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Month: February 2023

Nathan

Can You Park It?

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If you find a problem during your viva prep, big or small, do you need to solve it immediately?

A typo might just need a note making for later correction.

A clunky sentence could need underlining to revise, so long as it is clear enough.

An old idea could be left alone.

Not everything needs to be addressed when you find it. Maybe some things never need resolving. If you find a problem on the way to getting ready for your viva, ask yourself if you can park it: can you put it to one side and leave it for another time?

It may be that you can’t! But perhaps you can focus first on the bigger work of getting ready rather than every little (or big) issue that you find as you prepare for your viva.

Nathan

A Few Weeks

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Viva preparation doesn’t have to take a long time. It isn’t a huge amount of work, not compared to the scope and scale of a PhD.

It doesn’t take long, generally, to read a thesis, make some notes, capture thoughts and rehearse for the viva. A few weeks can be enough to space the work out. A few weeks of reflection and preparation.

A few weeks to remind yourself of what you’ve done, how you did it and why you’re capable of succeeding in the viva.

Nathan

Better Than Anyone Else

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Remember you know your work better than anyone else!

I have read and heard these words so many times from people trying to reassure viva candidates. They’re not wrong but I’ve had a growing feeling for some time that they brush over a lot of points.

The viva isn’t solely about knowing things – it’s a test of what you can do as well, a test of how you think.

You did the work, but your examiners must have done lots of work too to be able to examine you.

I worry too that the phrasing implies that the viva is simple, straightforward, easy. While the majority of candidates pass and many describe it as positive I don’t think – in nearly thirteen years – I’ve ever heard anyone describe their viva as easy!

“You know your work better than anyone else” is too simple. It leaves too much out.

How about: You did the work, so you have the skills and knowledge to do this too. How does that sound?

It might not roll off the tongue as easily, but it gets closer to the truth of the situation.

Nathan

Well Known

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Read your examiners’ recent publications to check that you know how or if their work connects to yours. Find out what they are interested in and what you know about those topics.

Read your thesis and be certain of what you’ve presented: the details, the numbers, the quotes and how it all fits together.

Reflect on your journey and know what that means for you: who you are, what you know and what you can do.

Knowing all of this well help for the viva – and doing all of this is not a hard set of tasks to complete.

Nathan

Loving Your Viva

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A poem, seeing as it’s February 14th!

Most candidates won’t love their viva,

‘Though most PhDs won’t hate it either;

If you prepare and give it a chance,

Examiners won’t lead you a merry dance.

 

Believe it will be tough

You’ll make your day rough,

But trust what you know

And a good day will show.

 

Three verses suffice,

I’ll stop this device!

Reflect, prepare – give your confidence a shove!

Thus a greater chance your viva to like, if not love.

Nathan

A Recipe For Viva Stress

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Take several years of difficult and demanding work.

Sieve together with months of writing.

Stir in vague half-truths and uncertain expectations.

Add two experienced academics to the mix.

Fold together with nervousness, worry, future plans and, depending on circumstances, pandemic-related uncertainty.

Bring to a slow boil over weeks of preparation and serve at the appropriate time.

 

A candidate might not feel stressed, but it’s not hard to appreciate why someone could be stressed by the thought of their viva. They would most probably still pass but the experience might be uncomfortable.

There’s no silver bullet to defeat viva stress, but there are remedies for each of the ingredients above.

Review your work and highlight what really matters. Re-read your thesis to be sure of how information flows. Find out more about what happens at vivas. Check recent publications by your examiners. And instead of bottling up stress as you prepare, use that time to build your confidence.

There’s a clear recipe for viva stress – but you don’t have to follow it.

Nathan

Lists Leverage Lots

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I love starting something with a list. There are lots of lists that can help with getting ready for the viva:

  • A list of key references in your bibliography.
  • A list of important results from your thesis.
  • A list of questions you anticipate at your viva.
  • A list of things to do as part of viva prep.
  • A list of annotations you could add to your thesis.
  • A list of people who could help you get ready.
  • A list of questions to ask your supervisor.
  • A list of typos that you find while reading before your viva.
  • And an incomplete list of possible lists that you may write as part of your viva prep!!!

You start something with a list. A list can focus or highlight, but it’s not the real work.

Any of the lists above and any others you might write could lead you to action or summarise information. So once you have a list related to your viva or prep, ask yourself what you need to do next.

Then do it.

Nathan

To Be Continued

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After submission you need to prepare for your viva – but you also need to prepare for life after the PhD.

For some that could be simple (or welcome!) but for all candidates, particularly those who have attachments to physical spaces, people or even access to resources, consider:

  • What do you need to take home with you? When will you do it? How will you do it?
  • Who do you need and want to stay in contact with? How will you do that?
  • What will you do when you don’t have access to library resources, software or other things that disappear when you are no longer a student? If you’re typically contactable by a university email address, how will you tell people where to find or reach you?

If you’re not sure if you plan to continue with research in some way, then really think about what you need to take home. Do you need all your notes? Do you need all of your papers?

Whatever you need to do, remember that life goes on. You will continue to have opportunities to show your ability and knowledge. Reflect on what you are taking away from your PhD journey – and remember that all of that talent and capability is available to you in your viva as well.

Nathan

My Atypical Viva

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Later this year I’ll “celebrate” fifteen years since I had my viva, and remembering that makes me realise one more time just how different my viva was to everything I’ve heard since about vivas.

Before I had my viva I was quite ignorant about the process. It didn’t occur to me until a few years afterwards that my viva was a bit odd:

  • My viva was in a quiet seminar room at the end of a corridor, but it was a room big enough for thirty.
  • I had been asked to prepare a presentation, not very common but an established viva practice. However, within two minutes of starting one of my examiners asked a question, which started the discussion. This was my viva: lots of questions, weaving occasionally back to my presentation.
  • My viva was four hours with a short break, which is quite long but manageable…
  • …but I was stood at the front of the room for the duration, near the projector and blackboard. My examiners were sat as if they were in the front row of a lecture. There was no chair at their table for me and I was never invited to sit down at any point.

On that last point I have, so far, found myself to be unique in my viva experience.

And despite all of that:

  • My viva followed the flow of the information in my thesis, like most do.
  • I had two examiners, like most vivas and they were clearly very prepared, as was I.
  • They asked lots of questions and treated me and my work with respect, even when they had criticisms.
  • I received minor corrections, like the majority of PhD candidates in the UK.
  • It felt like it was all over much more quickly than it actually was, time just flew by!

Every viva is unique. Some are more different than others! But all vivas follow key expectations and regulations. Read the rules, listen to stories and build up a good general picture that you can prepare for.

Nathan

Slow Is Fast

Daily Post

I forget where I first heard that “slow is fast and fast is slow” – the point being that taking one’s time to do something helps it to get done more quickly than charging ahead and risking problems.

This idea holds a lot of relevance to viva prep and the viva.

In viva prep, taking your time gives space for the work to be done. You can build up your confidence and the feeling of being ready. It’s something to savour, maybe even something to enjoy! Not something to be crammed in at the last minute or got out of the way. Going fast won’t help someone to get ready for their viva.

And nobody wants a six-hour viva, but pausing to think when asked a question helps more than blurting out the first idea. Pausing to think helps a candidate consider what a question means and what they know. Pausing helps them to find the best words for their response. Far better than trying to get the viva over and done with. Far better than rushing and then needing to clarify – far quicker too.

Take your time. Slow is fast.

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