Vivas and Sandwiches
If you order a sandwich in a cafe, you know there’s a certain set of expectations. Bread of some sort, in some shape; often two pieces or parts with a filling between them, generally simple and quick to produce. Lots of...
Daily viva help for PhDs
If you order a sandwich in a cafe, you know there’s a certain set of expectations. Bread of some sort, in some shape; often two pieces or parts with a filling between them, generally simple and quick to produce. Lots of...
There are clear contents: a candidate, a thesis, a research journey, some examiners, some preparation, some expectations. Shake them all up, just add questions. Unlike other packet mixes, you won’t know exactly how this confection will turn out in advance....
We can see stars directly. Some are big, some are small (relatively speaking), some are bright, some less so, but so long as nothing is in the way, they’re there. We can’t see black holes directly. They’re tricky, difficult to...
A good hour of viva preparation is like a short stack of profiteroles. What? What are you talking about? Consider a profiterole. A little globe of choux pastry, a delicious cream centre and a set chocolate top. Take a few...
How do you make a cuppa? I prefer it from a teapot, served in a cup with a saucer. I add milk after I’m sure it’s strong enough. Most of the time though I make it in a mug, a...
In Jenga, whatever your intentions, you might knock the tower down at any moment. Your actions or a misplacement by the last player might make things so unstable that the tower can only fall. It’s tempting to think of the...
Think of your thesis as a star. It shines, it’s powerful. It’s there because you’ve set it out in the cosmos of your research field. Somewhere in that vast space are the works of your examiners. They’ve done more; their...
The viva is, in some ways, a bit like a train journey… You have your ticket (thesis), you know your destination (graduation) but it’s right that the conductors (examiners) check you’re supposed to be there. There’s clear norms about what’s...