Not Knowing
The more I do, the more I find I don’t know! This sentiment was shared by a generous participant at a recent viva help webinar I ran. Before I had a chance to respond the chat was filled with thumbs...
Daily viva help for PhDs
The more I do, the more I find I don’t know! This sentiment was shared by a generous participant at a recent viva help webinar I ran. Before I had a chance to respond the chat was filled with thumbs...
There are PhD games that people play that are ultimately not fun or helpful. They’re founded in perfectionism and not knowing what’s expected. Playing them seems like a good idea sometimes, but is ultimately frustrating. Don’t play those games. Don’t...
Your thesis is not written for your examiners. You have to write it for your PhD and your examiners have to read it to examine you. It’s not written for them – the goal is to make a contribution to...
A lion is capable of catching mice for food, but if it spends all of the time doing so it won’t survive. A gazelle could be harder to hunt for but will, if caught, provide everything the lion needs. That’s...
You can’t somehow look ahead and know the outcome of your viva. You can take a good guess that it will be a pass and minor corrections. You can’t grab hold like a birthday present and give it a squeeze...
It’s early in the year for spring cleaning, but I have been sorting out my office space and shelves recently. Last summer I was struck by a notion, I wish I could remember where I read it, but (paraphrasing) it...
You’re not in control of your viva and the situation around it. You’re not totally out of control either. You can’t control who your examiners are, not directly… …but you can control what you know about them through research before...
Wishlists for presents and wishlists for the viva are two very different things. For presents you’re telling others, “If you can, if you want to, can you please get me this?” For the viva you’re saying, not asking, “These are...
At the end of your PhD, you could say, “I don’t know how to run that type of an experiment,” or “I don’t know about that topic,” or “I never read that paper,” and feel bad… …or you could choose...
It’s not always easy to put exact numbers on the viva. Consider: The number of mistakes in your thesis will be less than the number of good ideas you’ve had over the course of your PhD. The number of minutes...