Refresh
It’s important to read your thesis as part of your viva prep to refresh your memory: a valuable check against mistaken impressions and details gone astray. It’s useful in another sense of the word too: the modern, computing sense where...
Daily viva help for PhDs
It’s important to read your thesis as part of your viva prep to refresh your memory: a valuable check against mistaken impressions and details gone astray. It’s useful in another sense of the word too: the modern, computing sense where...
If you’re unsure about some aspect of the viva – the process, expectations or even something as subjective as the tone – then the answer is simple: Figure out what questions you need answers for, then find people who can...
Need some help thinking of who could examine you? Start with these six questions to get a list of names: Whose work have you built on in a meaningful way? Who have you met at conferences? Who has a good...
You could be enthusiastic but untalented at the start of a PhD, and unsure but hardworking in the middle. The only explanation for getting to the end is that you’ve done the work and done it well. It’s not an...
What will they ask? What will they think? What will they say? How long will it take? What corrections will I get? What if I freeze? What if I don’t know? What if they don’t like it? You can’t answer...
Consider your examiners. Two people sat across the table from you and they’re interested. They’ve read your thesis, thought about it and now have questions for you. You’ve got to answer their questions to pass, but maybe you can get...
Don’t make assumptions about why a question is being asked in the viva. Don’t answer a question without listening and understanding it first. Don’t bluff, evade or lie. Don’t hope for a particular finish time. Don’t expect the viva will...
They’re not always looking for answers. Viva questions aren’t unfair, but they might not always be asked with the expectation of a definitive answer. It could be they simply start a discussion. You might not know, your examiners might not...
It’s really tempting to have a couple of answers tucked away for the viva, ready for the obvious questions you’ll almost definitely be asked. But how do you know you’ll definitely be asked those questions? If you’re not, you’ll be...
What did you not put in your thesis? As my submission got closer there were several ideas I worked on which didn’t make it into my thesis. One little project was just too big in the end, and I couldn’t...