A Few Words on Corrections
By submission your research has to be good. You don’t get to that point by luck or by doing only bad work. But is your thesis perfect? Is it impervious to criticism? Probably not. Your examiners might have some notes...
Daily viva help for PhDs
By submission your research has to be good. You don’t get to that point by luck or by doing only bad work. But is your thesis perfect? Is it impervious to criticism? Probably not. Your examiners might have some notes...
I often tell people to do X, Y or Z in order to prepare for the viva, or give some idea of what to do to feel ready. I also like an idea that I first encountered via Tim Ferriss,...
I keep folders of articles and posts that I’ve found interesting in the past. Every few weeks I pick a few out at random. Either I find something useful I need to remind myself of, or I decide that I’m...
On the one hand: your examiners will have read your thesis carefully, formulated an opinion, come up with questions to ask and be ready to examine you and your thesis. On the other hand: you did the research, you wrote...
You can ask your supervisors for guidance. You can talk to colleagues about your ideas. You can even ask your non-PhD friends for help. You can’t ask your examiners anything before the viva, but you can do some work to...
My daughter will be four in the autumn. For some time now, “Why?” has been the most-uttered expression in and out of our house. Why is the sky blue, why did you say that, why are we having pasta for...
In a workshop a few weeks ago someone asked, “How can you keep the viva short?” I took a long pause before answering. My answer: “Not much.” You can answer questions well – providing the information or analysis requested, explaining...
I’ve heard there are three common responses to anxiety or fear: freeze, fight or flight. Now, my PhD is in pure maths, so I have no idea if that’s 100% right, but it got me thinking about stress over questions...
It would be great to know what your examiners think about your thesis. So awesome to know what questions they’re going to ask. Probably a relief to know what the viva is going to be exactly like. But. You can’t...
I record every question I get asked in workshops. The text document runs to over 15,000 words now. Over time I see trends and themes, and they help me to think about how I evolve the workshop. In particular I...