Daily viva help for PhDs
An incomplete list of ways to read your thesis in preparation for your viva. At the last minute: waiting until the day before to cram it into your brain! Casually and without care: just reading whenever and wherever with no...
To get ready for your viva you need to focus on the whole of your research, your thesis and your PhD journey. You need to know that your examiners could ask you about everything: why you did the work, how...
There’s a lot in your thesis. You created a record of what you did, how you did it and why that matters. Whatever the format or discipline, your thesis describes problems that you’ve solved or addressed. You might share hints...
Reading your thesis is an essential viva prep activity, but it’s not for the purpose of memorising a book. You don’t have to be ready to recall everything you’ve ever done or written in your viva. You read your thesis after...
When you sit down to read your thesis for the first time after submission try to do the following: Read everything. Don’t skim past things you think you know. Read every word. Read for pleasure. Don’t second-guess what you’ve submitted;...
Read your thesis, at least once, before your viva. Once might be enough to help you recall the general flow of what you’ve set out and remember the most important details. Write out a paragraph for each key project you’ve...
In my Viva Survivor sessions I cover a lot of different topics, including a good half an hour on practical steps to take between submission and the viva. Here’s the 1-minute version! Read Your Thesis. No excuses, don’t skim, read...
In preparing for the viva you have your thesis, your knowledge, your talent… …and a lot of things potentially in your way, stopping you from getting ready! Busy days, family ties, worry, uncertainty over what to do – there’s lots...
It’s important to read your thesis as part of your viva prep to refresh your memory: a valuable check against mistaken impressions and details gone astray. It’s useful in another sense of the word too: the modern, computing sense where...
When you come to viva preparation time you will read and re-read your thesis. And you will find typos. That’s to be expected: spellcheck won’t catch everything, and neither will you. It’s not so bad though: make a note of...