You Are Here

Month: July 2023

Nathan

Predicting Failure

Daily Post

It’s clear that most PhD vivas results in success.

Ask your graduate school. Look online. Talk to people who have been through the process. The vast majority succeed. Corrections are part of the process and not a failure or setback. The process of doing a PhD, submitting a thesis and having a viva is not perfect, but it tends to work.

So accurately predicting success as the outcome of submission and the viva is simple.

Candidates succeed at the viva for very similar reasons, even when their research and theses could be very different. They succeed because they did the work, they wrote a good enough thesis and became a capable researcher. In the viva, they were able to demonstrate everything they needed to in order to pass.

 

Accurately predicting failure is much, much more challenging. Candidates pass for very similar reasons. They fail for very different, personal ones. It’s hard to know in advance.

Worry and nervousness isn’t enough. The vast majority of candidates succeed and most of them are in some way nervous about their viva! If you genuinely feel concerned that you’ve missed something or that something isn’t good enough, talk to someone. Talk to your supervisor. Talk to your graduate school. Talk to friends and colleagues and anyone who could help and ask them, “Do I really have a problem here? Am I just a little nervous? What can I do?”

Get help if your thoughts are turning to failure. It’s extremely unlikely, but finding a way that you can work towards success is much better than trying to assess how likely it is that you’re headed for failure.

Nathan

There Are Limits

Daily Post

A PhD journey is bounded in many ways.

You can only read a finite number of papers and articles to build up your knowledge.

There’s a cap on the number of words that a thesis can reasonably contain.

You have only so many productive hours in any working day and pushing beyond that will not bring greater progress.

And you have hundreds of days to do the work but those days will eventually come to an end – and then you’ll have weeks to prepare for your viva.

 

Consider your limits as you start to get ready for submission and your viva. What do they show you?

Perhaps there were other things you could have done, but if you’re a typical PhD candidate those limits will show that you are knowledgeable. You embraced your work and studied. The limits of your PhD journey will demonstrate that you worked hard enough to get things done. You’ll have a thesis with thousands and thousands of words as proof that you stayed determined.

There are limits that come in many forms, but none detract from the picture presented of you and your work. You did something. You made something that wasn’t there before and you can be proud of what you’ve made.

Nathan

Flaws & Problems

Daily Post

After submission it’s likely that your thesis will have flaws. It’s possible that your thesis may have problems too. Both of these have the potential to be talked about in the viva and have consequences for corrections afterwards.

Flaws are simple. A flaw is relatively simple to spot through careful reading and obvious with hindsight. It’s the spelling mistake that gets overlooked and corrected, or an alteration to a diagram or table that provides clarity. You might find it or your examiners might; a flaw could be frustrating but it’s not a challenge to fix.

Problems are complicated. A problem might not be obvious at first glance. A problem could need exploring or explaining; it could have a simple solution after conversation removes confusion. The biggest contrast with a flaw is that a flaw is definite: something needs to be changed. That might not be the case with a problem. A problem could exist in the mind of a candidate or examiner – something has been read and interpreted one way when the truth is something different.

Flaws are found and fixed simply. Problems are perceived and pondered on carefully.

Neither flaws nor problems should get in the way of success at the viva. Read your thesis carefully in preparation, make notes if you need to, then be ready to talk in your viva about the amazing work you’ve done, as well as the flaws and problems that need addressing in some way.

Nathan

The Defence

Daily Post

Remember that thesis defence doesn’t mean that you need to protect your work from harm.

Remember you’re not in a courtroom with your thesis on the witness stand.

Defending your thesis means you are tasked with speaking up for a silent book.

The words are all there, but maybe they’re not all clear. The pages are packed but there could be more to say. You have every chapter you need, but your examiners might want to know a little more or talk a little more about the fascinating things you’ve laid out.

In the viva, your task is to continue to support the work you’ve done for a long time. Defending your thesis means supporting the ideas you’ve developed and saying more about why they’re valuable.

Nathan

No Heroics

Daily Post

Your examiners are looking for a significant, original contribution in your thesis and a conversation with the capable researcher who did the work. For you to meet their expectations you don’t need to have super-researcher powers…

  • Laser Focus: you can cut through an argument or question with a single glance!
  • Ultra Memory: you can recall any fact, piece of data or trivia you have accumulated!
  • Hyper Talents: you have absolute world-leading practical research skills for your discipline!

