Retell Your Story
Once upon a time, the story I told people about myself was that I loved maths, really enjoyed learning more about all kinds of maths, and wanted to do a Masters and a PhD. And I was happy and lucky...
Daily viva help for PhDs
Once upon a time, the story I told people about myself was that I loved maths, really enjoyed learning more about all kinds of maths, and wanted to do a Masters and a PhD. And I was happy and lucky...
Thesis submission typically comes after many hundreds of days of work: learning, development, growth and making something. You can’t get to that point without learning how to do something well. Perfection isn’t attainable, but viva prep is a short period...
Be careful when you come to generalise your probable viva experience. Regulations, viva stories and hearing about vivas from your department all have a role to play in building up your personal expectations. Be sure you have enough suitable information...
Imagine that viva prep is an amazing party! Look at your diary and think about when you’ll host it. Who do you invite? Do you need to invite more people so that you can be sure of enough help? What...
In viva prep there’s a lot to unpack when you reflect on your PhD, your research and your thesis. If it seems overwhelming, start small with three questions: Why did you do it? How did you do it? What can...
It’s reasonable to expect that examiners might object to something in a thesis. In all the many words you’ve written – the ideas, results and conclusions, and the chapters, methods and formatting – in all of this there’s a chance...
Refresh your memory: read your thesis, check a few papers and make whatever notes you need to feel confident that you know what you need to know. Review your thesis: add annotations to create the best supporting resource possible for...
It was five years ago yesterday that I first published 7776 Mini-Vivas. Since starting this blog in 2017 it remains one of my favourite resources I’ve created. Since then I’ve shared it with over five thousand PhD candidates in workshops and...
There are many reasons that could explain unfortunate situations from your PhD. None of them are excuses: Lack of resources is not an excuse. A sudden change in circumstances is not an excuse. Your supervisor going on sabbatical is not...
During my PhD I came across the Mathematics Genealogy Project: an attempt to explore the family tree of mathematicians going back hundreds and hundreds of years. Maybe you have something similar in your discipline or maybe you have a general...