You Are Here

Tag: motivations and questions

Nathan

Best of Viva Survivors 2023: Viva Prep

Daily Post

It’s that time of year where I share my favourite posts from the last twelve months!

I always like to start my round-up posts with viva preparation as it’s a big part of the viva experience. The viva itself is done in a few hours, but preparation is often spread out over several weeks. Here are five helpful posts:

Look for more viva prep posts on the site, and look out for tomorrow’s post with my favourite reflections from this year.

Nathan

Motivations & Questions

Daily Post

There are three things your examiners have to do in your viva:

  • Explore your significant original contribution;
  • Unpick the hows and whys of your research;
  • Examine your capability as a researcher.

They have to do this. There’s a lot to talk about and a lot that could be brought up through the discussion, but as a starting point, consider how you would respond to these three questions:

  • Why would someone value your research?
  • How did you solve a difficult problem in your PhD journey?
  • What can you recognise as an area of growth in your ability?

Each question corresponds to a point from above; there’s more to ask, more to say and these are just starting points. But what would you say?