I Don’t Know
“I don’t know” is not the end of the viva. It’s not a stain against your name. It doesn’t mean that you automatically lose. It means you didn’t know something. If you don’t have information, what do you have? I...
Daily viva help for PhDs
“I don’t know” is not the end of the viva. It’s not a stain against your name. It doesn’t mean that you automatically lose. It means you didn’t know something. If you don’t have information, what do you have? I...
Viva candidates pretty much have all the answers. That’s not because the viva is easy or the questions are predictable or because candidates can somehow prepare for every possibility. The viva’s not a quiz game. Some questions in the viva...
Practice for the viva, through a mock viva, a mini-viva, a meeting or even just a chat with friends, is essential: you have to build confidence that you can respond to questions. But even more important is building confidence that...
A while back I published a post, The Fourth Option, which summarised how candidates could respond to tricky questions in the viva. This was specifically about situations where a question seems hard to respond to, or even perhaps seems unfair, but...
A question you have not considered. A question that surprises you. A question that does not seem relevant. These questions could be scary: if the goal of the viva is to engage in discussion then a question you have not...
I try to be careful in my choice of words. Recently I’ve started to use the word response instead of answer when I explore viva questions with PhD candidates. Because of talks, quizzes, game shows, tests and the basics of...
Patience is a virtue for a PhD candidate. It takes time to explore literature. It takes time to think and work your way to write up a thesis. It takes time to complete a PhD. It takes time to prepare...
At the time I went to my viva, just over eleven years ago, I didn’t know for certain that I was finished with my research. I was 90% sure that I wasn’t going to get any kind of academic position,...
Going blank in the viva isn’t a big problem. The potential for it might feel worrying, but typically it doesn’t happen that much. If it does happen there are things you could do. You can take your time, you can...
A couple of thoughts… The question might not have an “Answer”. Your response might be, “I don’t know.” The only answer anyone could give might be, “I don’t know.” Your response could be a hunch, a theory, an idea, a...