Daily viva help for PhDs
It’s what you must have done over the course of your PhD.
Your research and thesis must have a significant, original contribution – or, more simply, you must have made a difference. Something now exists that didn’t before and that something matters.
Remember that and be ready to talk about it in your viva.
I publish a blog post about the viva every day. To be sure that I meet that promise I write and polish posts far in advance. I like to make sure that I have several weeks completed at any time, acting as a sort of buffer, just in case something happens.
Over the past few weeks I’ve been very happy to have that buffer: on September 21st I tested positive for COVID for the first time. My case was mild, only two days of really feeling ill, then a long time of feeling drained after that. I was really glad to have my buffer of finished posts to give myself time off to recover. I didn’t worry that I was falling short of my goals.
As I write this though I have only a few days left and so really do have to get writing again!
Buffers are helpful in lots of ways and have lots of names. It could be a savings fund for emergencies, a pile of good books waiting to be read or a freezer full of home-cooked meals.
Practice and experience can be a kind of buffer too, building you up to be ready for future challenges. Early in my post-PhD life, a friend shared with me the value of regular practice: “Nathan, it gives you talent to burn.”
By the time you get to your viva you have invested a lot in your talent. You have a dragon’s hoard of knowledge, skill, ability and more. You don’t need to be concerned that you will fall short at the viva. You have a lot in your buffer – from years of experience – that you can bring to those few hours.
Viva preparation doesn’t make you viva-perfect.
Perfection is unattainable.
Viva prep makes you viva-prepared.
Prepared is achievable.
Do the work, just as you always have, and you will be ready.
Did you know that there is a link on the Viva Survivors site that takes you to a random post?
You can click here and the magic of the internet will, today, whisk you away to one of almost 2000 posts.
(there’s a very small chance that it will bring you back here!)
I just used the link three times and it gave me these posts:
If you’re looking for help with the viva there is a lot of it on this site now. A lot. And there is even more out there in the world. Your institution, your supervisors, your friends, other great blogs and resources.
Whatever you need for the viva, whatever’s missing, you can find help if you look for it or if you ask.
And if you’re not sure what you need then you can’t go too wrong by clicking to get a random post of viva help.
Even if you think you know it all, read your thesis before your viva.
Even if you’re sure there’s no way you’ll forget any of your corrections, take a notebook to the viva.
Even if you’re sure your examiners won’t ask about this or that, be sure you take a look at this and that before your viva.
Even if you don’t want to rehearse with your supervisor, find some useful way to practise responding to questions before the viva.
Even if you’re nervous, go to your viva and succeed.
In July, our daughter was in school and so my wife and I snuck to the cinema for a day-time date. Watching the movie on the big screen was amazing: the story, colour, the scale, the sound, all fantastic.
A few weeks ago we watched it all together at home. We drew our curtains, snuggled up on the couch with chocolate and watched the movie on a smaller screen. It was amazing: the story, watching it with my daughter, pausing for hugs in sad moments, stopping to get ice cream, all fantastic.
In both times the movie was the same: we just engaged with it in a different way. In the cinema it was great to be able to get lost in the movie. At home it was great to be super comfortable and together. It was the same, but different.
And this is how we can think about the reality of in-person and video vivas: they are the same, but different.
Same purpose, same parameters, same drivers, same roles, same needs but different locations, different ways of engaging and different opportunities. Depending on who you are, who your examiners are and the regulations of your university you may have a choice or not about where your viva is. But fundamentally, despite the differences, you can expect the same process from the viva.
It is way too early for Halloween decorations. Some of my neighbours have had skeletons hanging in their windows and plastic pumpkins in their yard since the weekend! It’s very strange to me.
Before thesis submission is way too early to think about viva preparation. I can understand why some candidates think it takes a lot of work. If it takes years to produce a thesis then surely it must take a lot of effort to get ready for the viva?
Before submission is too early to think about all of that.
First, your focus before submission must be on finishing your thesis. Second, the work you do to complete your thesis is also work that aligns with what you need for your viva. Finally, the work you need to do specifically for the viva – for that particular challenge – is not the work of months. A small amount of work, relatively speaking, that can be completed in a matter of weeks.
Planning ahead will help. Exploring how reading your thesis, making notes and rehearsing will fit with your busy schedule will help you to see how you can get it done. You don’t need to start getting ready before submission – it’s too early! – but remember that a lot of what you naturally do for your PhD helps you anyway.
Now, with all of that said, it’s not too early for me to go and have a conversation with my neighbours…
Your final thesis can be annotated in preparation for your viva. While you might naturally be drawn to underlining typos or adding a few helpful words to the margins, paying attention to the references you cite can be a simple way to improve your thesis’ usefulness as a resource in the viva.
You could highlight different kinds of reference – information, methodology support, question and so on – in different ink colours to draw distinctions between them. You could find the ten most important ones and add highlighter tabs or bookmarks to draw attention to where you use them. You could write a sentence or two at the top of the page to catch your eye.
You had to pay a lot of attention to the work of other researchers to help your research grow. You had to invest a lot if time in being certain that you understood their work and how to apply it to yours. Now, as you prepare for your viva, take a little more time to consider which of these references has been most helpful to you – and find a good way to mark this out in your thesis.
What do you do if you have an hour left until your viva and you feel a little nervous?
You do something.
When you’re nervous in the viva you can only be there and engage as best you can. Before then, if you feel nervous, you can do lots of things to help yourself. Be thoughtful as you prepare: if you were to feel nervous in the last minutes before your viva, what could you do to help yourself?
There’s always more you can do.
More ideas to be pursued to add to your research.
A new perspective or an extra thought to include in your thesis.
Another paper to read. And another!
All that proofreading and there will still be a better way to say something – or one more typo that’s not been spotted.
There’s always more but remember, by submission and through preparation for the viva, you’ve done enough to pass.