Preparing for Technical Questions in PhD Interviews: To Review or Not to Review?

[Void123]

I have been invited for a second interview in the Netherlands for a PhD position composed of the following: (1)to present my masters thesis research and (2) an interview with a group of about 3 people.

I'm sure someone has written about this before, but I wanted to know to what extent I should anticipate technical questions in the interview (not the presentation on masters research). The reason I ask is because I recently was invited for a similar interview in Switzerland (following the same structure) where I choked on some technical questions regarding coursework I took a while ago (it was a simple question that I just couldn't remember since I hadn't touched the material in two years).

I also know the system is slightly different in the Netherlands. For one thing, I will be required to take a couple courses the first year anyway (which was not the case with the Swiss program which was 3 years of pure research as opposed to 4 years in the Netherlands). The Dutch system seems a bit more relaxed than the Swiss from my own personal observation.

I am just wondering if I should do a crash course review of all the classes I took or just focus on the elements of my coursework relevant to the PhD project.

I know at the end of the day it is all highly subjective, but I would appreciate an feedback anyone has in consideration of my situation. I really don't want to slip on this one. Thanks!

 

[marcusl]

Let's see, at your last interview you were asked general technical questions (that you couldn't answer) and now you want to know whether we think you should prepare to answer general technical questions at your next interview? I know what I would do.