Yikes!
Outside of ghost stories and horror movies, there’s not a lot to be scared of on Halloween. The frights are all make believe, costume and shadows serving to send shivers down our spines. For a moment, perhaps, we feel a...
Daily viva help for PhDs
Outside of ghost stories and horror movies, there’s not a lot to be scared of on Halloween. The frights are all make believe, costume and shadows serving to send shivers down our spines. For a moment, perhaps, we feel a...
You need both candidate and thesis to be good for a PhD. Your examiners need to ask you – the candidate – about both in the viva. What’s your thesis’ contribution? How did you do it? And what can you do...
Between submission and the viva you might spot some changes you want to make in your thesis. Perhaps you see a typo that has to be amended, a sentence that could be simpler or a diagram that’s just not right....
Clear your mind as you consider viva prep. Get a pen and paper and unload all the bits and pieces that you’re carrying around in your brain. What do you need to do? Who do you need to ask for...
Some numbers are magical for the viva, and some can only cause you to worry. Don’t think about how long your viva might be. It’s not worth obsessing over how many pages of references you have in your bibliography. And don’t check...
Viva prep necessarily involves reading your thesis, making notes and checking things out. For all the help this work brings, it doesn’t match the mode of work you’ll be engaged in at the viva. In the viva you have to...
If you’re post-submission and trying to prepare for your viva but finding it hard then remember: you could not have got this far unless you were good. Could you keep going for this long and this far if you were...
A viva is not a random collection of questions and comments from your examiners, strung together by whatever you say in response. Your university has regulations that govern the viva. Your department has expectations for what a good viva “should”...
There’s a knock at your door. A courier leaves a package in your arms. It’s not heavy, but it has a strange heft to it. You don’t remember ordering anything. You’re not expecting something. But here it is, addressed to...
Candidates are always concerned about viva length, worried that theirs will be long – or too long, however that might be defined. Remember: the longest viva will be shorter than the longest work day of your PhD. It has to...