Practised, Not Perfect
Remember that you don’t need to be perfect to succeed in the viva. Remember that you will have invested a lot of time, effort and energy into becoming practised at all the things necessary for you to succeed. You have...
Daily viva help for PhDs
Remember that you don’t need to be perfect to succeed in the viva. Remember that you will have invested a lot of time, effort and energy into becoming practised at all the things necessary for you to succeed. You have...
A little bit of fun to help you think about getting ready for the viva. Think about each of the following statements and give yourself a score from 1 to 10 depending on how well you agree with them (1...
Take breaks, make breakthroughs. Dr Kay Guccione was the first person I saw share this sentiment on Twitter. It’s a phrase I’ve kept in mind for years now. Breaks are a necessary part of a working life. Breaks are needed...
An odd viva could occur. Odd in a way that nobody is anticipating prior to it. How odd? A four hour viva. A viva with an additional Doctor or Prof. A viva without many hours of discussion. A criticism you...
There’s a lot of attention given to the idea that the viva could be the last time that a candidate gets to really talk about their research. Discussing your work with your examiners could be the final chance to do...
With hindsight my PhD journey feels a lot like the movie Groundhog Day. Every day was get up, go to the office, do some maths, go home, go to bed, get up, go to the office… And so on. There was...
Information about viva experiences can be presented in different ways. I did a survey some years ago that showed that approximately half of vivas were less than two hours. How do we turn that information into a useful expectation? There’s...
After submission, spend a little time exploring three aspects of your examiners. First: read two or three of their most recent publications. You don’t need to become an expert in what they do, but being sure of their topics, methods...
I’m an extremely amateur cook and baker. I like to make nice things for my family and I like to experiment. I love to learn about how ingredients are transformed, how to combine them better and how to improve the...
You don’t have to feel one or the other for your viva. In fact, it’s likely that on the day and in the time leading up to your viva you could feel a whole range of things. Nervousness comes from...