Over The Top!
The viva is big, important and can feel a bit scary. You need to be prepared but that doesn’t mean you have to make heroic efforts to get ready. Reading your thesis once is probably enough! A mock viva and...
Daily viva help for PhDs
The viva is big, important and can feel a bit scary. You need to be prepared but that doesn’t mean you have to make heroic efforts to get ready. Reading your thesis once is probably enough! A mock viva and...
You might not know your viva date at submission. Confirmation could come weeks after you have submitted. In some cases a candidate might only get two weeks warning of a viva date (assuming that the date works for them too)....
Today is the 2500th daily post of Viva Survivors. I take a few days off each year for Christmas and with sharing the occasional webinar and my Kickstarter last year there’s been more than two-and-a-half thousand blog posts, but today...
Viva prep gives space to review and reflect, highlights important information and allows you to rehearse the kind of work you’ll do in the viva. Viva preparation is a series of actions leading to success. Do the work and you’ll...
Again and again this year I am reminded of a lesson I’ve heard many times. “Getting started changes everything.” When I was wondering what to do exactly for 101 Steps To A Great Viva or how to run a Kickstarter, getting...
To do research and write a thesis you have to be pretty smart. You must know lots and understand many complicated and complex facts. However, to get ready for your viva you don’t have to do anything especially complicated: Make...
I can’t believe I’ve never shared this before! It’s this one weird trick that helps with the viva!! One thing that universities, examiners and PhD graduates don’t want you to know!!! Whatever discipline you are in, however long you have...
There’s a general expectation that a candidate will pass their viva if they’ve submitted their thesis. The pass rate is so high that reaching that stage is a really good sign that success will follow in due course. But the...
There’s no single right way to select examiners. There’s no best criteria for deciding whether you should have you supervisor at your viva. I can think of many options for planning out and completing viva prep. I have a lot of suggestions...
When the date is in the diary your viva is going to happen whether you’re ready or not. Don’t agonise over the date. Don’t fret about what might happen or what your examiners might ask. Instead do the work. Do...