This doesn’t need to be you. It can’t be anyone. There isn’t a researcher in the world who can meet the impossible standards that worry might set. Your examiners don’t need a hero in the viva: they need a human, capable and dedicated researcher.

They’re looking for you.

Nathan

Questions About Questions

Daily Post

Your examiners will ask you questions. They have to: it’s an essential part of the viva process. They will share opinions or make statements to encourage you to make a response but they couldn’t get through your viva without asking a question.

Engaging with a question could be as simple as pausing to consider what was asked, thinking about what you’re going to say and then respond as clearly as you can. If a question was surprising or had an unexpected element you might want to reflect further:

  • Did I understand this question correctly?
  • Why is it surprising? (if it is)
  • What do I know about this examiner and their work?
  • What information do I know that might be relevant?
  • What could I check in my thesis that might help?

It would be wrong to expect every question in a viva to be mind-meltingly almost-impossible. They won’t be.

It’s right to remember that if you encounter a tough question that there is a lot you can do to engage and respond.

Nathan

3 Kinds Of Viva Prep

Daily Post

Rushed: done in a hurry in the days leading up to the viva.

Worried: done while wondering whether or not the right things are being done.

Overinvested: a LOT done, far more than needed, either through concern something will be missed or perfectionism.

Thankfully, these kinds of viva prep aren’t the only options!

You can do the combined opposite of all of these to get ready. Plan ahead so there’s no rush. Find out what you really need to do so you have no worries and use your time well. Let’s define this fourth kind of prep as…

Relaxed: done over a suitable timescale for the candidate, with clear activities and goals that lead to being ready.

Nathan

Challenging

Daily Post

It’s natural to not want to talk about challenging parts of work or research in your viva. It’s human to focus on the good stuff and hope you won’t need to explain something tricky. It’s not wrong to be worried or have concerns about what might happen.

Rather than simply worry, maybe it’s better to confront the problem and do something – even something small – to improve the situation.

  • Can you think of a paper you struggled to understand? Take another look and find one thing you can make more sense of now.
  • Is there a concept in your field you often struggle to explain? Try again. Find the tricky point and come up with an idea.
  • Do you know of a question you really don’t want to be asked in your viva? Spend ten minutes unpicking why you don’t want it, what the issue is and what you could do to respond to it.

The viva is full of challenges, big and small, simple and complicated. Not all of them can be known in advance, but if you are aware of challenges don’t simply avoid them. Spend a little time exploring why it’s a challenge – then a little more on how you could engage with it.

Do more than worry.

Nathan

“Not Like I Thought”

Daily Post

It’s one of the most common things people say about the viva.

I believed my examiners would grill me but instead we just talked about what I had done…

I thought I would go blank but it was just good to be discussing my research…

I expected that I would be there for hours and hours, but it was all done by 1pm…

In my experience there is a massive mis-match between what PhD candidates generally expect from their viva and what happens when they meet their examiners. Typically, this is because the candidate expects it is going to be far more dire an experience than it actually is!

It’s good that vivas tend to work out well, but it would be better if people went to them knowing more of what to expect and thus get ready in a more positive frame of mind.

So what can you do? Don’t just listen to the person on the internet. Talk to your friends. Talk to your colleagues. Talk to your supervisors. Read the regulations. Read blog posts and articles describing real experiences. Through all of this try to arrive at a good, positive idea of the viva that is ahead of you.

Nathan

Tweaks & Nudges

Daily Post

It can take a candidate some time to read their whole thesis. A mock viva is hours of prep and then the event itself. Sitting with your thesis to add notes to the margins and other annotations can also take a while.

These kinds of work are necessary. There’s no substitute for them but you can also improve your preparation – and how ready you feel – by doing little things too.

  • Write down one thing every day that you are proud of in your research.
  • Check one list or short summary that you have recorded previously.
  • Re-read a single page of your thesis that is really good.
  • Listen to one song or piece of music that helps you feel confident.

There’s a lot more you could do. Little things add up. There are big tasks you have to complete to be ready for the viva, but lots of small tasks that help too.

1 2 3 4