Host A Mini-Viva
Message a friend with a viva coming up and offer to host a mini-viva for them over Zoom or Skype to give them some practice. There’s full instructions at this resource link for how you might use one of 7776...
Daily viva help for PhDs
Message a friend with a viva coming up and offer to host a mini-viva for them over Zoom or Skype to give them some practice. There’s full instructions at this resource link for how you might use one of 7776...
You’re in a bubble of research. There’s a clear sphere around the space you occupy that lets others look in, see what’s there. As with a lot of bubbles, there could be some distortion – from how you present it,...
I couldn’t sleep the night before my viva because: I had no idea what my examiners were there to do, or what my viva might be like; I had little self-confidence in my ability to discuss or defend my research....
With the help of a plugin and several hours of banging my head against the desk I came up with a little curiosity for the site: www.viva-survivors.com/randpost/ – a link that redirects to a random post from the 1000+ in...
Most vivas go well, but there’s always a chance that something could go wrong a little. With the move towards remote vivas, over Skype or Zoom, there’s that little extra room for doubt and worry that something might go wrong....
Whenever I start a big project I treat it as important – worth doing well – and not urgent – worth doing without time pressures that could compromise me, the work, or stress me out. I’ve seen similar sentiments in...
Exploring what makes your research a significant, original contribution is an essential part of viva preparation. Taking different perspectives, finding alternative words, telling other people about your work – all helps strengthen your confidence about saying, “I did this and...
You have to do this all the time for your viva. Take the first step to the viva when you submit. Take the first step with your prep by sitting down and getting your thesis out again; or by asking...
Tread carefully when preparing for your viva, in case you find yourself tumbling down a rabbit hole. Read one paper by your examiner, and find yourself lead to another, then another, then… Spot one typo and you’ll wonder what else...
Three words that need to be on every candidate’s to-do list for the viva. The Regulations page I put together – a list of every uni in the UK’s thesis examination regulations – might be a good starting point for...