Free tool · PhD planning
Viva question predictor
Twelve likely viva questions about your own thesis, from your abstract.
Paste your thesis abstract and this tool suggests 12 questions an examiner could ask about your own thesis at the viva voce. The questions come in four groups: why you chose the problem, how you studied it, what you found, and what it adds. Each question has one line on what the examiner is really checking.
Generic lists of viva questions are easy to find. The hard part is turning “justify your methodology” into the question you will actually face about your sample, your model and your null result. That is what this tool is for. It gives you questions to practise rather than answers to memorise.
Method
How this tool works
When you press the button, your abstract is sent to OpenAI’s gpt-4o-mini model together with our instructions. The instructions ask for three questions in each of four themes (motivation and gap, method, findings, and contribution and limits), and require every question to refer to something that is actually in your abstract. They forbid the model from inventing facts about your field, your results or your university, and from answering the questions for you.
The model has to reply in a fixed structure. Our server checks that structure before anything reaches your screen, and if the reply is malformed or off-topic you see a plain message instead. A failed reply doesn’t use up one of your free checks.
Each visitor gets 3 free AI checks a day across all our AI tools, and the site has a daily total too, so the tools stay free for everyone. If you paste the same abstract again on the same day, the saved answer comes back straight away and doesn’t count. We keep the answer, which can quote parts of your abstract, for up to two days, locked with a key made from your text, so only someone who already has the text can read it. Your abstract itself is not stored.
Use the questions the way you would use a mock viva. Say your answer out loud, time it (most good answers take under two minutes), and note the ones where you hesitate. Those are the chapters to reread. Our guide to PhD viva questions explains how Indian vivas usually run and how to structure an answer.
Limits
What this tool can’t do
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
Is my text stored?
No. Your abstract is sent to OpenAI to produce the questions and is not saved on our server. We keep the answer for up to two days so that pasting the same abstract again is free. It is locked with a key made from your text, so it can’t be read without the abstract itself. OpenAI’s own handling of API data is set out in its policies.
Why only 3 a day?
Each check costs us a small amount to run, and we keep the tools free with no sign-up. A daily limit per visitor keeps them available for every scholar. Same-day repeats of the same text don’t count, and a check that fails doesn’t count either.
Is using this allowed by my university?
The tool gives you questions to prepare for. Nothing it produces goes into your thesis, so it sits well within most universities’ rules on AI. Rules do vary, and our guide on using AI tools in your PhD explains where the usual lines are drawn.
Will these be the exact questions I get?
Probably not word for word. Examiners follow their own interests. But most viva questions fall into these four themes, and practising specific questions about your own study prepares you far better than reading a general list.
What if my abstract is weak or very short?
The questions can only be as specific as the abstract. If the tool’s questions feel generic, that is often a sign the abstract doesn’t state the method or the main result clearly, and examiners will notice the same thing. Try our abstract feedback tool first.
Can someone run a mock viva with me?
Yes. Our viva preparation service runs a full mock viva with a specialist in your area, with written feedback on your answers. The first consultation is free.
Keep reading
Related guides and services
Common PhD viva questions
The questions examiners ask most often, grouped by theme, with how to prepare each answer.
Viva Voce Preparation
Presentation review, a question bank built from your thesis, and a mock viva before the real one.
The PhD pre-submission seminar
Who attends, what the committee checks, how to structure the talk and what happens after.
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