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Month: August 2020

Nathan

Expecting Different

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Whatever you have heard about vivas, good or bad, specific or vague, your viva will be different.

You may have expectations about the length, about the general outcome, about what questions examiners tend to ask or themes they tend to be interested and all of these are useful for being confident in the process and in yourself.

Still, your viva will be different. Every viva is unique, building on a singular thesis and candidate. A candidate has to balance the knowledge that there are general expectations and unique experiences. And different is OK!

  • Different-not-bad: an experience that doesn’t match expectations doesn’t mean it must be negative.
  • Different-but-fine: maybe slightly longer than expectation doesn’t mean that the outcome is in jeopardy.
  • Different-but-not-to-be-concerned-about: a viva over video, or where you’re asked to give a presentation, or if something is unusual because of the kind of research you do – it’s just different!

If you listen to enough stories you can see the common experiences that are worth paying attention to, but also notice that each viva is different. Yours will be too.

Different but not bad; fine, and not to be concerned about.

Nathan

The Unhelpful Truth

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You’ll be fine

True because vivas go well in the overwhelming majority of cases. Unhelpful because it says nothing of why this happens.

Friends, family, colleagues and supervisors may try to reassure you with the unhelpful truth. And it’s well meant, because they care, they want you to do well and they also believe you will be fine.

To take the kernel of truth – that the viva will go well – and make it helpful, you might have to do a little work.

Ask specific questions about viva expectations. Ask your supervisors to tell you about what examiners actually do. Ask others to support your preparation practically. Remind yourself that you must be talented to have got this far: it can’t simply be luck that has carried you to completion.

You will be fine – for lots of reasons. Find them.

Nathan

Thoughts on Viva Prep

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A loose collection of thoughts on getting ready for your viva…

If you’ve not submitted your thesis then you don’t need to start getting ready for your viva.

You need time to read your thesis, annotate it, check any relevant papers, make any useful summaries and rehearse.

A useful range for time needed to do viva prep well is 20 to 30 hours, depending on size of thesis, free time, confidence and so on.

Everyone is different:

  • How long do you think that will take for you?
  • How busy are you generally?
  • Then how long before your viva do you need to start preparing so you don’t rush and stress yourself?

Sketch a plan around submission time for how you might do the work. Probably only start the work once you know your viva date. Don’t overcomplicate things. Don’t tie yourself up in knots. If you have a problem, get help. If you need support, don’t be afraid to ask.

Viva prep is work that continues the development that has lead you this far, not something wholly new. You already know and can do the overwhelming majority of what you need to do for your viva when you submit.

Maybe viva prep is not so much getting ready as proving to yourself that you are ready.

Nathan

Survive & Thrive

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Let’s start with dictionary definitions:

  • Survive: manage to keep going in difficult circumstances.
  • Thrive: grow, develop and be successful.

I get into conversations on a semi-regular basis about whether or not survive is the right verb for the viva. Thrive sounds good. Thrive sounds better than survive in many ways. Perhaps it would be better to rebrand, both myself and my advice…?

I don’t think so: for one thing, “viva survivor” rhymes and there’s nothing quite like a good rhyme for latching into someone’s memory!

Secondly, more importantly, I don’t think survive and thrive are mutually exclusive. Why not do both in the viva? Who says you can’t manage to keep going in difficult circumstances to grow, develop and be successful?

The viva is an exam and a conversation. You play the dual role of expert and student. You can be prepared for it and yet unaware of what exactly is going to happen. The viva is lots of things, all at once.

There’s room for you to survive and thrive.

Nathan

Luck and the Viva

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Luck could be a factor in your viva, some strange twist of fate that determines the eventual outcome. But in the same way that sunlight and water stimulates plant growth more than playing Mozart, there are other factors that are far more important. For example:

  • The work you did in your PhD;
  • Getting help from others;
  • Knowing what to expect from the viva;
  • Taking steps to prepare for it;
  • Feeling confident about your ability.

