On the 6th of March, I attended the first Postgraduate Women in Physics workshop, held in Nottingham and brilliantly organised by Lizzie Elmer, Amy Whitney, Emily Tyler, and Hannah Coleman, with support from Dr Clare Burrage. Huge thanks to them and to everyone who made it happen, and I look forwards to future conferences.
In the UK, the process of obtaining a PhD includes submitting a thesis and then passing a viva (an oral examination), where the thesis is defended. This is a private event, as opposed to many other European countries where the defence is public. In the UK, the PhD candidate spends 2-4 hours together with one internal and one external examiner discussing their work, after which they might pass with minor or major corrections (passing without…
