AUTHOR: Ritesh Daya and Anthony Nazarov
Anthony Nazarov was a student in Dr. McKinnon's lab and recently graduated from the MiNDS program with a successful defense and fruitful PhD career. He tells us about his thesis defense: his preparation, his experience and some mighty words of advice.
Q. How did you prepare mentally for your defence? A. Get lots of rest–make sure you aren’t on an extreme caffeine streak leading up to the big day. You know your research inside out – you did it, there’s nothing to stress about regarding you knowing the facts of your methods and results. Regarding your breadth of knowledge, that’s been accumulating over the years; cramming papers right before will not suddenly make you more aware of the field. What’s critical is being able to think quickly on your feet and being creative during the question period. You can only be creative when you relax. Take a deep breath and have some fun. Q. How much time did you dedicate to your preparation? A.The deck is more or less prepared from previous presentations–ensure it’s clean and concise. The committee has seen your work countless of times. They want to get to the more creative aspect of the defence. Read all the reviews and meta-analyses you can find. Looking at what researchers write in the “Future Directions” section of their publications really facilitates the creative thinking that’s so central to having an engaging discussion during the question period. Q. How often did you visit/consult with members of your committee? A. After the thesis submission and prior to the defence, not even once. Getting feedback from peers that have gone through the process was most helpful for me. Q. Any words on how to prepare for your external committee member? A. Remember that they will be experts in your field. If you know who he or she is (I didn’t), read some/most of their papers. They will most likely try to link your thesis to their research. Q. What kind of thesis format did you choose and why? A. Sandwich! I had enough published publications to justify this format: 3 were published; another was in preparation for publication. Add on a thoughtful general introduction and discussion section, ensure the coherence of the entire document, and you’re good to go! Q. Now that it is all said and done, is there anything you would do differently, in regard to your defence preparation or thesis write up? A. Start earlier? I’m a huge procrastinator so I was cutting it very close to some administrative deadlines. Give yourself extra buffer time–something will definitely slow something down, and usually, it’s not under your control. Here are some things that may delay your timeline: - Due to other responsibilities and commitments, the committee members may not provide responses in the timeframe you expect them to (thesis write-up). - Delay in setting up a day and time when everyone is available for your defence. This is especially stressful if you are limited by other deadlines (e.g. last day to defend, work commitments). Q. What did you do immediately after your defence? A. Hugged my family and then called my grandparents–they both went through the same process back in the day so they knew exactly the kind of feelings I was experiencing! Don’t forget to go to the Phoenix afterwards for some celebratory drinks! Q. Any words of advice for students defending in the near future? A. All of the above! Eat a good hearty breakfast on the big day! Q. Which phrase best captures your thesis defence: - A spa date in Ancaster. - A walk through Gage park.. after dark. - Riding a unicycle through a minefield. - Walking blindfolded across Main Street during rush hour. - Like trying to miniput during a MiNDS BBQ |