Ten Helpful People
There are lots of people around you who could help you get ready for your viva. While you might do most of the work by yourself, there’s a lot you could find from others: Two supervisors, maybe more: they’ve seen...
Daily viva help for PhDs
There are lots of people around you who could help you get ready for your viva. While you might do most of the work by yourself, there’s a lot you could find from others: Two supervisors, maybe more: they’ve seen...
What do you need to know about your examiners? What will help you to feel happy about them being the ones asking questions in your viva? Google is your friend. You can check out your examiners’ staff pages and their...
In the viva your examiners have freedom to ask about everything in your thesis. They can also ask about anything that isn’t in there. You have to have boundaries for your research. You can’t do everything, but you’ll probably think...
You don’t get to choose your examiners, officially, but you can have a conversation with your supervisors about who might be a great examiner for your viva. Make sure you do that. You don’t get to veto potential examiners either,...
You need to talk about them with your supervisors. You need to know why they’re a good choice. You need to know why they might be interested in your work. You need to explore their research. You need to think...
You don’t get to formally pick your examiners, but you can usually steer the selection in conversation with your supervisors. They’re the ones who have to sign off on the choice. As you’ll likely be consulted, it’s a good idea...
If your examiner tells you they don’t like something in your thesis you have options: You could say sorry, and do whatever they say as a result. You could stare them down, insist that you’re right, and see what happens....
It can be useful to think through the pros and cons of different things related to your viva: Whether you start preparing for the viva a month or two weeks before the viva… Whether or not you try for an...
About six weeks ago I watched as a dozen children almost went to war in my living room. The reason? Pass The Parcel. It was my daughter’s fifth birthday party, and she’d insisted on playing a lot of games, including...
Need some help thinking of who could examine you? Start with these six questions to get a list of names: Whose work have you built on in a meaningful way? Who have you met at conferences? Who has a good...