End Of Year Blues
It’s a lovely time of year, but looking back I felt a little blue reflecting on my work of the last twelve months. The projects that stalled. The work that never went ahead. I had to cancel some sessions because...
Daily viva help for PhDs
It’s a lovely time of year, but looking back I felt a little blue reflecting on my work of the last twelve months. The projects that stalled. The work that never went ahead. I had to cancel some sessions because...
What’s the last thing you will do to get ready for your viva? What final action will leave you satisfied, a small smile on your face that you’ve done all you can? When will it be? The morning of your...
When the date is in the diary your viva is going to happen whether you’re ready or not. Don’t agonise over the date. Don’t fret about what might happen or what your examiners might ask. Instead do the work. Do...
Rest before the viva is as essential as reading your thesis or having a mock viva. Rest needs to be planned into your viva prep, even if that seems at odds with the work you’re doing. Take time to rest...
I like things to be just right. I’m not fussy, I’m particular. Which means I’m never satisfied by Christmas selection boxes: a collection of chocolate bars in one festive package. My grandmother would say, “You mustn’t eat them all at once or...
I’m thinking back to this time last year. In the UK there were various permissions extended to allow families and friends to meet over Christmastime- -and then there weren’t. Very quickly plans were changed, compromises were reached and make-do decisions...
When I work with final year postgraduate researchers I ask them to consider prioritising the work they think they have to do with three lists: Need: the things that are absolutely essential Nice: work that would be good to do...
These three words were drilled into me in my former life as a mathematician. In solving a maths problem it wasn’t enough to find an answer, I had to show how I had got there. I couldn’t claim a result...
A long journey. Tiring and stressful perhaps. At times the destination might have seemed uncertain – or perhaps even changed! But if your viva is somewhere in your near future then you’ve almost reached your journey’s end. As you get closer,...
I know. I think. I feel. There’s a place for all in the viva, potentially. Some questions will hit a target made up of facts. Things you know. Things you have discovered. For some questions you weigh up information against...