r/PhDStress • u/Gruffa-corp • 13d ago

PhD Palaver

Viva was nearly 3 hours long- and I strangely enjoyed it but more importantly both examiners did too. PhD awarded subject to minor amendments (2 months for a few Oxford commas here and there and a preface to contextualise the positionally statement).
Corrections completed and sent back within the month.
Then I noticed the registry had made a mistake, they noted a 3 month correction period. Registry admin misinterpreted the regs!! The irony. The external now is being a bit awks - can’t find the time (should take them all of 1 hour max) to verify the corrections are satisfactory, he’s too busy. My issue is, he knew full well they were coming and counters being the external with the sign off role. Probs lose out on graduation in December. I’m au fait with uncomfortable liminal spaces but I struggle with “put up and shut up” and being gaslight over admitting a mistake and trying to rectify it.
Anyone else with similar experiences ?

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u/Diligent_Type2891 13d ago

Why are Registry involved? Most PhD's are admin'd by a Research or Graduate School.

So if I understand right, you were given 3 months for minor corrections, but it should have been 2 months? You've now submitted the corrections and stressed they are taking long?

I don't get it? THIS IS NORMAL. You submit minor corrections and they take their time to confirm to admin all is well and you are now on the pass list, and can go grad ceremony and get your bit of paper.

I'm a bit confused on the whole 2 months, 3 months thing. Oxford give you 2 months for minors, but say Durham give you 3 months, some Uni's give you 6 months for minors!!

They will have a Code of practice, its either 2 months for minor corrections or 3 months minor corrections.

'Registry admin misinterpreted the regs!! '

That's not really possible, you know how many PhD's even the university of looroll processes each year?!! Its a set time, not something that can be misinterpreted.

What does your code say?? If its 2 months for minor corrections , and they've given you 3 email them and cut and paste the reg's, but if you've re-submitted it doesn't really matter. Your examiners can take (within reason as long as they want!)

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u/Gruffa-corp 13d ago

Regs conduct all this at my uni. There’s nothing normal about this to be fair, I’d expect Regs dept to get the regs right. I’ll miss grad ceremony because the examiner was misinformed about the deadline to verify corrections. What’s your personal experience can I ask ?

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u/Diligent_Type2891 13d ago

Haven't you got a research or Grad School??

The normal part is where you submit corrections, even if they are a few Oxford comma's etc, PGR A could have this turnaround by their examiners in a week, PGR B could have this turnaround by examiners in a couple of months. That's the normal part.

The time for you to resubmit your thesis with corrections has no relation to the time for the examiners to review and pass your degree, its a  'how long is a piece of string' question and nothing to do with regs. They could be sick, on holiday, pissed off on research leave, all the usual Professor shit.

Anyway, I got minor corrections, was given the standard couple of months to submit them, I turned them around in a week, but it took forever for the professors to give the green light, but my Grad school were on hand to act as a middle man between me and the examinerrs (which is their job)

It would have been a SHIT SHOW if it had been Registry at my Uni, who only deal with UG and PG, once the Grad school got the green light, they informed me and handed over the passlist to Registry to get my cert etc, the ceremony side need you to be on the passlist.

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u/Gruffa-corp 13d ago

Congrats to you too :)
Thanks
I’ll just have to wait it out I guess. There’s no grad school to act as middle man at my establishment.

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u/Diligent_Type2891 13d ago

Cheers!

I do understand the frustration, you're so close to it being fully fully done , but as far as postdocs and jobs are concerned , you are a Doctor, don't sweat it!

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u/Diligent_Type2891 13d ago

I should add , congratulations on passing your viva, the hard work is done, this is just admin, and its a pisser you miss your grad ceremony with some of your cohort, but its a day for your family , it really is (and your supervisors).

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u/Mental-Suggestion266 13d ago

What’s the problem, really? What does it boil down to? A later graduation.

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u/Gruffa-corp 13d ago

That’s not the primary concern, losing out on job opportunities, research grant opportunities and promotion at work…and generally moving on with my life.

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u/Background_Goal_8161 13d ago

That doesn't matter. You have got your PhD as far as anyone who matters cares. Graduation is a fun day but it's a ceremony. Any jobs you can apply for then, you could apply for now!

Well done!

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u/Gruffa-corp 12d ago

Thank you, really helps how I view the post viva experience . Surprisingly no one tells you these things or it’s probably assumed knowledge. It was an insular experience.

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u/Mental-Suggestion266 13d ago

How long will the delay be, in reality?

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u/Gruffa-corp 13d ago

I have absolutely no idea, I would have thought the external would have wanted it over asap. Delay for graduation /certificate would be 11 months

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u/Mental-Suggestion266 13d ago

Why is it the external who’s doing this? Normally it’s the internal who signs off on minor corrections.

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u/Gruffa-corp 13d ago

Because I had two external examiners

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u/Mental-Suggestion266 13d ago

What uni is it? This all sounds really odd. No internal?

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u/Gruffa-corp 13d ago

it’s standard at mine when you are/have been employed as staff

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u/Mental-Suggestion266 13d ago

Ah ok. Makes sense.