The Red Button
There’s a knock at your door. A courier leaves a package in your arms. It’s not heavy, but it has a strange heft to it. You don’t remember ordering anything. You’re not expecting something. But here it is, addressed to...
Daily viva help for PhDs
There’s a knock at your door. A courier leaves a package in your arms. It’s not heavy, but it has a strange heft to it. You don’t remember ordering anything. You’re not expecting something. But here it is, addressed to...
Candidates are always concerned about viva length, worried that theirs will be long – or too long, however that might be defined. Remember: the longest viva will be shorter than the longest work day of your PhD. It has to...
The verb that could most clearly summarise what you have to do at the viva is demonstrate. Your examiners have read your thesis. Now they need you to give them more in the viva. You have to share what you...
Ugh. The most common response to thinking about thesis corrections. Of course, any kind of corrections – minor or major – are unwanted, but they’re not bad in themselves. Examiners require corrections for lots of reasons: typos, clarity or because...
There are tricky things to explain in your viva. There will be times when you struggled. There are probably questions still to answer and problems to solve. But you don’t have to exclusively reflect on all of that during your preparation....
It helps to check a few final things before your viva. Do you have your thesis? Do you have a notebook and pen? Do you have something to drink? Do you have a few weeks of prep in your recent...
You can afford a little break at submission. In most instances, even if a candidate has an idea of their viva date, it won’t be confirmed at the time they submit their thesis. When you submit you have time. Plenty...
I was in full flow in my viva. The questions were challenging but fair. I was working hard to explain and explore my work, but that was, I suppose, to be expected. Then I happened to notice the time. The...
You can’t know what the first question in your viva be will be until it’s asked. You can’t know how long your viva will be until your examiners say, “OK, we’re done!” You can’t know how you will respond to...
Today: two series of questions that could help as one gets ready for the viva. First a reflection on your research: Why is your research contribution valuable? How did you do your research? What was the result? Second, a reflection...