When You’re Done…
…go tell someone what your viva was like. Tell them what you did to prepare. Tell them what made a difference. Tell them what happened in the viva. Tell them what questions came up. Tell them how you felt. Tell...
Daily viva help for PhDs
…go tell someone what your viva was like. Tell them what you did to prepare. Tell them what made a difference. Tell them what happened in the viva. Tell them what questions came up. Tell them how you felt. Tell...
If you think you can or you think you can’t, you’re probably right. (Henry Ford probably said something like this, but he probably heard something like it from someone else; see here) A reflection for today: if your viva is...
Candidates joke about these terms to describe the viva, but I think the joke masks real fears. They worry that examiners will come in and speak harshly, treat them or their thesis with a lack of respect. They worry that...
I had an idea for explaining the PhD process, a picture in my head that I described to my wife: Me: “PhD candidates are like salmon, swimming upstream to the source of ideas. It’s a difficult journey, long and tiring,...
In 2009 I went on a road trip across the USA. One day my friend and I saw a sign announcing, “PRAIRIE DOG TOWN!! See the world’s largest prairie dog!!” It was over one hundred miles away, and we laughed...
It’s GCSE results day in the UK. My wife and I tutored someone this year. At sixteen she was told the GCSEs were the most important exams she would ever take. If she didn’t do well she could not do...
Have you noticed there’s not a lot of love for the PhD process? Every stage seems to have some kind of negativity attached to how it’s described: First Year Funk: realising that what you wanted to do is harder than...