Session theme: Preparing for Your Viva Voce: What to Expect and How to Prepare
What is a 'Viva Voce', you may ask?
Once you have submitted your thesis, you will be invited to defend your thesis at a 'viva voce' (Latin for 'by live voice'), an oral examination in front of at least two examiners. The thought of this examination can be a daunting prospect, but once the nerves have settled down, many people are actually able to enjoy this experience of discussing their research with genuinely interested experts. The key to a good defence lies in: having a thorough understanding of the viva process, having done targeted preparation and practice and having the confidence and skills to ‘defend’ your work and to fully engage with the examiners’ questions
We will be joined by Professor Sarah Robinson, an experienced supervisor and examiner who will help you to demystify the process, discuss these strategies with you, answer your questions and more in our latest BAM Doctoral Friday.
Vision:
The aim is to enable doctoral researchers to be confident, successful, and excited about their doctorial journey choices. This space is about being open and having innovative minds come together to learn, share, and network in a safe environment.
Mission:
We are curious minds, that strive for success and recognition. We will be confident through discussion, knowledge sharing, and celebrating success. As per the doctoral researcher’s definition.
Values:
To share information that will help inspire doctoral researchers to thrive in their doctoral journeys. Knowing what matters as a doctoral researcher is key to having a successful research journey.
Provider Information
BAM Council's Sub-Committee of BAM Academic Cereer Development (ACD)
Who Should Attend?
Doctoral Students
The event speaks to Sections A1 and A2 as detailed in the BAM Framework
Guest Speaker
Prof Sarah Robinson
Sarah Robinson is a Co- Vice chair for the British Academy of Management with a responsibility for Academic Career Development (ACD). She is also leading on the academic wellbeing initiative, which is one of BAM’s current strategic priorities, and will be designing and facilitating this webinar series.
Sarah is currently Professor in People and Organisations at IÉSEG School of Management (Paris). She has research interests in professional careers, professional learning and development and has conducted several projects on academic careers including studies of: early career academics; academic wellbeing; academic doubt and failure; and doing academic careers differently.
Chaired by
Olamide Falehin
Olamide Falehin is a doctoral researcher and associate lecturer at the University of the West of Scotland (UWS). Her PhD explores trust in entrepreneurship and the experiences of African minority entrepreneurs in the West Midlands. She represents postgraduate researchers on the UWS PGR Doctoral College Board and with the British Academy of Management (BAM), and her work has been recognised with awards, including the Best Development Paper and Best Reviewer Awards at the BAM conference. Beyond academia, she supports SMEs in building sustainable businesses.
Benefits of attending
- Network with other doctoral students and academics all in one place
- Educational purposes (learning new skills)
- Knowledge sharing
Contact
Please contact the BAM Office at [email protected] with any queries.
Event Fee
BAM Members: Free
Non-Members: £60
If you are booking multiple paid events as a Non-Member, it may be cheaper for you to purchase a BAM Membership as nearly all BAM Events are free or at a discounted rate for Members.
For more information, please visit BAM Membership
Registration closes on 22nd October 2026 at 23:59 BST