From Day One
How did you feel at the start of your PhD? How do you feel now? What have you learned since the day you started your PhD? How much have you invested into your research? How many pages have you produced in...
Daily viva help for PhDs
How did you feel at the start of your PhD? How do you feel now? What have you learned since the day you started your PhD? How much have you invested into your research? How many pages have you produced in...
Candidates give a lot of focus to time in the viva. How long could it be? How short might it be? What do they feel like? My four hours felt very short. The short break afterwards felt very long. Many...
Your supervisor needs to support you after submission. Your supervisor is also probably really busy. The best way to get what you need from them is to be as specific and clear as possible. Before submission, think about what you...
Don’t save your viva prep for the day before your viva. Save that day for reminding yourself of your successes. Save that day for reinforcing that you’ve come as far as you have by becoming more talented, more knowledgeable, more...
It’s right to learn about viva expectations. Get a sense of what vivas are generally like, read the regulations, listen to the stories of your friends to build a picture for what your viva could be like. Get a sense of...
My daughter was surprised when she came home and saw some new bookcases and a wardrobe in her bedroom. “Wow! How did you do this?!” She couldn’t quite get the hours of reading instructions, hammering, using tools and moving things to...
Viva prep can take between twenty and thirty hours of work when you consider all of the tasks that could be involved. In the time leading up to your viva, thirty minutes to an hour per day of viva prep...
There have always been candidates whose plans have been disrupted during their PhD journey. A project finds itself without the resources it needs. A plan loses support. Something just doesn’t work out the way it was expected. Every PhD candidate...
Expect your examiners to be professional. In the same way that a candidate can be expected to get ready for the viva, expect that your examiners will do what they need to be ready to examine you. If they’re a...
If you go for a walk on a rainy day you can step around as puddles as much as you like, but your shoes are probably going to get pretty wet. That’s just what happens. You can’t avoid it. If...