Defending virtually.

The Ph.D. defense is like the final exam before one is awarded the doctoral degree. Needless to say it is one of the more anticipated events of this long journey which in my case lasted almost five years. While the thesis submission is the final milestone, I think many would agree that the defense is the main thing. Therefore, though anticipated, some anxiety is expected. There are slight differences how the defense is conducted depending on the university. At UW-Milwaukee, it has an open-to-all public session, followed by a private session where the candidate is tested by the individual members of the committee. Also, as far as what could be asked, the sky is the limit!

My defense date was on April 16, 2020, right in the middle of the coronavirus crisis. The first major academic conference that was canceled due to the spread of COVID-19 was the APS March Meeting, scheduled to happen in the first week of March. I remember this well since my roommate was supposed to leave for Denver for the meeting on a morning flight. He got the news of cancellation around 10 PM the night before. Personally, I had plans to visit my fiancee in Dallas, TX during the first weekend in March. The following week there was a face-to-face working meeting at UWM, and week after it was supposed to be the LIGO-Virgo collaboration meeting. But little did I know that my 3 day visit to Dallas would turn into a 3 month long stay in shelter.

In the U.S., the impact of COVID-19 took off about the second week of March, around the time it was declared a pandemic. Academic conferences were canceled, visits were suspended. Eventually by the middle of March most universities suspended in-person classes, campuses were shut, and employees were asked to work from home. It became clear that the defense would have to be remote. I’ll admit that the remote-part of the defense did not bother me much. Working and presenting remotely was something I am used to for most of my time as a graduate student. It is fairly common for researchers in large, distributed scientific collaboration to work routinely with someone at a different institution, possibly across the globe. One concern was to manage a chalkboard for the defense - an essential component for a physics defense. But that was easily resolved via screen sharing using my tablet. It was, in a sense, easier to get set up. I did not have to be at a particular room before time, no need to fiddle with the projector and find the cable that works, or find the laser pointer! I joined the Zoom meeting using both my laptop and tablet. The laptop for my video and presentation, the tablet for screen-sharing a scratchpad. The complete thing lasted a little less than three hours, including the open to all public presentation, a round of questions, and the session with the thesis committee. The questions were mostly regarding the content of my thesis and on problems I intend to tackle in the future. While I associated the defense with an exam, post facto I would like to call it a review. It was interactive, engaging, and not a grilling experience as the cliche goes. I was put in a Zoom waiting room by my academic supervisor, a feature I had not appreciated earlier, and was eventually called in after about ten minutes. I was told that I passed. Although I mention that it was not like an exam, the feeling after defense was very much like getting done with a difficult one successfully. I caught up with my advisor later on regarding the review and changes to the thesis suggested by the committee before submission. I finally submitted on the first week of May. It is linked here.

In hindsight, I consider myself very lucky to have stayed healthy throughout this time and defending successfully. In fact, it was a productive time and I could get a lot done - like making this website. Besides work, I was able to find time for hobbies, I (re)connected with many friends and extended family members. Also, being serendipitously together with my finacee during this time was more than a great support. Finally, this event also found its way into the history books of the UWM Physics department as the first successful virtual defense!