Assemble With Care
It occurred to me recently that the viva is a little like flat pack furniture: a wardrobe or chest of drawers that you have to assemble from eighteen pieces of wood with three kinds of screw and two very similar...
Daily viva help for PhDs
It occurred to me recently that the viva is a little like flat pack furniture: a wardrobe or chest of drawers that you have to assemble from eighteen pieces of wood with three kinds of screw and two very similar...
Most PhD candidates are given corrections to complete after the viva. Typically examiners give a list of typos, clear instruction on sections that need to be revised and so on. While they’re often not too numerous or too onerous, corrections...
A simple post! Here’s a list of ten things you can do in two minutes or less that will make a difference to your viva preparations. Find and download the regulations for thesis examination for your university. Check and make...
The time to prepare for the viva is after submission. There are many things you could do before submission that could help – and a lot you do while finishing your thesis will build you up for the viva –...
A little tip for viva prep that can also be applied to any project: whenever you finish a period of activity or a task, leave a note for yourself of the first action you’ll take when you do more work....
It’s not a quiz. You need to know a lot, of course, but you’re not expected to have rapid recall or a photographic memory of your research and your thesis. It’s not an interview. You might choose to dress smart,...
At submission you can apply everything you’ve done and learned to make your thesis the best it can be. It takes time but you can do it because you’ve been doing it for so long already. After submission you can...
There’s a time frame for completing your PhD, for preparing for the viva and for engaging with it on the day. Each is measured differently of course! Years for a PhD, weeks for preparation, hours for the viva. You might...
Starting the viva could make you feel a minute or two of nervousness. Your examiners will know this might be the case, so will respond accordingly. Simple questions to get things started. Perhaps a presentation, requested in advance, to give...
You don’t need to have done perfect research. You don’t need to have written the perfect thesis. You can’t have done every possible task in preparation. You don’t need to have an answer for everything. You don’t need to be...