Fifteen
What should I include in a 15-minute summary of my thesis? The candidate asking me this had been prompted by their examiners to prepare a presentation to start their viva. This isn’t a common situation, but it’s one way to...
Daily viva help for PhDs
What should I include in a 15-minute summary of my thesis? The candidate asking me this had been prompted by their examiners to prepare a presentation to start their viva. This isn’t a common situation, but it’s one way to...
A little nudge to start viva preparations: Find five papers in your bibliography that have really supported you and your research. Find five people who can help you get ready for your viva. Find five days that you can take...
You need to read your thesis to get ready for the viva. Then look deeply. Really look. What do you see? What are the structures of your chapters like? How do your chapters connect? What are the key points in your...
It has to be a top ten rather than the top ten, because there are so many useful things that one could do to get ready for the viva! Sketch a post-submission timeline. Stick a Post-it Note at the start of each...
When you submit, you’ve done a lot already that helps you in the viva. After submission you have an opportunity to do a little more work to help you get ready. If your viva is over video, you can do...
Annotating your thesis is useful viva prep. You have to really think about your thesis while you do it and you create a more useful resource for afterwards. I have general ideas I think are good for annotation, but every...
Do have a mock viva because they’re generally seen as a useful part of viva preparations, but… …don’t have a mock viva if you want to go through a script. …don’t have a mock viva if you’re not prepared. …don’t...
Hopefully, as it’s a public holiday in the UK, you can have some downtime today. I hope you can rest. If your viva is coming soon and you want to think a little about it, here are nine little posts...
If you can mark off most of the following then you’re good to go for the viva: I did everything I needed to for submission. I’ve read my thesis at least once since submission. I’ve checked out my examiners’ recent...
Take a single sheet of paper, your thesis and half an hour to an hour and you can make something really useful for your viva prep. A summary of something, answers to a few key questions or thoughts on what...