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Month: October 2023

Nathan

It Takes Time

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The PhD, the viva, your prep, the discussion, the decision, coming to terms with what it means to have achieved after you pass…

”It takes time” is a phrase that can be applied to every aspect of everything to do with the viva.

It could be years, minutes or seconds, but there is time involved and a necessary passage of it. There might be pressure at different stages of your PhD journey, but no rush unless you make it that way.

Take your time to do whatever stage you’re at as well as you can.

Nathan

Remember The Right Things

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You don’t need to recall all the details of every day of your PhD to pass your viva. You don’t need to have memorised every page of every paper you have read when you talk to your examiners – or remember every page that you have written for that matter.

Of course, you need to read your thesis to prepare for your viva. It help to review what you’ve done and consider likely areas you’ll discuss. It helps to have a way to remember what’s really important.

But, more importantly, you need to remember that you did the work.

You need to remember what the viva is really for.

You need to remember what your viva and what success means to you.

And you need to remember that there are lots of things you could do to help you remember the things that matter the most.

Nathan

On Worry Tummy

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Worry Tummy – that’s what we call nerves and apprehension in our house.

That’s what my daughter called it. Over time my wife and I took it on as part of the “secret language” of our family – the in-jokes, portmanteaus and phrases that probably don’t make sense outside of our little context.

But worry tummy is hopefully clear enough.

 

Worry tummy is the general feeling of apprehension that bubbles up when an event is imminent and you’re not really sure you feel ready for it.

Perhaps you don’t have a good enough sense of what it will be like and consequently don’t know if you can meet the challenge. Perhaps you know a little but can’t feel sure that you are ready or that you’ll enjoy it.

Often, worry tummy occurs when there is almost no chance of avoiding the situation at all, making it doubly difficult to deal with.

 

I imagine that worry tummy is more common in the very young than people working towards a PhD! If there was one educational event that could cause worry tummy in people past their teens it’s the viva.

The last exam of the final degree. Talked about in hushed tones and rumours. The viva isn’t clear most of the time so how could you know if you are up to the challenge?

By finding out more. By reflecting on your journey. By realising just how good you must be to get this far.

 

It’s not wrong to experience worry tummy at any age – or to feel nervous about your viva.

Whatever you call it, whatever you feel, there’s a reason for that feeling.

And if you don’t like it, you can do something about it.

Nathan

Expectations & Responsibilities

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Viva expectations invite responsibilities.

  • If vivas are generally expected to take hours then you and your examiners have a responsibility to be ready for that situation.
  • If vivas typically begin with certain types of starter question then you have a responsibility to prepare for that line of discussion.
  • If vivas are discussion-based then you have a responsibility to be ready to respond to questions – and willing to share your research, your thesis and yourself.
  • If you’re expected to succeed then you have a responsibility to prepare as well as you can – while examiners work towards making the viva the right environment for that outcome.

And most generally, if vivas have expectations then you have a responsibility first to learn about them. Knowing what to expect, even if that covers a range of possible experiences, gives you an opportunity to be as well-prepared as you can.

Nathan

Trusted Perspectives

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When you’re getting ready for your viva ask people who know about vivas. Get specific help rather than general impressions.

When you’re getting ready ask people who know you for help. Ask friends about their experiences and for a little of their time. Ask your supervisors to give you their considered thoughts about your work and about the viva itself.

When getting ready ask your institution for support. Ask them for the regulations, check what things mean and learn who to talk to in case anything goes wrong.

Above all, ask the right questions of the right people. Look around widely for support, but ask people you can trust first: you can trust them either because they know you or they know what you need to know.

Nathan

A Manifesto On Good Viva Prep

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This isn’t finished, but here are some thoughts that I’ve been knitting together for a long time…

Good viva prep is personal. It responds to the needs of a candidate.

Good viva prep is effective. It takes only the time needed and meets the needs of a candidate.

Good viva prep is planned in advance. A candidate’s time is valuable and stress and rush can only hinder readiness.

Good viva prep creates greater certainty. It improves understanding of the general experience of the viva and gives greater confidence in being ready for the viva.

Good viva prep is supported by others. This happens in big and small ways, because while getting ready is the candidate’s responsibility it will be better with help.

And good viva prep is only as good as a candidate makes it – so make yours good!

Nathan

The Cornerstone

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The foundation of viva expectations is hearing the stories of others. Statistics and generalisations only exist because people share their experiences.

So ask around before your viva and tell others afterwards.

 

The questions and structure of your viva are built on what you have done and what your examiners need to dig into during the examination process.

So if you reflect and review what you did and learn more about what examiners do then you can be ready.

 

Viva preparation is founded simply on you continuing to do the work. A particular focus and perhaps a particular urgency, but more good work that you are capable of.

So do the work!

 

Your success has you at the cornerstone. Your past achievements and progress are the basis for doing well and passing your viva.

So remember that.

Nathan

Make A Choice

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You can’t press a button and feel ready for your viva, but you can decide that that’s your destination.

You can’t just arrive there, like a science-fiction teleporter, but you can know where you want to be and act to move in that direction.

If you want to be ready for your viva, what could you do?

Without diving into a blog with over 2000 entries or asking your friends or listening to a podcast or picking up an ebook or two, what could you do? What small (or big) steps could you take to being ready?

What will you do?

Make the choice to be ready for your viva. Then start getting ready. There’s work to do, but it doesn’t have to be more complicated than saying, “I’m going to do this.”

Nathan

Black Cats, Ladders and Spilled Salt

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The date and other omens of “bad luck” don’t need to weigh too heavily on you ahead of your viva. Success is not due to luck. You don’t need to ward off bad luck by crossing the road to avoid a dark feline or throw salt over your left shoulder if you’re clumsy in the kitchen.

You don’t need a talisman or something lucky in the viva either. You need to have worked hard for years. You need to have learned about what to expect. You need to have prepared.

Typically, those are not too much to expect in advance of a viva.

You don’t need good luck for your viva, but you might need a good story. You might need to think again about how you got this far. You might need to remember what you did and recognise it for the confidence it can inspire.

Nathan

Simple & Consistent

Daily Post

When you start to annotate your thesis, take ten minutes to think and make some decisions.

First, think carefully about what you need in your thesis. Every thesis is different and so is every person. There may be some very good suggestions for annotations that would be helpful to a lot of people, but they may not be right for meeting your needs or preferences. So make a list: what do you need in your thesis?

Second, consider how you are going to meet your needs simply and consistently. This is very important: anything you add takes time to add and anything you add will be seen again by you. It’s better if whatever approach you take is easy to do and easy to remember.

So what will you underline? With what colour? For what reason?

Where will you add margin notes? What governs your decisions for using highlighters? And when will you stick notes in to your thesis?

Decide before you begin. Think about your thesis. Think about your needs.

Be as simple as you can and work consistently to help the process of annotating your thesis – and to create a good space for when you’ll need to read it again.

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