Daily viva help for PhDs
Where peers are your friends, colleagues, acquaintances and whatever other titles you can think of!
Ask about their vivas. Ask about their experiences. Ask what they know about the viva.
Ask them what they did to get ready and if they have any advice (but only if they will offer suggestions and not instructions).
Ask them to help you if it’s appropriate.
Seek help now. Offer help later.
I’m enjoying a nice summer break, but while I do I am missing sharing viva help in webinars. Before 2020 I’d already delivered viva sessions and workshops for a decade.
With all of that combined experience – as you might imagine – I’ve been asked a LOT of questions about the viva. From the hyper-specific to the incredibly-vague and the super-practical to the ultra-hypothetical, thirteen years later I’m still asked questions that I’ve never been asked before.
And I’ve been asked more than a few questions that really surprise me. For example:
Sometimes, when I’m asked a question, the person apologises, “Sorry, this might be a stupid question-” and I always cut them off. There are no stupid questions when you’re looking for information or trying to learn more, particularly at a webinar about the PhD viva.
There are no stupid questions, but there are questions that are surprising to me.
I’m surprised that some of what people don’t know about the viva isn’t just shared by supervisors. I’m surprised it’s not passed on through peer groups. I’m surprised that candidates don’t know that they can have a break, for example, or that examiners aren’t trying to be mean.
But they’re not stupid questions. I’m always glad to make a space that could help.
I would encourage you, to help your communities and culture, do pass on what your viva was like. Share to help build up the general sense of what to expect.
Viva prep doesn’t take much, space it out, don’t overstress yourself by trying to do too much in too short a time-
Good advice but if you are really under time pressure, if you just feel stress because of your work or your life, and if the thought of adding more to that feels terrible, the words above won’t help.
If you are overwhelmed you still need to prepare. If you are overwhelmed it might be difficult to think straight. Very simply then:
You’re the only person who can respond in the viva, but until then you have a lot of people around you who would support you practically if they knew you needed it. You have work to do to get ready for your viva – but you are not alone.
Little things add up. Your supporters will help. And it will get better.
It’s clear that most PhD vivas results in success.
Ask your graduate school. Look online. Talk to people who have been through the process. The vast majority succeed. Corrections are part of the process and not a failure or setback. The process of doing a PhD, submitting a thesis and having a viva is not perfect, but it tends to work.
So accurately predicting success as the outcome of submission and the viva is simple.
Candidates succeed at the viva for very similar reasons, even when their research and theses could be very different. They succeed because they did the work, they wrote a good enough thesis and became a capable researcher. In the viva, they were able to demonstrate everything they needed to in order to pass.
Accurately predicting failure is much, much more challenging. Candidates pass for very similar reasons. They fail for very different, personal ones. It’s hard to know in advance.
Worry and nervousness isn’t enough. The vast majority of candidates succeed and most of them are in some way nervous about their viva! If you genuinely feel concerned that you’ve missed something or that something isn’t good enough, talk to someone. Talk to your supervisor. Talk to your graduate school. Talk to friends and colleagues and anyone who could help and ask them, “Do I really have a problem here? Am I just a little nervous? What can I do?”
Get help if your thoughts are turning to failure. It’s extremely unlikely, but finding a way that you can work towards success is much better than trying to assess how likely it is that you’re headed for failure.
If you check the viva regulations and talk with friends who have been through the process then you can start to appreciate the possible timing of your viva. Ask how long people had to wait for a viva date and how much time they were given to complete corrections.
Details help because at some point it will be your turn, your time – and like everyone your time is filled up already.
You have work and family and friends. You have responsibilities, obligations and the things you actually want to do. You have enough stuff already in your life and with your viva there will be new things to do.
Check the regulations and ask your friends to get a sense of when and how you’ll need to do things for your viva. Use the information to plan for how this will impact your life.
Too often the viva is thought of as only a negative experience.
Questions, Examiners, The End, Stress, Worry, What If, Failure, The Unknown…
In advance of the viva, for many very understandable reasons, a candidate could expect it is going to be a bad experience. The viva is a necessary part of the PhD process in the UK, but also one that is a little unclear. It’s an exam so thinking about it can be a little worrying. It involves examiners and discussion – which can make thinking about engaging with the viva more than a little concerning.
The viva and the outcome really matter. The viva is important. Hypothetical questions about what might happen and worry about failure are reasonable.
You can’t simply change a negative opinion of the viva. You have to find out more. Ask friends about their experiences. Check the regulations and prepare yourself to meet the expectations you find there. You might still continue to think of the viva as hard or difficult, but it doesn’t have to be a negative experience.
Your viva is a necessary part of your PhD journey. It doesn’t have to be a bad part.
We can look at all of the numbers for the viva – pass rates, lengths, percentages of candidates told they’ve passed at the start, correlation of questions and disciplines – and see lots of little details about the general expectations.
We can listen to the stories of candidates – what they did, what happened, how they felt and what that meant for them – and we’ll build a real sense of the viva experience.
The numbers help but certainty of what to expect and what to do is only going to be found by asking people about their experiences. Ask the right people the right questions and you’ll know what you need to do and what you can expect for your viva.
Statistics about the viva help, but stories about the viva help more.
Your supervisors, colleagues, friends and family can do more to help than simply wish you the best.
Your supervisors can offer focussed support, a mock viva and the benefit of their experience.
Colleagues can provide a sympathetic ear, share expectations and ask relevant questions.
Friends and family can help make a good space for you to get ready. If you tell them more of what you’re going through they can help make a difference to your prep and to your viva.
Practical support is much better than being wished good luck.
Doing your viva prep might mean that you need more space or time than you currently have. You already have a busy life and now there’s one more thing to do. It’s only for a limited time but it could feel like a lot.
Thankfully, taken together, all of the tasks you might do to get ready for the viva don’t amount to much. Making space to do them means, depending on how busy you are, just finding a little room:
Thinking ahead and planning can create the space and environment you need to do the work as stress-free as possible. You’re busy, but only a little space is needed to get your prep done.
You have many people around you who could give support as you get ready for your viva.
Ask your supervisor for help. Ask early in case they’re busy. Be clear so that they can support you. Check their availability to show you respect their time.
Ask your colleagues about their vivas. Explore common elements of viva stories to get a sense of what to expect. Find out if anyone has time to listen to you talk about your work or ask you questions.
Tell friends and family what you’re going through. A lot of viva prep work is all down to you but others can provide practical support to help you work well.
In the viva, you’re the only person who can engage with your examiners. Before then there are lots of people in your community who can help you get ready.
Ask for the help you need.