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Nathan

Hats & Rabbits

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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!

And depending on our age, savvy and insight we might know that the rabbit didn’t just materialise. We may suspect hidden compartments, mirrors or misdirection, but the effect is all the same. However they did it, they pulled a rabbit out of their hat.

We might not know the exact methods involved, but if we think even for a moment we can surmise that it’s taken years of work, a lot of practice and experience and a certain amount of persistence to pull a rabbit out of a hat. It looks amazing. It looks impossible. But it’s the only way: they really worked to make it happen.

When we reflect on that level of commitment it seems all the more special I think.

 

Understanding how someone talented became that good, even if you can’t understand all of the steps along the way, helps you to appreciate them all the more.

Ahead of your viva, turn that reflection on yourself. Realise and remember that the magic you do, the special feats that you can perform in your work and in the viva, are the result of years of work, a lot of practice and experience and a certain amount of persistence.

You may not be pulling a rabbit out of a hat in your viva but you can create a suitably great impression all the same.

Nathan

No Luck Required

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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 dedication in your work.

Hard work takes you to the viva. You can’t pass by being lucky. You will pass through your own efforts.

 

PS: One way you can remind yourself of all the good you’ve done would be by playing How You Got Here, a reflective writing game about the PhD journey that’s part of the Viva Help Bundle – a collection of helpful viva prep resources on sale for £6 until Thursday 30th November 2023 – that’s today!

Nathan

Simple Doesn’t Mean Easy

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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, what you can do and how you think. You’re showing that your skills and knowledge are enough and that the work you’ve done makes a difference.

 

This is all simple to understand.

That doesn’t mean it is easy to do.

 

All that work and effort is hard. The viva is a difficult challenge despite being so simple to grasp.

Partly this is due to the level that you’re working at. Partly it’s the unknown aspect of the viva. And partly it is because you will probably be nervous at your viva.

Your viva will most likely be a difficult challenge for you – but only difficult. You’ve come so far by becoming good at what you do. After all, that’s the only way you could have written and submitted a thesis.

It’s quite simple really.

 

PS: If you’re looking for simple, easy-to-follow advice about the viva and viva prep then check out the Viva Help Bundle of ebooks. A collection of three helpful resources, on sale for £6 until Thursday 30th November 2023. Do check it out!

Nathan

Discovery

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What did you discover during your PhD journey? I don’t know if that’s a typical viva question, but reflecting in advance on your discoveries can help you realise just how fruitful your journey has been.

Discovery isn’t limited only to research ideas, methods, conclusions and questions. Discovery could be about you:

  • What did you learn you liked?
  • What did you learn you were good at?
  • What skills did you develop?
  • What talents did you discover in yourself?

Reflect on everything you discovered during your PhD. There will be a lot and everything will have contributed to the success of your research – and the growth of you as a capable researcher.

Nathan

Retell Your Story

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Once upon a time, the story I told people about myself was that I loved maths, really enjoyed learning more about all kinds of maths, and wanted to do a Masters and a PhD. And I was happy and lucky that my supervisor was so good and supportive.

And a few years later I told anyone who asked that I’d enjoyed the challenge of my PhD in maths and was looking for new challenges. I felt very fortunate to have had all the support I had to that point, but I was looking for something else.

Nowadays I’m far more likely to just mention that I did a PhD (a long time ago!) and that gave me a start in the more important part of my life as a researcher-developer. I’ve spent fifteen years learning ways to help PGRs become PhDs.

Over time my story changed: partly because I grew older and had a different focus but also because I was telling different people about who I was and what I did.

My story changed because I saw myself differently, I understood myself better and I gained a better appreciation of things. I wasn’t lucky to get my PhD, I was fortunate that my hard work had paid off.

What story do you tell yourself about your success so far? What do you highlight as being the things that have made you the capable researcher that you are?

Whatever your story, remember that you are not the person you were when you started your PhD journey. Your story changes over time but you can also change the way you tell that story, both to others and to yourself.

Nathan

Black Cats, Ladders and Spilled Salt

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The date and other omens of “bad luck” don’t need to weigh too heavily on you ahead of your viva. Success is not due to luck. You don’t need to ward off bad luck by crossing the road to avoid a dark feline or throw salt over your left shoulder if you’re clumsy in the kitchen.

You don’t need a talisman or something lucky in the viva either. You need to have worked hard for years. You need to have learned about what to expect. You need to have prepared.

Typically, those are not too much to expect in advance of a viva.

You don’t need good luck for your viva, but you might need a good story. You might need to think again about how you got this far. You might need to remember what you did and recognise it for the confidence it can inspire.

Nathan

How Else?

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It’s not wrong to be nervous about your viva. Expectations and preparations help, but you won’t know exactly what it’s like until you’re there.

You want to succeed and that makes it a challenge, even if you’ve had conversations like this in the past.

 

You can be nervous, but you can also be ready. How else could you have got to submission and the viva?

You did the work.

You read a lot.

You learned a lot.

You wrote a lot.

You grew and developed and became more than you were when you started your PhD journey.

You know more now than you did at the beginning, not by chance or through osmosis, but through working hard.

You worked hard and that hard work paid off. You wrote your thesis with care, submitted your best effort.

 

You are not lucky. You are dedicated – you are good enough.

How else could you have got this far?

Nathan

Just A Moment

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Just a moment.

That’s all you need, compared to the years of work in your PhD already, in order to get ready for your viva.

Just a moment.

The shortest of pauses, used regularly throughout the viva, is all you’ll need to think carefully before you engage with your examiners’ questions.

Just a moment…

…is how long your viva could feel! Hours passing by quickly because of how focussed you feel.

Just a moment.

Corrections requested, done, checked and then the thesis is finally – finally! – completed.

Just a moment.

A brief second in time where you cross a stage to shake a hand or receive a certificate in the post to say “You did it.”

 

The end of the PhD is a series of moments. Little snapshots where you do a little more, demonstrate who you are and celebrate your success. A short series of moments, following years of experience, growth and development.

If the end is hard, remember all the work that has brought you this far. Remember that it really won’t be long before you’re finished.

Nathan

An Absence Of Publications

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An infrequent-but-troubling question at viva help seminars is “What will my examiners think if I don’t have any publications by the time I have my viva?”

Or worse, “Can my examiners fail me if I don’t have any publications?”

Examiners might ask or might know if you don’t have any publications. They could ask you why not, and there could be many reasons you could offer:

  • I’ve been focussed first on finishing my thesis, but have plans to publish…
  • I’m exploring publishing a monograph after I’ve completed my PhD…
  • I don’t want to publish papers based on my PhD because…

An examiner can have opinions and expectations on what is the right way to do things. Everyone’s allowed an opinion, but in the viva an absence of publications cannot count against a candidate. The thesis and the work done to produce that is being evaluated.

Other publications could be seen as a good thing, but the absence of them can’t be taken as a negative.

More than anything, prior publications are a confidence boost for a candidate. If you have some then you have a little more support for feeling that things will go well because others have accepted your work.

But if you don’t have publications, it’s likely that you’ve invested your time in other ways – not bad, just different – and have taken other steps to show yourself (and your examiners) that you are a capable researcher.

You don’t need publication to pass your viva.

Nathan

Now You Know

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A lot can happen during a PhD: success and failure, progress and setbacks and halfway stages in-between all of these.

You learn more. You know more. You won’t know everything (probably!) but you’ll gain a perspective that helps you to write your thesis and share your research with others.

Whatever happens along the way, when you reach your viva you can explore your work, describe your journey and show your examiners what you are capable of.

Because now you know what you need to know.

You know enough, can do enough and can show enough.

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