Waiting

My little widget countdown (to the right) is not not quite right. It didn't allow me to input the exact time of my defense, so according to it I'll be defending my thesis at midnight Wednesday night. I'm sure my committee is a bit happier with the afternoon time slot we chose.

I don't have much to do today. Since turning in my dissertation a few weeks ago, I've kept busy by finishing up some smaller projects. I've written the talk I'm going to give, and there's only so many times you can practice before you risk turning it into a liturgical chant. I feel a bit like I should be spending the day fasting, in prayerful contemplation, to prepare myself for the ordeal ahead. But I'll probably spend the day packing instead.

For those of my readers not steeped in academia, I thought I'd provide an outline of what a defense actually is.* My committee (i.e. the six people who decide whether I pass) received my dissertation two weeks ago. In some groups, most of the committee members read give the dissertation only a cursory read, but I expect almost all of my members to have read it (and have many comments).

A block of two hours has been set aside for everything to happen. During that time, I will give a half-hour talk that is intended for both the the committee and the general public. The "general public" is made up of coworkers, family, friends, and anyone in the department who is interested, and I'm expecting about 20-30 people. Anyone can ask questions, but it's the chairperson's job (that's one of my advisors, not me) to make sure the committee gets time to ask all of their questions. There's also time set aside for the committee to talk to just me, without the audience, and time for them to talk when I'm not present.

Within the two hours, they have to decide whether I pass and what qualifications I must yet complete before I graduate. In most cases, the committee requires some amount of revisions on the dissertation itself before a student is officially done, but I've never heard of someone actually failing. In theory it can happen, but when it does it reflects badly on both the student and the advisor (who's supposed to make sure the student is ready to defend). So I expect that I will pass my defense, and the real suspense is in how many revisions they will request and how difficult I will find the question during the defense.

See you on the other side!

*As a researcher, I must of course point out the limitations of this description. It is specific to my university, and my discipline, but I think the process is similar for most science PhD's in the U.S.