Don’t rely on luck winning through for you; instead, focus on factors that you can actually influence to steer your success.

Hope is not a strategy; luck is not a resource.

Nathan

A Simple Start

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No candidate needs to have an opening statement prepared for their viva – with the obvious exception being people specifically asked to prepare a presentation! But if you want something in mind to help you feel confident, take time to reflect and practise with the following three questions:

  • Why did you do your PhD?
  • How did you do your research?
  • What have you got in your thesis?

You don’t need a monologue. You don’t need a script. Together, these three questions can provide a helpful reflection to help your confidence grow, and give a simple start to your viva.

You won’t know for certain what question you’ll be asked first, or where the discussion will begin, but between them, these three questions will plant a lot of seeds for how you might respond.

Nathan

Unavoidable

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The viva is unavoidable for a PhD candidate in the UK, but despite rumours and misgivings, a truly negative outcome is far from unavoidable. You can find out what to expect, both the regulations and experiences of friends; you can take time to prepare, to know your work well and reflect on the talent that’s made it.

There’s always a place for doubt about the outcome with something important, a space for nervousness to creep in, but that doesn’t mean some terrible result for your viva. Learn more about what vivas are like and you can give perspective to your concerns.

You can avoid being unprepared for your viva – and once you move past extreme possibilities brought on by worry, you’ll hopefully see that the only unavoidable event in your near future is viva success.

Nathan

Highs & Lows

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No project, period or PhD is super-excellent all the time, or super-terrible for that matter.

There’s ups and downs, highs and lows. I can remember some of mine from my PhD days…

Highs from my PhD:

  • Realising the fundamental structure of the first algorithm I created.
  • Winning a poster prize from my department.
  • Realising a key step of a proof before my supervisor – and being able to explain it to him.
  • Being asked to help with two residential skills workshops…
  • …and being invited back to help again after I did a good job the first time!

Lows from my PhD:

  • Postponing two months of supervisory meetings because I was ashamed I hadn’t solved something.
  • Comparing myself to office-mates who seemed so much more capable than me.
  • Not finding an answer to the problem in my seventh chapter.
  • Being super-anxious before every presentation I did.
  • Not admitting when I didn’t understand things.

What have yours been during your PhD? As you get closer to the viva, perhaps make a list of highs and a list of lows. File the lows list away – don’t throw it away, just don’t give it your attention. It doesn’t define you.

Keep the highs list to hand. Give it your attention from time to time through your preparation. You can find confidence from considering the highs of your PhD.

Postscript: this is another variation on the Make Two Lists approach of the wonderful Seth Godin! Credit where credit is due 🙂

Post-postscript: my viva doesn’t feature on either of my lists. I don’t think I know anyone who would put their viva on a list of PhD-highs or PhD-lows. Something to keep in mind maybe…

Nathan

What’s It Worth?

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Your PhD could be worth all the hours and money you have invested.

It could be worth a particular job that you’re aiming for.

It could be several papers you can publish when you’re done.

Or it could just be something you did for a while, not that important in the future – something fun to tell the grandkids about one day.

(“No, no, I’m not that kind of doctor…”)

Whatever it’s worth personally now, or whatever it could be worth in the future, it’s worth finishing it well. Take a step back as you near submission to know what you need to do to pass the viva. It doesn’t take much to prepare and there are lots of people who could help you.

Whatever your PhD is worth to you, it won’t cost a lot to be ready for your viva and secure your success.

Nathan

Does The Viva Matter?

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Yes.

You won’t get your PhD without passing, so it matters.

It may be that your examiners have very few issues with your thesis, no problems to tackle, but they still have to have a good discussion with you. The PhD is for you – the thesis is part of the proof that you have hit a certain high standard. So while the thesis could be convincing, you have to be too.

You have to pass on the day, but you already have to have passed many other challenges. You have to pass, but really you have to already be able to pass to get to the viva.

The viva matters, but don’t forget the journey you’ve completed to get there.

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