Read, Do
I’ve been sorting through ten years of notes and ideas I’ve collected from countless workshops, seminars and articles. I smiled a few days ago when a quote from an old friend jumped off the page at me: No amount of...
Daily viva help for PhDs
I’ve been sorting through ten years of notes and ideas I’ve collected from countless workshops, seminars and articles. I smiled a few days ago when a quote from an old friend jumped off the page at me: No amount of...
One of my favourite scenes, in one of my favourite movies, is when Yoda is trying to teach Luke Skywalker in The Empire Strikes Back. Luke is learning to be a Jedi, but is not finished. He can lift rocks...
Patience is a virtue for a PhD candidate. It takes time to explore literature. It takes time to think and work your way to write up a thesis. It takes time to complete a PhD. It takes time to prepare...
Interdisciplinary researchers produce fascinating theses. I enjoy listening to the amazing ways disciplines collide. I’m no longer surprised though when interdisciplinary researchers tell me they have concerns about their viva. An examiner might be highly capable in one field of...
Your examiners are an important part of your viva. Spend some of your viva preparation time exploring who they are and what they do. Check their recent publications to get a sense of their research but you don’t need to...
Confidence takes time and experimentation. There isn’t a set process. Rather than press a button to start an engine, we have to think of it as turning dials and pulling levers on a great, glorious machine. Try something, then check...
You’re not a failure if you don’t answer every question you asked during your PhD. You’re not a failure if your thesis is smaller than your friend’s thesis. You’re not a failure if you’ve not submitted papers for publication. You’re...
…or, I Went To The Zoo To Do Viva Survivor! There’s a lot of nice things I get to do as part of my work. A few months ago I was asked to deliver my Viva Survivor session as part...
At the time I went to my viva, just over eleven years ago, I didn’t know for certain that I was finished with my research. I was 90% sure that I wasn’t going to get any kind of academic position,...
It’s a waste of your examiners’ talent and everyone’s time if they just pore through your work to find clunky sentences or spelling mistakes. They will find some probably, because very few candidates get no corrections, but that’s not what...