Nurture, Cultivate
A plant won’t grow well if you simply throw water on it and hope the sun shines. You have to take care of the soil. You have to keep a proactive eye out for pests. You have to know the...
Daily viva help for PhDs
A plant won’t grow well if you simply throw water on it and hope the sun shines. You have to take care of the soil. You have to keep a proactive eye out for pests. You have to know the...
What assumptions are you making about your viva? Here are some I think are generally valid for the viva. Assume your examiners will be prepared. Assume you’ve written a good thesis. Assume that perfection is out of reach. Assume you...
Even before coronavirus, PhD candidates would ask me about what they should do to prepare for their vivas because they were busy. “I have a full time job as well, what should I do?” “I get home late, what should...
This is what you take to the viva: a treasure chest you can open to respond to questions, think about your field and share what you know about your research. A hoard you have stored up day by day over...
Flashback to one of the earliest posts in this blog: “You’re fortunate, you’re not lucky.” A tricky question, a tough correction, a difficult discussion – none of these are unlucky. They happen for a reason. You missed something. You made...
As I was setting up one of my last Viva Survivor sessions before social distancing (three months ago!), one of the participants piped up, “Are you here to put the fear of God into us?” The room had been quiet,...
Don’t attribute to malice that which is more easily explained by stupidity. According to The Great Mental Models Volume 1: General Thinking Concepts – a book I mentioned a month ago on the blog and which is still echoing around...
Take a sheet of paper, divide it in two. Down the left column write down problems for your viva. Anything you can think of that you’re worried about, or tricky questions, sticky situations, little worries and fears. Anything and everything....
I read a lot about stand-up comedy and recently read an article where someone described why they did it. I’d seen a lot of comedians describe this before, “Oh, I love the sound of a room laughing,” or “There’s nothing...
Your examiners are important elements of your viva. Whoever they are, however much influence you have over their selection, it’s worth spending a little of your viva preparation time exploring what they do. Build your confidence for the viva by...