On Track
Even if this year has been bumpy, you’re still on track to succeed if you’ve submitted or are working to getting your thesis finished. Being on track with your PhD means that you know where you’re going, even if you’re...
Daily viva help for PhDs
Even if this year has been bumpy, you’re still on track to succeed if you’ve submitted or are working to getting your thesis finished. Being on track with your PhD means that you know where you’re going, even if you’re...
I’ve been a huge fan of the concept of “creativity through constraints” since I first heard it a few months after my PhD. I would beat myself up all the time for not coming up with ideas, or for finding...
I didn’t have a Viva Survivor course or webinar to help me get ready for my viva. I didn’t know of any books on the topic, or think to look for them. I didn’t search for lists of questions, or blog posts...
Your viva expectations are influenced by the stories you focus on. If you focus only on one story, the latest story of viva success that you hear, for example, then your expectations could be quite narrow (even if they are...
I spent a long time indoors over the last six months or so. When I ventured back out again I decided I was going to explore my home town. Walk up and down roads I didn’t know. See every path...
There are no shortcuts to being ready for the viva. You can’t cheat your way to being prepared, but you can follow the example of others. The work could be tricky at times, but viva preparation is – in most...
So your viva is going to be over video. That could feel rough at times, but there are some interesting possibilities too. Why have a chocolate bar in your bag, like an in-person viva, when you could have a freshly...
A question in the viva cannot prompt you to talk in minute detail about the sum of three or more years of work. Every response for every question that you are asked will take up a few hours at most....
Never enough time in a PhD to do everything you could do, but usually enough time to do everything you need to do. Never a way to prepare for every possible question in the viva, but certainly plenty of opportunities...
My daughter will be seven in just over a week. I don’t know where the time has gone. I’m an obnoxiously proud parent. Don’t get me started, or I’ll tell you all about how well she reads, how she loves...