Summary Fundamentals
A summary is an answer to a question. For a postgraduate researcher with their viva in the future the question could be: How can I describe this concisely? How can I explain this to a novice? How can I display...
Daily viva help for PhDs
A summary is an answer to a question. For a postgraduate researcher with their viva in the future the question could be: How can I describe this concisely? How can I explain this to a novice? How can I display...
There’s a time and a place for detailed plans, complex strategies and exhaustive lists. But figuring out everything you need to plan or do or check is hard. And when you get a list together it can be overwhelming. Instead,...
I often encourage people to use “top fives” to start a summary or reflection. Get a list of five going and you have something to build on. There’s a lot you can think about when you’re preparing for the viva,...
I work on experiential learning workshops several times a year. “Three Whats” is one of the techniques we use to get participants reflecting. Typically we’d use them in sequence to encourage reflection after an activity or task: What just happened?...
I’m rounding 2017 off with five days of link sharing for five different areas I’ve posted on this year. Today we’re exploring posts about questions. I love using questions to help people unpick all sorts of aspects of the viva,...
I’m rounding 2017 off with five days of link sharing for five different areas I’ve posted on this year. Today the focus is on acronyms and thinking tools that I think could be really useful for viva prep or thinking...
If that question seems too vague, consider: What did you not know at the start of your PhD but know now? What can you do now that you couldn’t at the start? What were the false starts and dead ends...
If you want to get opinions on taking your research further… finding homes for publications… anything connected with your future academic career… …there aren’t many people you could ask, who could base it on your work and not just offer...
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...
You do the research and write the thesis, but it doesn’t come from nowhere. You have to be good to do it, and you have to grow as you go along. You have to do the work, but you’re surrounded...