How You Find Confidence
You have to look for it. If you want to feel confident for your viva it’s not enough to hope that you will feel good on the day. You have to do something before then to feel confident. Reflecting on...
Daily viva help for PhDs
You have to look for it. If you want to feel confident for your viva it’s not enough to hope that you will feel good on the day. You have to do something before then to feel confident. Reflecting on...
Looking in a mirror shows things reversed. Looking in a spoon shows things distorted. And reflecting on research doesn’t automatically reveal everything we want or need. Gathering thoughts or summarising ideas doesn’t tell the whole story. Focussing questions mean that...
Submitting your thesis can feel like a finish line has been crossed. Passing your viva could be the end – but for most PhD candidates there is another step of submitting corrections, then having them approved. Then there’s the final...
A long time ago I would regularly help to deliver residential learning programmes for researchers. Two or three days at an isolated retreat centre, long hours, creative project work, sharing ideas and experiences and thinking about what it all meant....
With hindsight my PhD journey feels a lot like the movie Groundhog Day. Every day was get up, go to the office, do some maths, go home, go to bed, get up, go to the office… And so on. There was...
Think back over the course of your PhD journey to date. What stands out to you as the greatest challenge you overcame? Reflect and explore what you remember. Why was the situation a challenge for you? How did you work...
Comfort, Stretch and Panic are a helpful trio to consider when challenging yourself. The first two words are helpful to consider as springboards for reflection in your viva prep. For Comfort, think about what skills or knowledge you’ve developed on your...
Take time to stop and think. Reflect on your PhD. Reflect on the journey. The peaks and troughs of hard work and difficult circumstances that have brought you this far. Not far to go now. Reflect on what you need...