Daily viva help for PhDs
What do you think it will feel like to wake up the day after your viva?
How might you feel if you were to look at a list of requested corrections?
What do you think it will feel like to be told you’ve passed?
How will you feel when you shake someone important’s hand at graduation?
And assuming that some of the above are positive or good expected feelings, what are you going to do between now and your viva to get to that reality?
After submission you need to prepare for your viva – but you also need to prepare for life after the PhD.
For some that could be simple (or welcome!) but for all candidates, particularly those who have attachments to physical spaces, people or even access to resources, consider:
If you’re not sure if you plan to continue with research in some way, then really think about what you need to take home. Do you need all your notes? Do you need all of your papers?
Whatever you need to do, remember that life goes on. You will continue to have opportunities to show your ability and knowledge. Reflect on what you are taking away from your PhD journey – and remember that all of that talent and capability is available to you in your viva as well.
Viva Survivors Summer Sabbatical: I’m taking July, August and September off from new writing to concentrate on other creative projects, so will be sharing a post from the archives every day throughout those months. Today’s post was originally published on February 11th 2023.
“Submitted is perfect” was a piece of thesis writing advice that jumped out to me on Twitter a few weeks ago. I wish I could remember where I saw it, though I imagine the person sharing it was not unique in expressing the idea. There are several ways that the advice could be interpreted, some very helpful and some much less so.
It was intended to mean that getting a thesis in is a big enough goal: a “perfect” thesis is one that is handed in on-time rather than one which is “perfectly written”.
A less helpful reading could be that a thesis is perfect when it is submitted – and that if someone receives corrections there must be a terrible problem or situation.
It’s important to know what corrections are. A typo. A passage that requires editing. An update. A change of structure to a paragraph or a reframing of ideas. Corrections are requested when there is something needed to make the thesis better – but only because the examiners recognise the value of the contributions within the thesis.
Corrections are one more step in the PhD process, not a sign of an imperfect thesis, nor a sign of a problem with your work.
Viva Survivors Summer Sabbatical: I’m taking July, August and September off from new writing to concentrate on other creative projects, so will be sharing a post from the archives every day throughout those months. Today’s post was originally published on March 14th 2023.
Take your time as you finish your thesis. You’ll never make it perfect but you can be proud it’s as good as you can reasonably make it.
Take your time as you get ready for your viva. Plan your prep and give yourself space to do the work without stressing or rushing.
Take your time in the viva. You don’t need to speak as quickly as possible – you can think, you can be clear and you can respond confidently.
Take your time after the viva to breathe and appreciate what you’ve done. Getting a PhD is not something that everyone does; at the very least it marks you out as someone capable and determined.
If you can, when your PhD is complete, take some time to think about what you’ll do next.
PS: the Viva Survivors Summer Sabbatical starts on Monday! A daily post from the archives all through the summer while I take a creative break after seven years of Viva Survivors 🙂
Find half an hour in the days after your viva to sit and reflect on what you’ve done.
You stayed determined. You learned and developed. You created something that no-one else has ever done and that many people can’t do. You built memories. You added to human knowledge and understanding. You succeeded.
Then you passed your viva.
And think, with all of that behind you, where could you go now?
You might have very certain plans, but they are only one possibility. You have risen to an incredible challenge. I choose to believe that you have many more opportunities ahead of you where you can show that you can do something truly special.
Find half an hour in the days after your viva to sit and reflect and remember: I did this – and I can do a lot more.
There are three general viva outcomes.
Minor corrections are minor: correcting typos, editing for clarity and amending diagrams. Most candidates are asked to complete minor corrections as a result of the viva.
Major corrections are unlikely: they account for very few viva outcomes proportionally. Requests from examiners are clear and if completed they still result in success and passing the PhD.
Getting no corrections is nice: of course! But it’s also only something that you can hope for. It’s worth acknowledging that writing is hard, writing a book is very hard and examiners spotting no typos or other corrections is unlikely.
Three outcomes. All, subject to completing any requests, result in success.
Rather than hope you’ll get through with none expect that you’ll have work to do and plan for when and how you will do that work after your viva.
Corrections. Amendments. Changes.
They’re called lots of things, but the requests for alterations to your thesis after the viva really are just the very last, final tweaks to make your thesis the best it can reasonably be.
The vast majority of candidates are asked to complete minor corrections. Perhaps your university calls them something different, but you’ll know what they mean: correcting typos, light copyediting, updates to diagrams or correcting errors.
Examiners don’t look for perfection. They don’t punish small mistakes. They want to give you the benefit of one more relatively quick chance to make some final changes. Then that’s it: you’re done, your thesis is done and now it’s headed for the library. Finished.
A little final polish is a good thing.
A few months after my viva, when my corrections were all completed, it was time to pack up the desk in my shared office.
I wish I had considered it properly at the time. Instead, I just packed everything into boxes. Things were grouped together, but I wasn’t sure of what I would be doing in the future. Maybe I would still do maths research at some point. Best to keep all of the papers, notes, books, curios, desk toys, excess stationery and bits and bobs – just in case!
When my wife and I moved in together a few years later I brought those boxes with me. When we were able to buy a house three years after that I took them with me again. More time passed. Finally, somewhere in the last five years I’ve been able to open the boxes and start to shed some of this stuff that I’ve been holding on to for over fifteen years.
In 2008 I should have asked myself:
It would have been helpful to ask these questions as I was packing up!
I think it could have helped a lot if I’d asked similar questions when I was getting ready for my viva too.
Did I need to focus on every page in my thesis and all of the papers and ideas I’d been thinking about? No! I could have been kinder to myself by being more focussed.
Were there things I could just let go of? Yes! So much. Ideas for developing my work further, ideas about whether things were good or not.
Were there things I was carrying around for a long time and just kept them with me? Yes. I took my nervousness in presenting as a sign that I wasn’t good at presenting or speaking. I carried that idea for a long time before I was able to set it aside.
There’ll come a time when you have to pack up your PhD. Maybe you won’t be moving offices or taking things home, but you’ll still have to say, “This is over, time for something else.”
Be kind to yourself. Pack up only what you need.
And start the process during your prep to help you focus on the work that will help you get ready. Take time to explore what you can let go of as well.
How good will it feel when those words are real?
How will you feel when your thesis is finished and submitted, you’ve had your viva, you’ve done whatever corrections you need to and – finally! – you’ve graduated?
Completing a PhD is a relatively rare thing: it might not seem that way because you’re surrounded by people who have done it or are working towards that goal! It’s unlikely you’ll ever have an experience quite like this in your life.
So take time to enjoy it if you can. Take time to record your thoughts and feelings. And take time to figure out what you can carry with you into whatever your next great challenge is.
It’s likely that you will have corrections to complete after your viva. You’ll probably still need to discuss your work with your supervisors. And it’s possible that you might want to do more work based on your thesis research, whether that’s as an academic at a university or just for your own private reasons.
And still the viva is most likely that one last time when you will have a chance to sit down and talk with an eager, interested audience about what you’ve been doing for years of work. Not just a part of it, not just a paper or a poster. Hours to talk about everything you’ve done and all that it means.
One last time.
Make the most of it.