The Defence - My Experience

On June 14th, I passed my PhD defense, too I promised to write a spider web log post service replying the enquiry "What was it similar to defend?".

Most of all, it went therefore quickly. Only during a few moments, I realized of what I was genuinely doing upwards there, too the weight of my words - most moments, I but focused on answering the questions.


I was frankly curious to meet what my commission members would enquire me.

Immediately afterward the defense, I received my diploma, which was withal about other minute to remember.

It was quite an sense to defend my function inwards front end of my friends too family, too amongst a commission of knowledgeable people. I started amongst a xx infinitesimal presentation solely for friends too family. Afterwards, the actual defence forcefulness was 1 hr sharp, too the commission members could enquire their questions - members from "far" went commencement too received most time, too the final was my promotor. In fact, I was half-way through answering my promotor's commencement enquiry when the beadle came inwards to grade the hour.

During the first enquiry I was quite nervous. It was a rather long question, too I did brand notes, but I establish it hard to address all the elements that he summed upwards inwards his enquiry (and at 1 betoken I had difficulty reading what I had scribbled downwards every bit 1 of the points that came up).

But then, afterward talking through the first 10 minutes, I felt to a greater extent than relaxed, too I realized that I genuinely create know my topic within out - too that at that topographic point are elements on which I mightiness convey a dissimilar sentiment than about of my commission members, too that they notice that perfectly fine every bit long every bit I convey a skillful argue for thinking that way.

During the defense, I spent about fourth dimension discussing the Modified Bond Model with the commencement commission member*, who uttered his serious doubts nearly it, too amongst the 4th commission member, who to a greater extent than oftentimes than non wanted me to explicate why the results for the slab strips look to endure dangerous - a enquiry that was easily tackled past times showing the divergence betwixt the pure one-way demeanour inwards the strips every bit compared to the two-way (or combined one-way too two-way) demeanour inwards the wider specimens that nosotros tested.

The other questions that came upwards during the defence forcefulness were nearly the machinery of shear transfer, too their relative importance, which I discussed amongst the 2nd commission fellow member (a to a greater extent than theoretical question), the purpose of finite chemical component calculations too their practical applications, the divergence betwixt plainly too ribbed bars (plain bars were used until the mid 1960s, too nosotros besides tested slabs reinforced amongst plainly bars to compare to undeformed bars), the suggestion nearly the cracked specimens that turned out to convey a surprisingly large ease capacity too the link betwixt the Modified Bond Model too the Hillerborg model.

After the defence forcefulness itself, the commission left for fifteen minutes, too therefore they came dorsum to give me my diploma, too for the spoken language of my promotor.

When all was said too done, nosotros had a reception, too inwards the level I hosted a dinner inwards a eating theatre inwards Delft, to celebrate the real cease of my PhD studies.

* My defence forcefulness was public, too y'all tin give the axe meet the listing of commission members inwards my dissertation, but I tin give the axe imagine that non everybody likes having their cite upwards on the internet, therefore I've decided to exactly release my commission members for this post.