Asking For Help
It’s better to ask for help before the viva when you know what you need help with. Reflecting on the problem or gap in knowledge can highlight who it’s best to ask. It’s easier to ask for help before the...
Daily viva help for PhDs
It’s better to ask for help before the viva when you know what you need help with. Reflecting on the problem or gap in knowledge can highlight who it’s best to ask. It’s easier to ask for help before the...
That’s the way the cookie crumbles! An old saying which means that some things have a tendency to behave in a certain way. There’s no equivalent saying for vivas, but there are still lots of patterns that tend to be...
Can you know what to expect from the viva process? Yes, you can because there are regulations and stories that describe the viva process. Yours will be unique but you can still know enough to know what to expect. ...
Reflecting on your research contribution is a very helpful part of viva preparation. Discussing what you have done and what it means is definitely going to come up during your viva! To make the most out of reflecting on your...
Confusion can happen in the viva. Your examiners might not understand. They could have read a passage and got a different idea to what you meant. You could misunderstand a question, a comment or the point of a conversation. Confusion...
Words matter. It might help to think of viva prep as revising for a test. If that’s how you think of it then follow that impulse. Make a plan. Consider what you need to do. Build structure to help you...
Here is a small reflection and summary exercise to help gather useful information before your viva. Four questions: What’s the best part of your thesis? What was the least useful period of research during your PhD? What was the hardest...
Do you have a day off planned for today? If not, then I hope you can at least find some rest with whatever else you have to do. A free day might be exactly what you need between submission and...
In preparation for the viva there’s not a lot you need to explore about your examiners to be ready for them. There are most likely two people, one internal and one external, and for each of them you need to:...
I love maths problems that look really simple. A simple statement that asks a question. A string of numbers looking for connection. A picture with an undefined angle or shaded area. They can look really simple but require real thought...