In The Distance
If you’re reading this and you’re in your first or second year of your PhD, you don’t have to worry about your viva! You don’t have to give it any great thought: for now, keep on with the main work...
Daily viva help for PhDs
If you’re reading this and you’re in your first or second year of your PhD, you don’t have to worry about your viva! You don’t have to give it any great thought: for now, keep on with the main work...
Four words to remember. They don’t mean that you’re ready. They don’t mean you’re perfect. They don’t mean that your viva will be easy. They simply mean that you have got to this point in your PhD journey because of...
Viva prep starts at submission. You can do helpful tasks before then like searching for examination regulations or sketching out a prep plan, but the actual work of viva prep doesn’t start until after your thesis is submitted. Up to...
If you think back on your PhD, all the work and effort, the success and setbacks and so on, you’re not going to remember three or more years of continuous story. You’ll remember moments: events that for matter to you...
How many times have you faced difficult challenges during your PhD journey? Think about how many meetings you’ve had with your supervisor. Think about how many times you’ve presented your work as a paper or poster. Consider how many times...
From day one of your PhD keep a record whenever you achieve something. Learn something new? Write it down. Finish a project? Write it down. Read a helpful paper? Write it down. Complete a task even when it is difficult?...
An archer doesn’t get close to the target consistently through luck. If their arrow flies and strikes the bullseye they have been fortunate: this particular moment of skill has been rewarded. It takes time, effort and learning to build capability...
A magician lays their top hat on the table after showing that there’s nothing inside. They cover the hat with a silk handkerchief and wave a wand – and just like that a rabbit appears! It’s magic! We are amazed!...
PhD success is built on work. The happy accident can happen. You can be in the right place at the right time. When all things are considered though, you put yourself in that happy place with the decisions, determination and...
The viva isn’t hard to understand. You do the research over years, write your thesis probably over months and then talk with your examiners for a few hours. In the viva itself you’re discussing what you’ve done, what it means,...