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Month: April 2025

Nathan

The Contribution Collage

Daily Post

The Contribution is typically a lot of little contributions: lots of small pieces of new and good research that make a bigger picture of progress.

It would be nice if all of these pieces were uniform, regular and in pleasing proportions to fit together, but it’s probably more likely that your work creates a collage of contributions, each arranged just so to make the best Contribution possible after years of work.

  • Explore why each of these little contributions matters and you understand more of what the Contribution adds to your discipline.
  • Reflect on the Contribution and you’ll see how the smaller contributions add to the bigger picture of what you’ve achieved.

Whichever perspective you consider you’ll find interesting things to ponder as you get ready for your viva – and interesting things to talk about at your viva.

Nathan

Viva Survivors Select 01

Links, Update

I am thrilled to announce my new ongoing publication for PhD candidates: Viva Survivors Select!

This is my new curated series of zines. Every issue will contain a themed collection of posts from the blog’s archive plus a few new pieces of writing. I plan to release a new pdf issue each month and use this project to help postgraduate researchers by sharing my writing about the viva.

Front cover of Viva Survivors Select 01. In the background is a series of blueprint diagrams for electronic devices. Images are pitched at an angle. In the foreground are two text boxes, one approximately in the centre of the image, one at the bottom. Box in the middle, centred text has three lines: Viva Survivors Select 01 The Prototype Issue April 2025 Text box at the bottom: Nathan Ryder

The first issue is my prototype issue and features Viva Survivors posts from 2017. The eighth anniversary of the daily blog is on 18th April so this seemed like a great reason to go back to my early posts and look for the best writing to share.

In Viva Survivors Select 01 you’ll find the post below and nineteen more on the viva, viva prep and building confidence. I’ve also written an exploration of a very helpful viva prep tool and a short essay on writing. The zine has colour covers, public domain art and a lot of help for PhD candidates in a small pdf package.Page 8 from the first issue of "Viva Survivors Select". The top half of the page is taken up by a blog post; the bottom half has a simple line drawing of a filament lightbulb. Title: Lightbulb I don't know that it's universal, but the lightbulb is a powerful symbol for making a connection. One second you don't know something important, the next you do. I remember being sat on a train in early 2005, less than six months into my PhD. I was waiting to go and visit a friend. Just as the train doors were closing something CLICKED in my head and I could see the answer to a problem. It was just a little one but one at the root of a bigger problem in my thesis. Just like that, it came to me. And while there was a lot more work to do, this one little insight allowed me to write three chapters of my thesis. There were harder problems in my PhD, but this is the time I remember when something just came to me. Weeks of reading, of doodling and noodling, and then CLICK. When you have a real lightbulb moment, be grateful. What else are you grateful for in your PhD?


If you like the Viva Survivors daily blog and want something with a little more viva help then please take a look at Viva Survivors Select and see if it might be helpful for you.

If you like the Viva Survivors daily blog and want to support what I do in a practical way then please take a look at Viva Survivors Select and consider buying a copy.

And of course, if you know someone else who could use a little viva help then do tell them about Viva Survivors Select.

Thank you for reading, do get in touch if you have any questions – and look out for Viva Survivors Select 02, which will be released in mid-May!

Nathan

Preferences

Daily Post

Your preferences for the viva matter.

They can have an impact on how you engage with the viva and with what happens there. Some preferences can be met much more easily than others. And if some aren’t met you will have to decide what to do regardless.

 

Your preferences for viva prep are probably the most easy to meet: if you need to prepare at a certain time in a certain way or use particular materials to annotate your thesis that’s not so hard to do. You might have preferences around rehearsal – a mock viva date or help from particular friends – and these could be trickier, but not hard.

Preferences for examiner selection are just that: you can prefer certain people but have no direct control over their nomination or acceptance. Supervisors might ask candidates for ideas, but ultimately they have to select who they think will be a good choice. Academics asked to be examiners have to weigh up their other work and responsibilities. You might really want someone or an academic with a certain kind of background but ultimately your preference could be unsatisfied.

You might prefer a 90-minute viva or one that begins with a particular question. You might prefer to feel a certain way or to know in advance what the outcome will be. And you might prefer that you didn’t have a viva at all! But you can’t really control any of these things. There are things you might prefer and then the reality of what happens: some of your preferences might be met and some might not.

 

So what does all of this mean?

First, again, your preferences matter. It will probably help your general viva readiness to be aware of and fulfil your preferences as much as you can.

Second, you have to work past any emotional friction you feel from preferences that can’t be met. That might not be easy but there isn’t anything else to do.

Nathan

Your Story

Daily Post

Your PhD story, whatever difficulties you’ve faced, is one where you have grown into a more capable researcher – and where you have produced something valuable through your work.

