Defending my thesis!

[clawsbeatskin]

I'm finally defending my thesis Tuesday. Help me procrastinate by giving me your best advice! I am particularly nervous about the defense part...I've heard some professors ask some pretty obscure and random questions, like, diagram the lifecycle of a fern! I haven't studied that in 10 years!

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[Normed]

what is your thesis on? and how can they ask you questions that are unrelated to your thesis topic?

 

[kate_g]

A colleague of mine told me this story. When she was in grad school, another friend of hers went to give her defense. She knew her stuff inside and out, but was *really* nervous about doing the actual defense. Totally freaking out, not good at speaking in public, convinced she'll throw up in the middle of her talk. Mind you, this was in the days of slide carousels and paper notes. So she walks into the meeting room with this arm-load of stuff. And trips over the power cord to the slide projector. Note cards, references, an hour's worth of slides... everywhere.

She stood up, took a breath, and delivered a flawless off-the-cuff chalk talk on her research and was otherwise generally brilliant about her defense. She was so shaken up by falling and losing all her stuff that she basically forgot to be nervous about giving the talk and just poured out everything she knew on her subject.

Not that I'm advocating engineering a disaster to befall you immediately before your defense, but... You know you know your stuff. Better than anyone else in the room. They'll ask oddball questions to trip you up, but if you recognize those questions for what they are and deal with them as a test of your composure rather than a test of your knowledge, you'll be fine!

 

[philomycus]

It's the HARDEST THING you can ever do. I wasn't as nearly nervous during my vet school interview as I was during my orals.

My profs' philosphosy was to make sure that I knew that they were 100x smarter than me. They beat me down to see if I could handle it. The stress was intense and was given on purpose. The more questions I answered to their satisfaction, the more obsure question's I'd get to "keep me in line".

I feel for ya buddy. Stay confident and it's okay to say "I don't know."

 

[clawsbeatskin]

Great stories. My thesis is actually in parasitology, but my advisor's convinced that since my actual degree will be in biology, I should be able to recite a freshman biology text at the very least. I had to go searching for my text!

I've heard stories similar to yours, philomycus, and I'm expecting that they will be harsh regardless of whether or not I can answer their questions.

Thanks, guys, this is helping...

 

[philomycus]

Ohhhh, parasitology.....you know the way to my heart!!! You will do fine. You can't predict too much what they are going to ask, and they sure aren't going to reject you if you don't know sori in a fern....relax, go in confident and be yourself. Only you knows you research best, so go in confident knowing THAT !

I wish you all the best.

ps- I cried my eyes out for a day or two after mine b/c I felt so lowly. And I'm better for it. That which does not kill us does make us stronger.

 

[Normed]

My thesis was on parisitology as well.

One thing I was told, however, is never to say "I don't know". Know all aspects of your research and why you're doing it. Know the results and how you could better them or what aspects need to be improved. I can't imagine them asking obscure questions on plants, for example, but things like the general life cycle of a parasite, types of parasites, and the different types of hosts could represent early biology knowledge.

If you're that nervous, bring it up with your thesis advisor. He/she'll know more about what you can expect in terms of questions, and present your thesis to them beforehand for any suggestions.

Oh, and good luck. Thesis defense SUCKS, but it's something that you are so proud of once it's overwith!

 

[dyross]

What type of reasoning did you use in your research? Inductive or deductive??
(I was asked that at my thesis defense and it caught me off guard)

 

[Normed]

haha sorry.. just another thing!

the point of defense is for the professors of your department to make you feel like ac omplete ***** who has just wasted the past 8 plus months working on a project which inevitably proved nothing, since, of course, they are the greatest. hahaha Don't say you don't know.. try to think of questions that could be raised during your presentation and think of some slightly intelligent explanations.

 

[sundoggie]

I just defended my dissertation in May, and I was more nervous than I have ever been in my life! But, it went fine and they only asked questions relative to my research...ie, what do you think would be the next step after this experiment. I know you will be nervous, but you don't need to be a walking textbook. If people could be walking textbooks, then we wouldnt need literature. You are only human and you are there to defend your research, not your intelligence or your personal worth or your encyclopedic memory. No one knows everything, and it's perfectly acceptable not to know the answer. Often professors will simply push until you can't answer the question anymore...just to see how far you can go. So, don't let them intimidate you. It's a stupid game and it's a sign of their own insecurities. If they think it is something you should have known, then you can study up on it afterwards. Good luck and remember...no matter how badly it goes, you will be soooo happy when it's DONE!!!

 

[clawsbeatskin]

Thanks for the encouragement, everyone! Well, it's in 24 hours...I really liked what you said sundoggie, it is unrealistic to expect that I should be a walking encyclopedia. Strange enough, I am feeling less and less nervous about the whole thing as it approaches.

I'll be sure and let you guys know the outcome!

 

[nyanko]

Oh man good luck! I'm defending my undergraduate honors thesis on Thursday on polyamine transport in Drosophila. FINALLY though, the writing part was the worst - my adviser has been really demanding and I left his office crying at least twice in the process! I guess that'll help me for the defense though...I hope....

 

[clawsbeatskin]

Well, I passed!

Thanks for the encouragement everyone! The oral exam actually wasn't that difficult...two of my committee members apent about an hour of it arguing with each other! I'm just glad it's over...

Good luck nyanko! You'll do great!

 

[philomycus]

Congrats Claws !!!

 

[nyanko]

Good luck nyanko! You'll do great!

I'm glad yours went well!

Mine was brutal, actually. One of my committee members kept asking impossible questions that modern science hasn't even yet answered and actually lectured my chair about trying to answer those for me. My presentation was about 35-40 minutes long on its own - I opted to have them ask questions as I went and it ended up being TWO AND A HALF hours long!

I passed though, so yay.

 

[sundoggie]

Congratulations guys! Good job!!!

Doesn't it feel great to be done?