Lots Of Help
Did you know that there is a link on the Viva Survivors site that takes you to a random post? You can click here and the magic of the internet will, today, whisk you away to one of almost 2000...
Daily viva help for PhDs
Did you know that there is a link on the Viva Survivors site that takes you to a random post? You can click here and the magic of the internet will, today, whisk you away to one of almost 2000...
Even if you think you know it all, read your thesis before your viva. Even if you’re sure there’s no way you’ll forget any of your corrections, take a notebook to the viva. Even if you’re sure your examiners won’t...
In July, our daughter was in school and so my wife and I snuck to the cinema for a day-time date. Watching the movie on the big screen was amazing: the story, colour, the scale, the sound, all fantastic. A...
It is way too early for Halloween decorations. Some of my neighbours have had skeletons hanging in their windows and plastic pumpkins in their yard since the weekend! It’s very strange to me. Before thesis submission is way too early to...
Your final thesis can be annotated in preparation for your viva. While you might naturally be drawn to underlining typos or adding a few helpful words to the margins, paying attention to the references you cite can be a simple...
What do you do if you have an hour left until your viva and you feel a little nervous? You do something. You write a few sentences to describe your contribution. You check the bookmarks you have placed in your...
There’s always more you can do. More ideas to be pursued to add to your research. A new perspective or an extra thought to include in your thesis. Another paper to read. And another! All that proofreading and there will...
Instead of jumping straight into a long session of reading or note-writing, do one or two of these little things to get your brain warmed-up for viva prep! Pick a chapter in your thesis at random and write two sentences...
What can you do now that you couldn’t at the start of your PhD? What skills have you developed that you didn’t have when you began? What do you now know that you didn’t when you started your research? What...
Getting ready for the viva can feel hard sometimes. Reading your thesis, checking old notes and papers, finding time for a mock viva, and so on. The whole point is to get to a point where you feel ready. But...