So how did you get this far?

  • The Beginning: What did you know when you began? What were your initial plans? How did you get started?
  • The Middle: How did your plans change? What did you learn? What setbacks did you overcome?
  • The End: What do you know now? How would you summarise your research? What does your PhD mean to you?

By considering some of these questions you build a story of your PhD. You don’t need all of them to tell yourself a good story and find confidence.

Also: reflecting can help you bring together one story of your PhD. If that perspective and focus doesn’t help, consider whether or not reflecting on other aspects can help you tell yourself a better story.

Nathan

The Tunnel To Submission

Daily Post

I live in the north-west of England and a few times per month we have cause to travel through one of the Mersey tunnels.

It’s gloomy in there no matter the time of day: the rear lights of cars, the not-daylight of the tunnel lights and the monotonous blurring of the walls.

Then you hit the end. Daylight reaches in-

-and you have less than ten seconds to be sure of which way you’re going! There are two exits and you need to be sure because there’s no turning back!

Veer left or right? Towards the stadia or the city? There are two lanes and it helps to get into the correct one before you enter. That way you’re on track for the whole journey.

 

Which brings us to the PhD journey, submission, viva prep and the viva.

The final weeks and months before submission can be a bit like the Kingsway Tunnel. You’re going forwards but it’s all a blur. You have to focus to get through but if you’re not careful you can reach the other side and not know where you’re going next.

Plan ahead. Decide on your route to being ready for your viva. When you get to submission do you need to take a break or keep on? Will you take your time or power ahead? You can decide how you make your way to the viva.

Sketch out a plan for your viva prep and don’t be surprised when that time arrives.

Nathan

A Confidence Hint

Daily Post

“Confidence is not being strong; confidence is knowing your strengths.”

A webinar participant shared this observation with me a few months ago. There’s a lot of wisdom to it.

For the viva in particular, you don’t need to know everything. You can simply know that you are capable. You can simply reflect on what has brought you so far. You can simply know what you know.

Know your strengths and you’ll know that’s enough.

Nathan

What Does It Do?

Daily Post

A four word question to help you think about your significant, original contribution.

Four words that might help you get thinking quickly. What, practically, does your work do? What do your results do for others? We can spin a web of questions and connections from those four words.

Start with the simple and work out. Reflect, write and talk.

Get ready to tell your examiners all about the value of your contribution.

Nathan

Small Prep

Daily Post

Reading your thesis cover to cover might take hours. Reading a page might take a few minutes.

Having a mock viva will take several hours of prep and several hours on the day. Responding to a question from a friend might take five minutes.

Carefully reviewing your thesis for what to annotate will take time. Adding sticky notes to the start of each chapter will take two minutes at most.

 

All of which is to say that there’s a lot of big prep but many small tasks that will make a difference.

You can’t focus solely on the latter and hope it’s enough, but if you’re tired or overwhelmed you can give yourself some small easy wins to help you get back on track.

Use small bits of prep to help move you closer to being ready.

Nathan

Taking Your Turn

Daily Post

I like board games which have a bit of structure to them: on your turn play one card; follow the card’s rule; move your piece; draw or discard cards until you have a hand of three. There’s a large possibility space for what a player might do, but the structure helps things move along.

The viva isn’t a game thankfully, but there is still an element of turn-taking in a discussion. One person speaks and then another is given the opportunity to respond. You, the candidate, can ask questions in the viva, but more often than not you’ll be responding.

You have to wait for your turn and then you have to take your turn.

On your turn you might be faced with a big question or a small question, easy or hard, simple or difficult and you might or might not know immediately what to say. A bit of structure helps here too, whatever the question: on your turn, breathe; pause to consider the question; ask for clarification if needed; get your thoughts in order; then speak calmly and as clearly as you can.

The viva isn’t a game, you’re not earning victory points or trying to get ahead of everyone else in the room. Decide in advance what strategy you’ll employ to take your turn and use every opportunity your examiners present you.

Nathan

Your Choices

Daily Post

A big picture perspective on the viva could give three driving questions:

  • Why did you do it? (the topic of your research)
  • How did you do it? (methods and approaches)
  • What was the result? (findings, conclusions, etc)

Naturally there are many questions that could follow from each of these. There are unique questions for every PhD candidate because every candidate’s research, thesis and circumstances are unique. These three driving questions are a good starting point for reflection and all three are related to your choices.

  • It’s possible your research area was an open problem that was worth studying – but why did you do it?
  • It could be the case that there were multiple ways for someone to explore your topic – but why did you choose the approach you did?
  • Results can be open to interpretations sometimes – and if that’s true for your work why did you make the choices you did?

Choices are interesting and nearly always worth talking about or understanding. Reflect on your choices ahead of the viva.

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