Daily viva help for PhDs
What do you think it will feel like to wake up the day after your viva?
How might you feel if you were to look at a list of requested corrections?
What do you think it will feel like to be told you’ve passed?
How will you feel when you shake someone important’s hand at graduation?
And assuming that some of the above are positive or good expected feelings, what are you going to do between now and your viva to get to that reality?
A question for your supervisor: how does your thesis meet the expectations of your discipline?
A question for your graduate school: in their experience, are there any common difficult points in the viva process for candidates?
A question for friends who have PhDs: what surprised you about your viva?
A possible question for your examiners at your viva: what did you think?
A question for you: what do you need to feel ready for your viva?
PS, one more question: what else do you need to know about the viva? Come and ask me all your questions at my Viva Survivor webinar on March 27th 2025. Registration is open now if you’re looking to find out more about the viva, viva prep, expectations and building confidence.
What was your motivation for doing a PhD?
What was the motivation for exploring the topic that lead to your research contribution(s)?
Has your motivation changed during the course of your research?
What topics or themes motivate your examiners?
What questions do you think will motivate the discussion in your viva?
What will keep you motivated as you get ready for your viva?
And what motivates the personal confidence you feel?
Or another way to think about many parts of the PhD and viva process is always to look a little deeper and ask “Why?”
Video games have been a big part of my pandemic coping strategies. Interactive stories, complex challenges, puzzle solving and sometimes great big emotional experiences to distract me from the background of life right now.
Save points have featured a lot too: either specific locations within a game where I have to pause and record my progress or a menu option that takes me out of the moment so I can make sure my journey through the game’s experience is recorded.
Save points are useful in viva prep too for keeping you on target. Rather than simply record your state for the next time, a prep save point could act as a very quick review – a growing record to look at and know that you are getting closer to being ready.
Any time that you take time to get ready, as you finish, just ask yourself:
Each time you finish some prep task respond to these, quickly, a few words or sentences for each. Two minutes to capture something that helps prove to yourself that you are getting ready.
You are getting closer to that big achievement of passing your viva.
Viva Survivors Summer Sabbatical: I’m taking July, August and September off from new writing to concentrate on other creative projects, so will be sharing a post from the archives every day throughout those months. Today’s post was originally published on February 13th 2021.
If you’re looking for a way to share a summary of your research, as you might in the viva, think Why-How-What:
Every time you give a summary of your work you get to try new ways to communicate what’s important. These questions are only the beginning, you might want to elaborate. You have to start somewhere though.
Viva Survivors Summer Sabbatical: I’m taking July, August and September off from new writing to concentrate on other creative projects, so will be sharing a post from the archives every day throughout those months. Today’s post was originally published on September 22nd 2017.
Viva preparation starts after submission, but the right questions – asked in advance – can help you submit well and set up your success in your preparation and viva. Before submission, ask your supervisors the following and build on these in discussion:
These questions will not paint the whole picture for your thesis, your preparation or the viva. They will be a good start. You can trust that your supervisors want you to pass, and want to give you appropriate assistance.
Use these discussions to help your submission and state of mind as you head towards the viva.
Viva Survivors Summer Sabbatical: I’m taking July, August and September off from new writing to concentrate on other creative projects, so will be sharing a post from the archives every day throughout those months. Today’s post was originally published on February 19th 2020.
There’s a few key things it would be good to know around submission time. Questions which occur to candidates all of the time, but which I very rarely have answers for because they’re particular to their institution. If you’re submitting soon, find answers to these questions:
You’ll likely pick up answers to most of these questions by osmosis during your PhD. It’s within your power to find answers to all of them, and find out how things are done at your university.
If your answer to Question 7 is anything other than “nothing” then find someone who can help. It’s up to you.
Viva Survivors Summer Sabbatical: I’m taking July, August and September off from new writing to concentrate on other creative projects, so will be sharing a post from the archives every day throughout those months. Today’s post was originally published on December 11th 2017.
I encourage candidates to reflect on their research, their examiners’ publications and think about how these things connect. It’s useful advice but at the same time a little vague. What concrete steps can candidates take? It isn’t always clear to know what to think or do, so here are eight questions to get the process of digging deeper started:
Saying “reflect” is easy; doing it can be hard. Use these questions to start the process, and if you find other questions that help then share them.
Viva Survivors Summer Sabbatical: I’m taking July, August and September off from new writing to concentrate on other creative projects, so will be sharing a post from the archives every day throughout those months. Today’s post was originally published on September 25th 2018.
Good answers don’t just appear on the day.
Good answers to your examiners’ questions happen because you’ve done the work.
Good answers happen because you know things.
Good answers happen because you’re talented.
I think great answers in the viva come when you give yourself a few extra seconds to think…
…what else do I know?
…is that the best thing to start with?
…what did I say in my thesis?
…what did I do like this in my research?
A few seconds can make good into great, but don’t stress.
Good is enough.
Viva Survivors Summer Sabbatical: I’m taking July, August and September off from new writing to concentrate on other creative projects, so will be sharing a post from the archives every day throughout those months. Today’s post was originally published on July 14th 2018.
It’s possible your research went down a path you didn’t choose. Your supervisor insisted. You followed. Whatever that meant for your research, you still disagree with the approach or idea now.
OK.
…That’s it. You disagree. That’s OK. Disagreement by itself is not a problem.
Did it stop you doing your research? Did it remove possibilities? Did it help the research but was tricky to do? Was it a tough conversation?
What’s the real problem?
If there’s something to explain in your viva as a result, you might want to think carefully about the words you use. If there is bad feeling, think about how you express that if you want to – but who would that help? You can still say you disagree with something from the course of your research.
Explore and explain. If there was disagreement with your supervisor about something, it would be good to reflect before the viva so you have key points to reference if you need to talk about it.
Disagreement by itself is not a problem: the situation might be, but the disagreement itself is not.
OK?
Viva Survivors Summer Sabbatical: I’m taking July, August and September off from new writing to concentrate on other creative projects, so will be sharing a post from the archives every day throughout those months. Today’s post was originally published on May 9th 2020.