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Nathan

5 Questions To Ask Your Supervisor After Submission

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When it comes to asking for help from your supervisor a lot of focus is given to mock vivas. While these can be valuable, there are other questions you could ask that will help a lot. Here are five valuable questions to ask your supervisor:

  1. What do you need to know about your examiners’ work? You may know a lot, or have ideas, but it’s good to get another perspective.
  2. Are there any parts of your research they think your examiners could challenge? That doesn’t mean something is wrong, but it’s good to get thinking.
  3. What do they see your most important contribution as being? Again, you’ll have your own thoughts, but their opinion counts.
  4. What are the most recent papers or developments in your field? Explore what you might have missed while writing up your thesis.
  5. What do they do when they examine a thesis? Find out if there is a process that is common in your field, or at least get some ideas of how examiners think about the viva.

Your supervisor’s help doesn’t stop at submission. You might have to pick your moment or negotiate a good meeting time to discuss some of these topics, but they could all help a lot with your viva preparation. Think about it, then ask for what will help you the most.

Nathan

Reflecting on the Edited Bibliography

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I like the idea of making an edited bibliography as part of viva preparations: figuring out the core of your bibliography and where your research comes from.

You can go a step further than just making a list of your best references. Start with the following questions to really reflect on your research:

  1. Pick a paper. Why is it more valuable than many others in your bibliography?
  2. Which chapter is it most relevant to?
  3. How, explicitly, have you used it in furthering your work?
  4. What other papers does it connect up with in your edited bibliography?
  5. Are there any downsides to basing your work on this paper?
  6. Think about the whole list. How do these papers fit together?
  7. How many groups could you place them in, and how would you label them?
  8. What papers have you left out of your edited bibliography and why?
  9. If you could add one more paper to your edited bibliography, what would it be and why?

During your PhD, you dig into your field to help bring your research to life. During your viva prep, you can dig into your bibliography to help yourself even more.

Keep digging.

Nathan

Not Sure

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There are so many things PhD candidates could be unsure of…

I’m not sure what the rules are for examiners, who can and can’t be one.

I’m not sure how long I could get to do my corrections.

I’m not sure what to do to feel ready.

I’m not sure how to get rid of my doubts.

I’m not sure if my supervisor will run a mock viva.

These uncertainties drift around. It’s not unexpected that you could be unsure of something related to the viva.

The solution, thankfully, is straight-forward. Find out. Ask. Get sure.

Nathan

Bad Viva Advice

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Do none of these things.

  1. Ask your examiners, “Did you get the cheque?”
  2. Start with a joke: “Did you hear about the stupid examiners who missed the obvious plagiarism on page 25?”
  3. Shake a Magic 8-Ball after each question.
  4. Humblebrag.
  5. Plead ignorance: “I don’t know how it got in there!” When asked what you mean say, “Nothing! Nothing!”
  6. Preface every response with, “Well I’m no expert, but…”
  7. Sigh a lot.
  8. Ask if you can sit in-between your examiners. Before they answer, pick up a chair and say, “Come on, scooch.”
  9. Red Bull. Lots of Red Bull.

Candidates sometimes worry that they might do the wrong thing in the viva. Common sense rules. You’re going to have a great conversation with experienced academics about your long-term research project. Your instincts won’t lead you astray.

Thankfully there’s not a lot of bad viva advice out there. Listen for the good stuff, run it past your gut feeling. You’ll get it right.

Nathan

Three Useful Lists

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Make three lists for the viva:

  1. Things You Want Your Examiners To Ask You About
  2. Things You Want Feedback On
  3. Things You Do Not Want To Discuss

And then, of course, for every item you’ve listed, the first follow-up question is “Why?”

  1. Why do you want your examiners to ask questions about X, Y or Z? (are you proud, happy to share more, just plain enthusiastic?)
  2. Why do you want feedback on this? (you’re intrigued, you want to see how it’s come across, you want to develop it more?)
  3. Why do you want to avoid this? (you think it’s bad, you find it difficult to talk about, you’re sure there’s a problem?)

