Surprised
If I had a pound for every time someone told me they were surprised they enjoyed their viva I would probably have a very healthy savings account. When I share stories of success and enjoyment with candidates they are surprised. They’ve...
Daily viva help for PhDs
If I had a pound for every time someone told me they were surprised they enjoyed their viva I would probably have a very healthy savings account. When I share stories of success and enjoyment with candidates they are surprised. They’ve...
Your examiners have enough experience that they can read your thesis, understand it and know what they need to do in their role to give you and your work a fair examination. It’s possible that your examiners might know more...
Questions in the viva aren’t tricks, traps or trouble. They’re not dissecting problems or simply looking to expose weakness. Your examiners’ questions are there to get you talking. They’re asked to get you exploring, explaining, talking – engaging with the exam,...
If you’re nervous about the viva then you will feel uncomfortable, but there’s nothing wrong. Nerves are a very human response to important situations. Your examiners might be nervous about your viva because they want it go well too. Your...
Since July 2010 I’ve delivered sessions about the viva to over 6000 postgraduate researchers. I have the 300th Viva Survivor session in my diary for early 2022. Shortly after that I’ll mark the five year anniversary of this daily blog....
You can’t flip a coin to determine viva success. The stories we tell about vivas pivot on knowing if someone passed or failed – but these things are not equally likely. Around one in one thousand PhD candidates don’t pass. There...
There’s no best, one-size-fits-all plan for viva prep. You have to explore what works for you, and if you’re busy that could feel quite stressful. This blog contains lots of ideas for what might help someone get ready. How do...
A practice I return to again and again is to leave a note on my desk to help Future-Nathan get started when they sit down for work. It’s a kindness, a little thing to help me get going. I could...
We don’t own a toaster. The rest of our family think we’re really weird. They can’t wrap their heads around why we choose not to have a toaster and prefer to use our grill. We still toast things! We just...
Two or three little colourful pens can make a big difference to your viva. Highlighters can help make important details stand out in your thesis so you don’t have to search for them. A little effort during your viva prep can help...