Two Moves Ahead
I’ve been learning how to play chess over the last few months. I’m a total beginner. I knew how the pieces moved, have always been interested in the game but from a great distance. A video I saw by chance...
Daily viva help for PhDs
I’ve been learning how to play chess over the last few months. I’m a total beginner. I knew how the pieces moved, have always been interested in the game but from a great distance. A video I saw by chance...
…ask for it. This year, everyone needs help. Everyone is hurting somehow. Everyone is pressured, tired, concerned, and it could be tempting to think that it’s best not to bother people. What’s your viva compared to someone else’s troubles, worries, workload?...
Academia is rife with imposter syndrome. Lots of talented people, wondering about whether or not they are really talented, worried that they will be found it. For researchers at postgraduate level, I don’t think imposter syndrome starts with the viva,...
The town I live in is the last stop on our local train service. It’s been five months since I’ve travelled by train for work – or at all, come to think of it – but whenever I was returning...
I’ve seen relief on the face of PhD candidates when I tell them they don’t need to prepare for their viva until after submission. That in itself helps to frame the scale of the challenge. I also emphasise that viva prep...
Combatting nerves and anxieties ahead of the viva is like cutting the heads off the hydra of myth: cleave away the head of concern about typos, and it’s replace with two heads of slightly-unclear passages. Become certain that your examiners...
An examiner cancels with short notice. Someone involved gets sick. Technology fails on the day. You can’t account for every possible viva emergency in advance or have insurance policies against every worst case scenario, but simple things can really help....
Take your time, if you can, to finish a good thesis. Make it the best presentation of your research, to convince your examiners of the significance of your work and your talent as a researcher. Take your time, unless your...
In viva prep sessions I ask candidates how they feel about their viva. Often, the group are between a few weeks away from their viva to a few months before submission, and there will be a range of emotions in...
I think nearly all PhD candidates can point to at least one thing in their thesis or research that’s a Problem. A specific issue, question, idea, result – a thing – that invites reasoned concern. Non-hypothetical, something you can talk about, analyse,...