Your university will say, rightly, that you need to take a copy of your thesis with you to your viva.
The regulations will say that you need to have two examiners.
Good advice says that you need to invest a little time in viva prep and getting ready.
These are all general needs though. What do you need in order to succeed at your viva?
Make a list. Then consider how you could meet those needs. If you need to ask for help then ask. If you need to do something then do it. When your needs are all met you can feel better for your viva.
Figure out what you need to succeed at your viva – then figure out how to get as much of that as possible.
PS:if what you need is a little more help or a little more knowledge then take a look at Viva Survivor, my live webinar on Thursday 5th December 2024. Registration is open now and the fee includes a catch-up recording if you can’t attend the whole session.
It’s been refined over a hundred loaves and several years working at it. It’s a combination of ingredients and technique: from the ratios of flour to oil and water, how I prepare the baking sheet I use, the setting on my oven and the time I set on the timer (now 42 minutes rather than 40 to help get the crust just right).
I could give you the recipe and you would scratch your head a lot.
You set your oven to Gas Mark 5-and-a-half?!
What do you mean, leave it for “about” two hours to prove?!
Wait wait, a mix of 400g of “whatever bread flours” you happen to have???
There are elements of what I could share that would make sense. There are others that with a little thought you would be able to work around. And there are some which are only applicable to my kitchen, my house, my equipment.
I read books, watched YouTube videos, looked at what I had, looked at what I could get and with time, patience, practice, repetition, iteration and a smile on my face I found something that worked really well for me and my family. I could tell you all about it, but if you wanted to do something similar, you could only use what I shared as a starting point. You would have to take what I offered and build on it, although hopefully, I would save you some time in your quest to get your own recipe for success.
This train of thought is really about you, your research, your thesis, your viva prep, and about people giving advice.
Let’s assume it’s good advice! Even then, you have to make it work for you. You have to take ideas on writing, on reading, on working well, on finishing a thesis, on preparing for the viva and on being in it – all of that has to get mixed with you, your talents, your skills, your passions, your preferences. The work you’ve done, the worries you have and your situation. It takes time and work to make it truly useful for you. It might not be easy, but hopefully it won’t be as hard as starting with a blank page.
With a little time, a little practice, a little refinement – whatever stage you’re at – you can find your recipe for success. It might require tinkering, but so long as you persist, you can get it just right.
And once you have found your recipe for success – research success, thesis success, viva success – consider sharing it to help others in their work. Find a good way to tell your colleagues what’s helped you.
I’m keeping my bread a family recipe for now though! 🙂
It’s useful to get recommendations from others on lots of things connected with the viva.
Suggestions on what makes for good and bad examiners.
Ideas on what a good thesis looks like.
Tips for viva preparation.
Tools to help you get ready.
Advice on whether or not to have a mock viva.
Help with feeling confident before the big day.
There’s no one-size-fits-all approach for any of these though. Ask for help, listen to recommendations, then sift with the ideas you get from others to see how you might apply them to your circumstances.
And after your viva be prepared to offer your own recommendations. Couch them as best you can in terms of ideas only. Leave space for people to make their own decisions, rather than give them room to doubt themselves.
This is an extra post for today to announce that I’m running my 7 Reasons You’ll Pass Your Viva webinar again on Wednesday 20th May. I’ve enjoyed the challenge and delight of sharing new short webinars with PhD candidates recently. I asked on Twitter which session I should re-run and 7Reasons was the clear favourite.
Here‘s what I said the last time I delivered 7 Reasons You’ll Pass Your Viva – I can’t find better words to explain why I’m offering this session:
This is for PhD candidates who have their viva coming up and want to know why it’s going to be fine. Lots of people tell PhD candidates not to worry about the viva – relax, don’t stress, it’ll all be fine – sentiments which don’t always help because they often miss an important Why.
For some candidates, one thing – the right thing – can be enough to make the difference and help them feel certain about their viva. I have seven reasons to share…and my aim is to convince anyone coming that they will be fine for their viva. They may have work to do, things to check or prep to complete, but when the time comes, they can be ready. They will pass.
