The Not-So-Secret Reader
Twice in the last few months I have volunteered to be the Secret Reader for my daughter’s class: a mystery parent who shows up at 3pm on Friday to read a story to the class. Both times I found being...
Daily viva help for PhDs
Twice in the last few months I have volunteered to be the Secret Reader for my daughter’s class: a mystery parent who shows up at 3pm on Friday to read a story to the class. Both times I found being...
One day in January, around 5pm, I noticed our house was getting cold. I checked, and realised the boiler wasn’t on. I tried a few things and realised it wouldn’t come on. I called our boiler service people, they talked...
How many days did you show up and do the work during your PhD? How many papers did you read? How many questions did you ask yourself or others? How many times were you called on to respond to a...
I believe it’s worth reflecting on this a little before the viva. What have you forgotten? Perhaps you can’t know for sure. You’ve had to edit out papers, ideas and references that didn’t fit. You forgot them, to concentrate on...
Different people value different things. Whether or not a job, a house, a partner, a research idea or anything else is suitable or good to you will depend on what you see as valuable. For your thesis then, there are...
Every single question in the viva comes as a result of your research and your thesis. While you can’t predict every question, nor know a perfect response for every one, you do have everything you need to be able to...
Don’t hope for a short viva. Don’t hope for no corrections. Don’t hope that your examiners “go easy on you”. Don’t hope they tell you the outcome at the start. Don’t hope they have no comments. Don’t hope you won’t...
That’s my prediction for your viva. You know your research, you wrote your thesis, you’ve prepared for the day. You’re reasonably confident, not arrogant, slight flutter of nerves because it’s important. There’s a few moments of worry – you don’t...
There are lots of things that could get in the way of preparing. You’re busy or you’re bothered, you feel stressed or worried… What’s the smallest meaningful thing you could do? Even if you’re busy or something’s getting in the...
I love World Book Day! Not the costumes and dressing-up, but the sheer love of books. It’s… a celebration of authors, illustrators, books and (most importantly) it’s a celebration of reading. I don’t remember a time when I couldn’t read,...