Significant

A PhD thesis needs to have a significant, original contribution in it. So a postgraduate researcher needs to make a significant, original contribution for it. Significant, original contributions (to research, to knowledge, to the world) don’t grow on trees. They don’t fall out of the sky. They don’t happen by accident.

If you’re feeling nervous or even afraid at the end of the PhD, weigh it against what you’ve done to get this far. The dedication and work you’ve put in tip the scales in your favour.

Not Lucky

Winning the lottery is lucky: you buy a ticket, or lots of them, and maybe yours is the one that wins. There’s no skill, it happens or not.

Winning a race is fortunate: you develop skill, and even if there are other skilled people taking part your skill wins out. It isn’t luck, because you didn’t leave it to chance.

One of these descriptions is like the viva, and one is not, despite both being about situations involving a great many people.

If you’re lucky, you did something but it wasn’t in your control really. It could have been anyone else who succeeded, and what you did didn’t particularly matter. If you’re fortunate, then something good has happened, but what you did made a difference. Success in the viva is fortunate, I think, because it comes down to your developing talent through the PhD and what you are able to show on the day.

This is how I put the line between lucky and fortunate; you might define them differently, but I think you take my point. If you’ve read a lot of posts on this blog then you’ll know it’s a recurring theme for me: success in your PhD and viva is down to your talent and is not just good luck. This is important for the story you tell yourself afterwards. Not “I was lucky with the questions I got,” but “I was fortunate that I had done the work and could answer their questions well.”

You’re fortunate, you’re not lucky.

The Perfect Thesis

If the perfect thesis exists, it’s not yours. No corrections is not a reasonable goal. If you’re not asked to do any corrections that doesn’t mean your thesis was perfect. It doesn’t mean that there’s anything “wrong” either.

Do some work, get some feedback, talk about it in useful ways, repeat a lot and do something that amounts to a significant, original contribution.

Chasing perfect is a way to drive yourself crazy. Make something that matters.

Lightbulb

I don’t know that it’s universal, but the lightbulb is a powerful symbol for making a connection. One second you don’t know something important, the next you do.

I remember being sat on a train in early 2005, less than six months into my PhD. I was waiting to go and visit a friend. Just as the train doors were closing something CLICKED in my head and I could see the answer to a problem. It was just a little one but one at the root of a bigger problem in my thesis. Just like that, it came to me. And while there was a lot more work to do, this one little insight allowed me to write three chapters of my thesis. There were harder problems in my PhD, but this is the time I remember when something just came to me. Weeks of reading, of doodling and noodling, and then CLICK.

When you have a real lightbulb moment, be grateful.

What else are you grateful for in your PhD?

Superpowers

My wife and I really enjoyed the Daredevil show on Netflix. For those who don’t know the character, Daredevil is a superhero who is blind but has super-senses. His hearing, sense of touch, smell and so on are so powerful that he has an advantage over people who can see. Of course, there are some things he can’t do, because despite his super-senses he still can’t see.

Nathan, this is a blog about a vivas and PhDs and stuff!

Oh yeah!

The character of Daredevil got me thinking about the viva. If you’re on your way to the viva you have a similar situation: you’re blind to what’s coming your way. You don’t know how long it will be, you don’t know what questions are coming, you don’t know what opinions your examiners have formed. There’s a lot you don’t and can’t know.

But like Daredevil you have an advantage: you have the experience of doing your PhD. You have 3+ years of work and thinking about your research, not just the thesis. You can’t see the question coming, but when it comes you know how to tackle it. Why? Because you have superpowers.

(Again, it’s no accident that you’re at the viva)

Interesting Challenges

Throughout my PhD I thought that I was particularly attracted to what I did because I loved the challenge of maths. Maths can feel like there is a secret language at work. If you know it, or know enough, then you can feel powerful. It’s hard to get to know enough, and then to build up enough intuition about how to apply this magic to solve problems.

After my PhD I realised that I loved having interesting challenges to work on, and for a long time maths had been filling that space for me. So I started looking for interesting projects. This blog is an interesting challenge to work on. I have to write a lot (and edit a lot). I have to do a lot of planning and scheduling. Interesting challenges are worth it. They stretch you. They develop you. They’re worth finding or making.

At the end of your PhD, spend some time thinking about the interesting challenges you had. What did you learn from them? How did you encounter them? What happened as a result? Your examiners will not necessarily launch into asking you about the interesting challenges of your PhD, but if you spend time reviewing them you’ll find rich ideas to reflect on.

Done

The day comes, you click print, and you’ve finished your PhD! Except for the viva.

You have your viva, it goes well, and you’ve finished your PhD! Except for corrections.

You take the time, do the work, finish your corrections and now you’ve finished your PhD!

But you have to wait until graduation.

Finally the day comes, you cross the stage, shake a hand and NOW you’ve finished your PhD! You’re done!

What now?

Just Another Day At The Office

Which is better, treating the viva as a Special, One Of A Kind, Big, Important, This-Is-It Event Day – or going to university like it’s a regular day? Is it better go in thinking that it’s make or break, or acting as if the outcome is certain? Hard questions to answer.

Better questions to answer: What is the story that you tell yourself about the viva? Is it a helpful narrative? Would it be better to change the story?