Daily viva help for PhDs
The one thing that every thesis has to have.
Original perspectives. Never-before-seen results and conclusions. Innovation and inspiration. A new take on an old topic or an old approach applied to a new field.
What makes your work original? What new ideas are you sharing in your thesis? What was it like to do something new?
And how confident are you at sharing that with others – including your examiners?
There’s always more or different when you do a PhD.
You could have done more of something in your research. You could have done something in a different way.
It’s valid to be concerned about it as you write up your thesis and prepare for your viva. It’s reasonable to expect that examiners might ask about more and different when they meet with you.
Focus first on what you did. The fact that there are other options rests on you necessarily doing something.
Explore why you did what you did rather than something else. In your preparation, take time to be clear and articulate your reasons.
Then in the viva take time to listen to your examiners’ questions. Don’t dismiss them, but do clearly demonstrate the contribution that you’ve made.
Alternatives might be possible but focus on the actual work you’ve done and the difference it makes.
It’s what you must have done over the course of your PhD.
Your research and thesis must have a significant, original contribution – or, more simply, you must have made a difference. Something now exists that didn’t before and that something matters.
Remember that and be ready to talk about it in your viva.
Viva Survivors Summer Sabbatical: I’m taking July, August and September off from new writing to concentrate on other creative projects, so will be sharing a post from the archives every day throughout those months. Today’s post was originally published on October 11th 2022.
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 your PhD journey is a good start. Remembering and reminding yourself of the successes you’ve made and the growth in your knowledge and capability.
Highlight your particular achievements. Make a list and write about why these things matter and help you to feel good.
Explore viva expectations to get a sense of what happens in vivas. Consider how suitable you are to thrive in that situation: talking about yourself and the work you have done.
Decide on specific actions to take in the days leading up to your viva to feel better. What can you do to prompt confident feelings? What can you do to remind yourself of the many successes you’ve had?
It’s not enough to hope you feel confident. You have to search for and find confidence.
Reflecting on your research contribution is a very helpful part of viva preparation. Discussing what you have done and what it means is definitely going to come up during your viva!
To make the most out of reflecting on your contribution then try some of the following steps:
The last point is helpful to allow you to refresh your memory or even to build upon what you’ve thought through previously.
Using questions won’t lead to perfect scripts you can read from in the viva, but it will help build the words that will come more easily when you meet your examiners.
A key topic for discussion at your viva is what you’ve been doing for the last few years.
Your examiners need to explore your significant original contribution. They need to ask questions that get you to share what makes your work matter. They need to get you to talk about why it makes a difference. So in preparation for your viva:
You can do these sorts of things through reading your thesis, writing notes or summaries and talking about your work. Make sure you find opportunities to talk about your research and respond to questions.
It’s not enough to just think a bit: you have to do more to explore what makes your work special.
Your examiners have to ask you about the significant, original contribution that you put forward in your thesis. They have to do this. They have to ask questions about what it adds to your field, how it’s different and why it’s valuable.
In effect they are asking you, “Why does this matter?” – although they probably won’t say it as simply as this.
Every thesis has a logic to it; you have reasons that bring your ideas together. To start exploring yours just ask yourself why your work matters to you.
What is it about your work that made you want to do it? What did you find and what carried you through long hours and hard work?
It’s a starting point – there are more questions to reflect on that will help you find words to explain what you’ve done to your examiners – but as a starting point it gives you a powerful motivation to say more and explore more.
Ahead of your viva, reflect on the significant and original contribution you’ve made through your research. It’s a topic that your examiners will have to discuss with you during the viva, so it will help to be prepared to talk about what you’ve done.
A key question to help reflection could be to consider, “Why does it matter?” What is it about your work that makes a difference? What will others see in it? Think, make some notes and have a conversation with someone about why your work matters.
And remind yourself that your work does matter – it must, after all you have put into your research.
Consider some of the following questions ahead of your viva to capture thoughts on the difference your work makes:
One question that always applies to a PhD candidate is to consider how am I different now, compared to when I started my PhD?
Because you must be different.
You’ve learned. You’ve grown. You’ve developed yourself.
Remember that the difference you’ve created through your work is a result of the difference you’ve made in yourself.
There are tricky things to explain in your viva. There will be times when you struggled. There are probably questions still to answer and problems to solve. But you don’t have to exclusively reflect on all of that during your preparation.
Make time before your viva to focus on the good stuff.