The Puppet Problem
Or, Ideas That Have Not Found Their Moment… For about three years, I have wanted to make a series of (hopefully funny) videos to help PGRs get ready for their viva. I would do these with a puppet co-star. Through...
Daily viva help for PhDs
Or, Ideas That Have Not Found Their Moment… For about three years, I have wanted to make a series of (hopefully funny) videos to help PGRs get ready for their viva. I would do these with a puppet co-star. Through...
In the final year of a PhD it’s not hard to get swept up in the emotions and actions of everything that you need to get done. Finishing research, finishing writing-up, working towards whatever will come after the PhD and...
Thesis done? Submitted? Take at least two weeks off. Take two weeks away from reading your thesis, making notes or trying to unpick what all that work has been about. There is plenty of time to prepare for the viva....
My thesis could be described as a collection of six chapters that all explored different niches in my field of maths. I have a couple of appendices that contain summaries of results and listings of computer code. It’s all self-contained...
Submitting your thesis is a massive achievement. When you reach that point, take a couple of minutes to revel: you did it! You’ve come a long way and you’ve not far to go by comparison. It could still be difficult,...
I was at Edge Hill last month to do a workshop. A participant asked me what they could do to prepare with about a year to go until their viva. They were interested at the various stages, i.e., what could...
At the end of the PhD, when can you stop? When can you accept that what you’ve done is the best that it can be? Think about this, decide on what “best” is. Set it as your target. Now, when...
Isaac Asimov: “Writing, to me, is simply thinking through my fingers.” I found this in one of those quote lists that are everywhere. I like lists, but I love the gems buried in them, and this is a gem. Asimov’s...