Average & Amazing
PhD candidates often want to know about the “average” viva: How long do they usually take? What do examiners most often ask? How do they usually start? What’s the most common outcome? This is to be expected and a good...
Daily viva help for PhDs
PhD candidates often want to know about the “average” viva: How long do they usually take? What do examiners most often ask? How do they usually start? What’s the most common outcome? This is to be expected and a good...
There’s a fairytale aspect to the viva. Generally there’s a rhythm and sense of how one will unfold. More often than not, a clear sense of beginning, middle and end, patterns by which the story comes together. Only a few...
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...
Write down all of the things that you’ve achieved over the course of your PhD. Write down as many things as you can think of where you’ve succeeded despite a setback. List all the times you overcame your own doubts...
…you’re ready to face one more challenge: your viva! Wait, I skipped ahead! Go back to the beginning… You got onto a PhD programme because you were good enough. Your story before then, your successes, your challenges, your grades...
Your prep will be imperfect. Getting ready for the viva, there’s no way to account for every bit of information you might need. You can’t anticipate every question you could conceivably be asked by your examiners. Your prep is built...
About a week ago, first thing in the morning, I opened the fridge to get the milk to make the first cup of tea of the day. The light in the fridge didn’t come on. My brain performed a complicated...
Regulations can give you the general shape of the viva, the broad understanding of the process. Stories shape big expectations, and the stories of your friends and colleagues can help you see the norms, the common practices in your department....
I’m preparing the blog for the end of the year and the start of 2021. My tradition is to do a few “best of” posts between Christmas and New Year, picking out prep ideas, reflections, short posts and the like...
A simple question to reflect on ahead of the viva. I don’t think it’s likely that your examiners will ask this, but it’s worth considering. Whatever your motivations for starting a PhD, and whatever you’ve found to keep you going,...