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Month: December 2020

Nathan

“What Can I Get You?”

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There’s no viva menu. You can’t sit down at your table and order it exactly as you like…

I’ll have a two-hour viva, plenty of praise, skip the bad stuff and go easy on the methodology questions. I don’t need a side-order of corrections, thanks!

Your examiners are not there to serve you what you want, but what the situation needs. Some of that might be unclear until the viva starts. Remember that you know what the raw ingredients are for the viva: you, your thesis, your talent, who your examiners are. You know what the process is trying to achieve, even if it’s not an à la carte experience.

Nathan

No Rules

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There aren’t any rules for the viva, not exactly. That’s not how they work.

There are regulations, specific to each institution, but broadly compatible across the UK.

And there are reasonable expectations from the general stories that are told and shared about viva experiences.

And there are local “house rules” that each department might have (around lengths, formats and so on).

There aren’t rules for the viva, not really, but there is lots of information available that can help people figure out how to play the game. Look for what you need, and pass on what you figure out after you complete your viva.

Nathan

Choosing To Act

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This whole year has felt outside of my control. I imagine, at least at times, that you’ve felt similar.

Still, I could choose how I would act. I could choose how I would approach things. The outcome of a situation might not have been within my power to control, and in some cases I’ve only had a few options to choose from – but I could still choose.

All through your PhD, you’ve made choices. Decisions about methods, choices about projects to follow (or not); you choose which literature to read and follow, and which you will leave out of your bibliography.

During your prep you can choose what actions you take. What steps you will follow to get ready. When you take them and how you do them is up to you.

And in the viva you can choose how you will approach the discussion. How will you listen? How will you respond?

The more actions you take, and the more you act to follow your intentions, the more likely you are to find the successful outcome you’re looking for.

Nathan

Testing Your Talent

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That’s what the viva is all about. How good is your research? How well did you do it? How well do you know it and your field? And just how good are you?

It’s a test that doesn’t require perfection to pass. Preparation will help you get ready, but remember: you can’t have got to submission by being merely lucky, and you can’t have done the work unless you were good.

The viva might test you, but your talent will help you succeed.

Nathan

When The Light Doesn’t Come On

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About a week ago, first thing in the morning, I opened the fridge to get the milk to make the first cup of tea of the day.

The light in the fridge didn’t come on.

My brain performed a complicated dance of thoughts and feelings:

  • “Oh no, we have so much in the fridge and freezer that will be ruined!”
  • “We’ve had it for over seven years, so of course it’s out of warranty…”
  • “Wait, it’s the weekend! Where are we going to get a new one from?”
  • “Can we save any of the food? Will my mum have room in her freezer? Can we give some to neighbours?”
  • “A new one? What am I thinking jumping to that, can we afford to just buy a fridge-freezer?!”
  • “Ugh, I’ve not even had a cup of tea!!!”

And then a quiet part of my brain whispered… Check the button.

There’s a little button that is held in place by the fridge door when it’s closed. When it’s opened it pops out and the light comes on. I touched it and it popped out and the light came on. The fridge was fine.

The button had just stuck in place for a second. That’s all. No problem. No solution needed. No cause for panic.

 

“Problems” sometimes aren’t really problems, but our first instinct encountering a potentially difficult situation is to panic.

In the viva, an examiner asking a tricky question might not intend it to be hard. If they say they have a different opinion, they are not trying to ruin you. If you don’t know what to say to a question, or haven’t spotted a typo previously, or just go blank, there’s no need to panic. These are all situations that you can respond to in the viva, but they might not be problems at all.

If you’re asked a question in the viva and the light doesn’t come on, stop and check: is this a problem?

Nathan

Thanks!

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Lots of people support Viva Survivors in lots of different ways:

  • Thank you if you follow the site via Twitter! I’m floored sometimes by how many followers I have now…
  • Thank you if you subscribe to the blog! When I started sharing a post every day maybe twenty people were subscribed. Now over ten times as many receive a daily message from me!
  • Thank you if you’ve ever supported me via Ko-fi! Since setting it up in February, donors have covered the hosting costs for the site for the year – something which makes me very happy and grateful!

Lots of people support me in lots of different ways. I’m grateful to them all. I’m grateful to YOU for reading this. Thank you.

 

Thank your supporters as you get closer to your viva. You can’t have got this far without being good, but you also can’t have got this far on your PhD journey alone. From supervisors to spouses, peers to partners, friends and family: you’ve had companions for the journey, people who’ve shared the load with you and people who’ve helped you get further.

Don’t forget to thank them.

And don’t forget, if you need to, to ask for more support. Ask for help if you need it. Ask for understanding. Ask for people to listen, or wait, or do something to help you to the viva and beyond. Then do the same for them if they need it.

 

Again, thank you for your support: thanks for following on Twitter, subscribing for the posts and for helping the site via Ko-fi. If you don’t do any of those things, maybe take a look! Thank you 🙂

Nathan

Once & Many

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There are valuable viva prep tasks that only need to be done once…

  • Sticking tabs in place to find the starts of chapters in your thesis;
  • Underlining typos;
  • Taking part in a mock viva;
  • Reading your thesis – although it’s fine to re-read it, of course!

…there are valuable viva prep tasks that help you by doing them many times…

  • Reflecting on how you’ve got so far;
  • Exploring your research in conversation with friends;
  • Finding useful ways to remind yourself of your talent;
  • Raising your confidence!

…there’s a limit for how much viva prep work you can really do, and a balance to find with everything you’ve done before and everything else you need to do now.

Find a balance that works for you.

Nathan

The Power of Prep

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It won’t make you perfect.

It won’t mean you’ll get no corrections.

It won’t mean you’ll be blank-free in the viva, or that it’s impossible you’ll be stumped.

It doesn’t come with anything like a guarantee.

But it means that, for a small investment of time, you are as ready as you can possibly be to meet your examiners and talk about your work with them. You’ve taken the time to boost yourself, not better yourself. You already know everything you need to know, you can already do everything you need to do.

This is the stretch before the race, or checking your lines just before you walk on stage.

The little extra that helps you get the viva done.

Nathan

Out Of Your Comfort Zone?

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I know what makes me feel uncomfortable. Sometimes it’s possible to avoid things outside of my comfort zone; I’m self-employed so I have a certain degree of control about the kind of work I do, or the conditions I work in. Sometimes stepping out of my comfort zone is necessary though. For those situations I’ve had to figure out how I can best proceed; I’ve figured out how I can make the most of those situations even thought they’re not comfortable.

In some cases, like public speaking, I’ve even come to like something that was previously way out of my comfort zone!

It’s useful to figure out your comfort zones so you can work well, and especially useful for PGRs nearing the end of the PhD process. If the thought of the viva makes you feel uncomfortable then I think the best thing you can do is stretch yourself in advance. Stretch by presenting, by discussing, by working to build your confidence. Find more ways to practise, even small ways to get more experience and learn what you can do to make the situation better, more comfortable. Like me, you might even find a way to make the process more enjoyable for you.

Perhaps your viva will be closer to your comfort zone than you expect.

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