I Like Hope…
…but don’t just hope that your viva will go well. Don’t just hope that you’ll feel fine on the day. Don’t just hope that you’ll get the right questions. Don’t just hope that your examiners are a good fit. Don’t...
Daily viva help for PhDs
…but don’t just hope that your viva will go well. Don’t just hope that you’ll feel fine on the day. Don’t just hope that you’ll get the right questions. Don’t just hope that your examiners are a good fit. Don’t...
It’s not uncommon to look at your examiners and feel overwhelmed. They’ve read more. They’ve done more. They probably know more. You’ve had a few years to learn how to do research and to write your thesis; they’ve had so...
What if I hadn’t done enough? What if I needed more results? What if my examiners didn’t see what I saw in my work? After years of work and months of writing up, as my page count crept towards 200,...
Two ways to get away from failing. You could just not try. Failing seems like such an awful thing, best stop now and not go for it. Remove the possibility of failure. Forget all about this doctorate business. It wasn’t...
“Do publications mean my examiners are more likely to pass me?” Yes, but not for the reasons that I think are behind the question. Candidates asking this are really wondering, “Will my examiners add those papers into the balance of...
…but they’re not a sign that something is wrong. Nerves are a signal you’re feeling stressed or excited or anxious about something. The physical and mental discomfort doesn’t mean you definitely have a problem. There’s a strong correlation between recognising...
If you have your thesis done and your viva coming up, it’s because you did the work and you developed yourself. Simple to say, but these things don’t just simply happen. What were the big moments along the way? Everyone’s...
There’s no rush necessary in your viva preparations or in the viva UNLESS you make it that way. Fail to think through what you need to do and you might make things pressured. Fail to prepare for how you’ll act...
How do you feel? Happy, sad, excited, nervous, elated, terrified – that mix of emotions could be all in one hour. I ask PhD candidates how they feel, but their response is a snapshot, that moment or how they’ve felt...
Superheroes all have origin stories: the tales that show why they are the way they are. Some parts show their beginnings, or how they got their powers. Some chapters show why they’re driven to do what they do, but taken...