I was blown away by the response that the session got; it was great to see that something I’d done had really connected:
Thank you so much for the session today, it really resonated with me and I feel that little more confident. I haven’t submitted yet but I am this year and want to get as much preparation in as I can. I am attending the @LJMU_PGRs viva survivor next week too.
Today I’ve used Teams, Skype and Zoom for #webinars or #virtual meetings. But the best was definitely from @VivaSurvivors who offered some great #WednesdayWisdom I would recommend signing up for one of Nathan’s webinars if you’re lacking confidence or motivation with your #PhD
I hope you can join me next Wednesday. If you’re uncertain about what to do for your viva, how you should feel about it, or just need help then this 1-hour session is for you. There are full details at the Eventbrite registration link. 7 Reasons is free to attend, but if you can make a donation to help support the work that I do and the time that goes into providing it that would be really appreciated. If you can’t, please still come – I want this session to help anyone who needs it.
It will be like this. It will be like that. You need to do it this way. I did it that way.
Check this book. Listen to that podcast. My friend said this.
A friend of a friend had a nightmare experience. A friend of a friend of a friend FAILED.
My sister’s brother’s best friend’s dead dog’s former owner knew someone who had their viva and said it was no big deal, so what are you worried about?
Everyone has an opinion about the viva.
Ask a few questions. Listen to the answers. Decide for yourself. Keep doing good work.
Some time ago I had a request to do something on the academic job market and academic jobs. I had planned to do one long episode on academic jobs, but time and schedules worked against me in January. So I’ve decided to release a podcast now and follow it up with more interviews soon!
In this episode I’m interviewing Dr Katy Shaw – regular listeners will remember that I spoke to Katy in Episode 10, and she very kindly volunteered to share her experience on the podcast again. Katy is the Subject Leader for English Literature and a Senior Lecturer in Contemporary Literature at the University of Brighton. She is also the Director of C21: Centre for research in twenty-first century writings and can be found on Twitter as @DrKatyShaw.
I’ve had a lot of recent volunteers who should be appearing on the podcast soon sharing their stories. If you have any comments or questions, drop me an email or send me a tweet via @VivaSurvivors – and especially if you would like to share your PhD and viva experiences.
PS – I have a book out! Take a look, and if you read it and find it useful, please consider leaving a review. Thanks!
In Episode 9 I’m talking with Dr Nadine Muller, a lecturer in English Literature and Cultural History at Liverpool John Moores University. She received her PhD in English Literature from the University of Hull earlier this year for her thesis “The Feminist Politics of Neo-Victorian Literature, 2000-2010”. It was really great talking to Nadine about her research and her viva, as her field is something really different to my PhD research, and to the research of other interviewees in other Viva Survivors podcasts so far.
Nadine also has a great interest in supporting postgraduate and early-career researchers, so we had a lot to talk about. She is the creator of the #phdadvice hashtag on Twitter, a community sharing their experience of postgraduate research. Her Twitter handle is @Nadine_Muller.
Any questions or comments? Let me know, either drop me an email or leave them below. Share your postgraduate experience and advice with Nadine’s #phdadvice hashtag. And keep track of the podcast on Twitter by following @VivaSurvivors!
I’ve been asking a lot of questions recently via the @VivaSurvivors Twitter account. I wanted to know about the experiences of PhD graduates, even if that meant polling people in 140 characters or less. I had an inkling that people would share some really great advice. I was right! I’ll collect answers and share them on the blog over the next few weeks as I ask more questions. To start us off:
“What’s the best piece of advice you’ve been given about the viva?”
@NextScientist gave an encouraging reply:
@VivaSurvivors If you are doing the viva it is sure they are going to give you the PhD, so relax and enjoy
All of which is great advice! Thanks to everyone for sharing. I particularly like the advice from Selena Daly: the viva really is the longest time you’ll get to talk about your PhD research in that depth. With that in mind you can hopefully approach your viva with the same passion you’ve approached your research for the last three (four, five…) years!
More questions to come soon. If you have any more thoughts, then please continue the conversation in the comments. And if you have more questions about the viva, what are they? Let me know!
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