Daily viva help for PhDs
Survive means manage to keep going in difficult circumstances. I often tell candidates that getting ready for the viva could be summarised simply as “keep going”. If someone has got to submission they must be talented, knowledgeable and determined. Whatever challenges...
I finished my look back over favourite posts last year with the theme of “surviving” – a break with several years of tradition. 2020 was a hard year, 2021 has continued to be challenging, but it feels right to come...
Alas! There isn’t one. No shortcuts. No hacks. No loopholes. No tricks. No weird little things that will just make it all better. But you don’t need them. You need someone who has done the work. Someone who has put...
We hear survive and think of tragedy. Desperate situations. Almost impossible and yet somehow someone makes it through. Of course, given those associations, survive sounds scary. Survive sounds scary but survive means manage to keep going in difficult circumstances. Survive sounds scary...
It might take a lot of re-reading to remember something that you need to know. On the morning of my viva I knocked on my supervisor’s door to check the definition of something I had been using in my work for...
If you’re working towards your viva now you are so close to being finished. And to get this far you’ve already successfully completed many major milestones. Some you will share with other candidates, they’re part of the general PhD journey;...
Whether you feel good or bad as you finish your PhD journey, remember why you did this in the first place. What was your reason for starting a PhD? Why did you want to do it? Your why can help...
After many years of working in this area I still think survive is the best verb to associate with the viva. Manage to keep going in difficult circumstances. Survive doesn’t mean it’s going to be a struggle, but it doesn’t...
Before submission focus on getting your research completed and your thesis finished. After submission focus on getting your confidence raised for the viva through a little preparation. Before submission you don’t need to prepare for your viva. After submission...
If ever you’re tempted, by a hard day or a tough moment in your PhD to say one of the following, remember to add the word “yet”: I haven’t got it to work… I haven’t figured it out… I’ve not...