The Breaks
It’s always worth saying: yes, you can have a break in your viva. A bathroom break. A medically necessary break. A break to breathe and relax or compose yourself. An hour in, two hours in, three hours in, it doesn’t...
Daily viva help for PhDs
It’s always worth saying: yes, you can have a break in your viva. A bathroom break. A medically necessary break. A break to breathe and relax or compose yourself. An hour in, two hours in, three hours in, it doesn’t...
Personal development is sometimes seen as a box-ticking exercise during a PhD: perhaps a form or report that has to be filled in every now and then. That’s a shame, because I think personal development is what the PhD is...
You take a PhD one day at a time. Read, write, test, think and do it all again. Day by day you work through the journey. You take viva prep one task at a time. Read, write, think, talk: each...
Twenty minutes before my first webinar of the autumn I realised that I couldn’t close my office door. The panel from the side of the bath was in the way, leaning just beside the door. I had taken it off...
Do you remember the first day of your PhD? Do you remember what that was like? I do! I can vividly remember showing up at my office, being told which of two desks I could commandeer for the next few...
I listen to podcasts while I wash the dishes. It’s my little bit of “me time” in a busy day! Recently, while scrubbing away at a pan I was struck by how often someone being interviewed began their response by...
At submission, a PhD candidate won’t typically know when their viva is going to be. There’s a period when they’ll wait to find out the date and time for their viva. In the UK it’s common for the viva to...
There are no bad reasons for taking a pause during your viva. A pause to check you’ve heard your examiners correctly. A pause to get your thoughts in order is helpful. Checking a detail from your thesis is a useful...
It could be a nervous time. It could be a happy time. It could be a strange time. It could be a rushed time. It’s a time of preparing. A time for remembering. A time for reflecting. A time...
What kind of speaking are you expecting to do in your viva? Do you imagine you’ll have to explain what you did? Do you think you’ll simply expand on what you’ve done? Or perhaps you think you will explore what...