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Month: April 2023

Nathan

Silence In The Viva

Daily Post

Like nervousness, silence might not feel comfortable sometimes but it doesn’t necessarily mean something negative.

In your viva a moment of quiet could be while you or an examiner checks a detail or finds the right place in your thesis. You might need a quiet pause to think or read, or to make a note. Silence could be a side-effect of a video viva delay or a simple pause to settle after a noise from outside.

Silence in the viva is a brief quiet between questions, responses and discussion about really important things. Silence in the viva is not for long before the words flow again. Silence in the viva is just one of those things that will happen.

Prepare for talking at your viva by rehearsing and talking before your viva. Use that opportunity to prepare for the silence too.

Nathan

In The Break

Daily Post

You can ask for a break at any point in the viva. Bathroom breaks, medical-related breaks or for any other reason if you need one.

As well as attending to the need at the time, take sixty seconds in the break:

  • Breathe. Release a little tension if you feel any and can.
  • Check in. How are you doing? Is there anything you need?
  • Note? Will writing something help you before you start back up?

And remember: you’re getting closer to being done. You’re almost there. Not long now.

Nathan

Patchwork

Daily Post

Every viva is different because every thesis and candidate are unique. Your thesis and experiences will to some extent ensure that your viva is different from every other viva before or after yours.

Every viva follows patterns because of university regulations, general expectations and departmental norms. There’s a patchwork of rules and ideas for what a viva is supposed to be like that gives every viva some structure. Taken together, each of these elements tells a candidate roughly what to expect: how long it might be, what kind of questions could come up and what the experience might feel like.

The more you stick pieces together, the better informed you can be and the more ready you can make yourself – while understanding that you won’t really know what will happen until you get there. The patchwork of regulations, expectations and norms helps you be ready for whatever happens.

Nathan

Six Thoughts On Six Years

Daily Post

Six years of the Viva Survivors daily blog.

Wow. Time flies when you’re planning, writing and publishing an original and helpful blog post every day!

What stands out to me from the last six years?

  1. As time goes by I see this resource I’ve made as valuable for PGRs, but it’s also incredibly valuable to me as a way to practice, refine and explore ideas. I’d recommend a regular writing practice to anyone.
  2. For all the changes of the last few years, the viva – preparation, expectations, worries and problems – doesn’t seem to have changed. Not really.
  3. The mini-vivas resource I made remains one of my favourite viva prep ideas!
  4. For all the prep someone can do before the viva, perhaps the most valuable thing they can do is build their confidence – centred on the work they have done and the success they’ve found along the way.
  5. Publishing a daily blog isn’t “hard” but it is work. It doesn’t get easier, it evolves and stays challenging.
  6. I want to encourage more people to subscribe than currently do. I’ve been told many times that receiving an email every day with a little viva help or encouragement has been great. I want to find helpful ways to encourage PGRs to sign-up!

Onwards and upwards. No plan to stop, no need to pause. Thank you for reading, if this is your first post or your five-hundredth. There’s a lot of help here, if you need it.

Thank you!

 

And as a little bonus for today, links to the first and anniversary posts from the last six years!

  1. No Accident – April 18th 2017
  2. One Year Later – April 18th 2018
  3. The Culture Around Vivas – April 18th 2019
  4. Three Years On – April 18th 2020
  5. Four Years – April 18th 2021
  6. A Happy Accident – April 18th 2022

I wonder what I’ll share next year?

Nathan

Have Fun

Daily Post

Smile! Enjoy yourself. This is a once-in-a-lifetime experience!

Things we don’t often say to someone when they have a viva soon…

But isn’t that a shame?

Yes, there’s work to do and an exam to pass, questions to respond to and a thesis to defend. Of course you have to share your research, discuss your thesis and demonstrate your excellence.

But who says that can’t be fun, enjoyable, a positive experience? Why don’t we encourage that more?

I’ll start: I hope you have a great time at your viva.

Nathan

Sit Down and Talk

Daily Post

Very simple viva directions!

There’s a process and prep, a thesis and a candidate, two examiners with questions and comments and expectations and –

– really you just need to sit down and talk.

Have a conversation. A discussion. A chat.

Three prepared people, one thesis, one PhD journey and a few hours for everyone to do what they need to do.

Be ready to sit down and talk. Prepare, rehearse, be ready.

Nathan

Be Kind To Yourself

Daily Post

Plan your prep. You’re busy, you’re tired and you have 101 things to do. Plan your prep so that the work doesn’t add to any stress and pressure you already feel.

Accept your mistakes. Typos and clunky sentences don’t mean much in the grand scheme of things. Spot them? Make a note and move on.

Ask for help. You have people around you who care and can support you. Ask for what you need and pay it forward when you’re asked in the future.

Gather your resources. Bring together what you need as early as you can so you don’t waste time or focus later. Make a space and a place for doing the work needed to get ready.

Tell good stories. TO YOURSELF. Remind the nervous person inside you what you have achieved, what you have learned and what you can do. Tell good stories about the last few years to help your confidence.

Be kind to yourself.

Nathan

Typo Terror

Daily Post

You don’t need to be afraid of finding typos. For the most part when someone finds a typo, at worst, it will distract them. A very, very, very minor frustration. For an examiner it is something to record in some way, so that they can ask the candidate to make appropriate changes later.

If you find a typo you can do the same.

Typos don’t need to be feared, they need to be found! When you encounter them, note them down, what is needed in the future to make them right and move on.

There’s far more important work to do and far more important things to talk about in the viva.

Nathan

More Examiners

Daily Post

The most common viva situation in the UK includes two examiners, one internal and one external. Some universities have independent chairs to steer and confirm the process, and in most cases a supervisor is allowed to attend with the candidate’s approval, but there are nearly always only two examiners.

Nearly always.

There are good reasons for exceptions. It could be that the research requires people with different research backgrounds and interests. A third examiner might be needed so that certain knowledge can be brought into the viva. Or perhaps the candidate is also a staff member at their PhD institution and a second external is required to ensure that the viva is seen as fair.

 

More examiners could mean more questions in the viva; more people talking could mean the viva has more hours than most.

But it doesn’t mean significantly more work in preparation. An extra person won’t take long to look into: a few more papers to consider, a little more thought to consider what they might be interested in.

A 50% increase in examiners doesn’t lead to a 50% increase in prep, questions, viva time or corrections!

Nathan

Pages & Pages

Daily Post

There are so many pages in your thesis.

The pages contain the best of your research, told as well as you can; they hold facts and/or figures, opinions and conclusions, details and digressions and everything that you think is needed to tell the story of your PhD research.

The pages in your thesis have big clear borders and section headings, chapter titles and funny words, maybe footnotes and appendices and a bibliography pointing to even more reading!

And the pages in your thesis contain typos and hidden points, possibilities for changes and unclear expressions, lots that you remember and a fair amount you probably don’t.

There are pages and pages and pages of stuff in your thesis. The smallest thesis still contains a lot!

Get ready for your viva by reading, annotating, summarising and feeling proud of the wonderful book you wrote.

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