, this large document is finally printed and handed over to the authorities. Most candidates then return to their jobs, no longer burdened with writing up at evenings and weekends, or start new employment, rapidly forgetting the trials of the PhD. Months later, after a stressful buildup (during which the candidate frets that they have forgotten what they wrote about, or that they will not be able to answer the questions of their examiner) comes the day of the viva. This is pretty much exclusively either anticlimatic or a nightmare. But afterwards, assuming the student has passed (which most do), life returns instantly to normal, pausing only for some archaic graduation ceremony months later again.
The article also contains the interesting phrase "a good wine needing no bush", which was new to me and Amyas today. Our PhDs were not broad enough to cover such material, alas.
It is almost exactly 13 months since we graduated.
Indeed, the end of a PhD here is a long drawn out affair. The first moment of triumph, and sense of completion, is at the submission of a thesis; after many months of writing, this large document is finally printed and handed over to the authorities. Most candidates then return to their jobs, no longer burdened with writing up at evenings and weekends, or start new employment, rapidly forgetting the trials of the PhD. Months later, after a stressful buildup (during which the candidate frets that they have forgotten what they wrote about, or that they will not be able to answer the questions of their examiner) comes the day of the viva. This is pretty much exclusively either anticlimatic or a nightmare. But afterwards, assuming the student has passed (which most do), life returns instantly to normal, pausing only for some archaic graduation ceremony months later again.
The article also contains the interesting phrase "a good wine needing no bush", which was new to me and Amyas today. Our PhDs were not broad enough to cover such material, alas.
It is almost exactly 13 months since we graduated.