There is a weird disconnect for some people around submission. They imagine submission is like jumping over a ravine between here and there, between almost- and now-submitted. They take a breath and jump and hope it will all work out, hope they’ll land on the other side.
It’s really not a leap of faith though. It’s the same path to the viva they’ve been on for years.
At submission, you’re striding over a bridge, not jumping and hoping.
I’m trying something a little different for the next few days’ posts. Each post will be a checklist of things to do for a different part of the viva process, starting today with the Checklist for Submission!
Are you just about to submit? Step back for a few minutes and see if you’ve covered everything:
Checked all of these off? Then you’re ready to submit! Congratulations!
Tomorrow: Checklist for Viva Prep!
When it comes to asking for help from your supervisor a lot of focus is given to mock vivas. While these can be valuable, there are other questions you could ask that will help a lot. Here are five valuable questions to ask your supervisor:
Your supervisor’s help doesn’t stop at submission. You might have to pick your moment or negotiate a good meeting time to discuss some of these topics, but they could all help a lot with your viva preparation. Think about it, then ask for what will help you the most.
I was so happy I was buzzing!
I’d printed my three copies of my thesis. Bound them on the tricky hot-glue binder in my department. My paperwork was all in order. I was finally going to submit!
There was no queue at the university’s main admin hub. I walked right up to the desk and said, with a big smile, slightly nervous but really happy: “Hi, I’m here to submit my thesis!”
I remember what happened next so clearly.
The person behind the desk glanced at me and my stack of theses, and then called over her shoulder, “Bill, you’ve got another one.”
Bill came from the back office, checked the number of copies, looked at my form, signed it, said, “OK, thanks,” and was gone.
And that was it.
There was no congratulations. There were no pyrotechnics, no brass band, no huddle of people who wanted to know what it was like and what had just happened.
It was a milestone day for me, and just a day like any other for Bill.
It’s just my story, but I’ve heard others like it. The end of the PhD, from submission day to viva, can be anticlimactic. That doesn’t lessen your achievement. If you start to feel like it’s not really anything special, then reflect on what it was you set out to do. Reflect on what you’ve done along the way. Reflect on the journey rather than the destination.
Your PhD means something.
There’s a few key things it would be good to know around submission time. Questions which occur to candidates all of the time, but which I very rarely have answers for because they’re particular to their institution. If you’re submitting soon, find answers to these questions:
You’ll likely pick up answers to most of these questions by osmosis during your PhD. It’s within your power to find answers to all of them, and find out how things are done at your university.
If your answer to Question 7 is anything other than “nothing” then find someone who can help. It’s up to you.
At the end of the PhD, when can you stop? When can you accept that what you’ve done is the best that it can be? Think about this, decide on what “best” is. Set it as your target.
Now, when you’re done, you’re done.
Isaac Asimov: “Writing, to me, is simply thinking through my fingers.”
I found this in one of those quote lists that are everywhere. I like lists, but I love the gems buried in them, and this is a gem. Asimov’s insight is especially profound when it comes to the thesis. It takes a long time to write a thesis. When you sit down to write you don’t have to get it right first time. Sitting to write can help you clarify what you think. Getting something, anything, typed up can help you make the vague clear. It takes time, but when you’re finished and you submit, you’re telling your examiners that you think you’re on to a winner.
If you’ve submitted already, then this is the message you were sending. If you’ve not submitted yet, I think the opportunity here is asking yourself, “What would a winning thesis look like?” Aim yourself at the answer and do the work. Get thinking through your fingers.