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Nathan

Best of Viva Survivors 2023: The Others!

Daily Post

Last week, between Christmas and New Year, I shared posts that collected some of my favourite writing on the blog from 2023. I like to round out the year like this but it’s hard to narrow down the lists of posts because there are so many that I’m fond of!

I shared posts on viva prep, surviving and confidence, but there were more posts I’m really proud of that didn’t neatly fit into one category or other. Rather than have them disappear into the ether of the Viva Survivors archive, here are five more of my favourite posts of 2023:

  • Putting In The Hours – a very personal piece, reflecting on my memories of my dad.
  • Surprising Questions From Candidates – surprising, not stupid! There are no stupid questions about the viva, viva prep and expectations 🙂
  • It Depends – Many questions about the viva have a response that starts with these two words!
  • My Atypical Viva – I remember lots of the little, weird details about my viva. It wasn’t like many others I’ve heard of – and at the same time it wasn’t so different either.
  • Was That It? – a little reflection on the day I submitted my final thesis.

Hope you find these five interesting or helpful!

Nathan

My Atypical Viva

Daily Post

Later this year I’ll “celebrate” fifteen years since I had my viva, and remembering that makes me realise one more time just how different my viva was to everything I’ve heard since about vivas.

Before I had my viva I was quite ignorant about the process. It didn’t occur to me until a few years afterwards that my viva was a bit odd:

  • My viva was in a quiet seminar room at the end of a corridor, but it was a room big enough for thirty.
  • I had been asked to prepare a presentation, not very common but an established viva practice. However, within two minutes of starting one of my examiners asked a question, which started the discussion. This was my viva: lots of questions, weaving occasionally back to my presentation.
  • My viva was four hours with a short break, which is quite long but manageable…
  • …but I was stood at the front of the room for the duration, near the projector and blackboard. My examiners were sat as if they were in the front row of a lecture. There was no chair at their table for me and I was never invited to sit down at any point.

On that last point I have, so far, found myself to be unique in my viva experience.

And despite all of that:

  • My viva followed the flow of the information in my thesis, like most do.
  • I had two examiners, like most vivas and they were clearly very prepared, as was I.
  • They asked lots of questions and treated me and my work with respect, even when they had criticisms.
  • I received minor corrections, like the majority of PhD candidates in the UK.
  • It felt like it was all over much more quickly than it actually was, time just flew by!

Every viva is unique. Some are more different than others! But all vivas follow key expectations and regulations. Read the rules, listen to stories and build up a good general picture that you can prepare for.