Reading and refreshing your memory helps. Reviewing your work helps more.

Nathan

In The Moment…

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…it’s possible that you forget something.

…it’s possible you don’t understand something.

…it’s possible that you realise something.

…it’s possible that you think about something.

…it’s possible that you doubt yourself.

…it’s possible that you convince your examiner.

…it’s possible that you know something no-one else does.

…it’s possible that you’re the expert.

…it’s possible that you’ve made a mistake.

…it’s possible that you’ve got the answer to that unexpected question.

There’s a non-zero probability of all of the above. They can depend on a lot of things, but there’s a chance they all could happen, good or bad. Focus on some and you can find help, focus on others and you’ll only find distraction. You get to choose what you focus on, and what you do as a result.

Remember: it’s impossible to get to the viva without doing the work. You’re the reason you’ve got this far.

Nathan

Helpful

Daily Post

Every now and then I look at the stats for the blog to see which of my posts have helped or resonated. Here are the ten most read posts from 2017:

  1. First Thoughts
  2. 9 Questions For The End Of The PhD
  3. Hierarchy of Worries
  4. Six Whys
  5. Who’s In The Room?
  6. Your Greatest Hits
  7. Cheatsheet
  8. Who’s Who
  9. Six More Whys
  10. The Perfect Thesis

There’s a mix of practical advice about preparation, reflections to get a candidate thinking and also discussion about examiners and worry. I’ve written on these themes a lot more on the blog, so you don’t have to look far beyond these posts to find something useful.

It’s also interesting because it gives me a perspective on what people find helpful and worth sharing. I’m really grateful whenever I see that someone has posted a link to one of my posts. The fact that these are the most read will help me to think about how I can do more to help people feel ready.

There’s lots of help on this blog, but there’s also lots of viva help elsewhere. Figure out what you need to feel ready and go looking.

Nathan

Three Whens

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It’s easy to forget the great stuff in the hustle and bustle of getting to submission and the viva. Draw on your past to remind yourself, if you need to, just how good you must be.

  1. When did you give your best presentation during your PhD?
  2. When did you have your biggest breakthrough or realisation?
  3. When did you have your best conversation with someone about your research?

The highlights of your journey are assets you can use in your prep. Don’t forget.

Nathan

GROWing a Plan

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I was reminded earlier this month of the coaching tool GROW, and how useful it can be to start conversations that help people change.

  • Goal: what is it you want?
  • Reality: where are you now?
  • Options: what could you do?
  • Will: what will you do?

When I heard this again a little thought started to form about the kinds of questions that relate to these words. I was at a three-day workshop on leadership, and as my friend described GROW to the participants it struck me that this could also be a neat framework to help someone prepare for their viva.

  • Goal: what does prepared look like for you? What are you working towards?
  • Reality: how much time will you have available? Who could help you?
  • Options: given your resources, what could you do to be ready? And what do you not have time for?
  • Will: how are you going to make time for what you need to do? When will you get the work done?

A short, four-step sequence for figuring out options or a plan for viva prep. There’s no sense in making a plan that won’t work for you.

It doesn’t need to take long to get to work.

Nathan

Counting Chickens

Daily Post

Don’t count your chickens before they’re hatched…

…especially with the viva…?

Don’t count them.

Spend your time counting something more worthwhile.

Count the number of days you’ve spent on your PhD.

Count the number of papers you’ve read and referenced.

Count the times you’ve made breakthroughs.

Count the times you’ve heard someone say, “Interesting…” after you’ve told them about your work.

Count the times you’ve stood up and presented.

Count the ideas that you’ve come up with.

Count the ways that you’re a better researcher now than when you started.

What does all of that add up to?

Nothing poultry.

(sorry, couldn’t resist!)

Don’t expect there to be nothing to challenge you in the viva, don’t expect to fail; know that you’ve got the tools and talent to meet the questions of your examiners. Instead of assuming you’ll pass, or worrying you won’t, do what you can to remind yourself of why you’re there and how that happened.

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