You Are Here

Tag: thesis submission

Nathan

The Shift

Daily Post

Viva prep involves shifting the kind of work you were doing to submit your thesis to the kind of work that will help you be ready for your viva.

Viva prep operates at a different scale. Perhaps a few dozen hours are needed in total compared to the weeks and weeks of effort to get your thesis finished for submission. Viva prep requires focus on a few helpful activities while submission preparations need overall awareness that everything is done and nothing is missed. Viva prep benefits from a break to rest but submission can feel like there is no time to pause.

Submission is a challenge. The viva is a challenge. Both come in quick succession, relatively speaking, but both come after years of experience of someone rising to meet a challenge. If you work through to submission you can shift your attention and work through viva prep.

And then succeed one more time in the viva.

Nathan

January Viva Blues

Daily Post

This post is for all those people who have recently submitted their thesis or are just about to – and who won’t be having their viva now until some time early next year.

Your uni will close in about a month and everyone will go home for a few weeks. The building lights will go out, the doors will be locked and out of office emails will fire at every little electronic message that comes their way.

Perhaps you, your family and friends will celebrate Christmas or another festival. Certainly there will be festive occasions all around you.

 

And you’ll continue to think about your viva. You might have a date. You might not. But either way you’ll be thinking:

“It’s coming.”

Hopefully it won’t distract too much from all of the other things you might rather be doing. If it threatens to do that, then consider some of the following:

  • Keep a small notebook where you can record thoughts or worries about the viva.
  • Once every few days take ten minutes to think about any issues that have been noted.
  • Sketch a plan for January when you are able to return to your typical working patterns.
  • If you feel like there isn’t enough time for everything you will need to do then consider some small, finite tasks to do over the winter break (like making lists or writing short summaries).

January Viva Blues don’t have to dominate your thinking over the Christmas break.

Nathan

Two Dates

Event, Update

I am very happy to share two upcoming dates that will be of interest to Viva Survivors readers.

 

Next Thursday, October 24th 2024, I’m sharing my Final Year Focus session live on Zoom. I’m asked to deliver this many times over the course of a year by various universities in the UK but I haven’t run an independent session of it for a while.

Final Year Focus is a 1-hour webinar for any PhD candidate working towards submission. How do you take control of the massive amount of work to do in your final year? What can you do to get to grips with the work that matters? These are the big questions I’ll be sharing my thoughts on next week.

Registration details are here on Eventbrite: I’ll be recording Final Year Focus too so if you can’t make it next Thursday 24th October 2024 you’ll be able to catch up for four weeks afterwards!

 

Even more exciting: registration is now open for Viva Survivor on Thursday 5th December 2024.

Quite simply, without Viva Survivor there would be no Viva Survivors blog! Viva Survivor is a 3-hour session that I have now delivered more than 375 times, both in-person and online, for over 7000 PhD candidates.

I’ve had the very good fortune to develop and deliver this session so many times over the last decade and Thursday 5th December 2024 is the first time I have ever offered it as an independent webinar.

What do you need to do to get ready for your viva? What can you expect from your examiners? How can you build confidence for the viva? I’ll respond to these questions and many more at Viva Survivor. There will also be a four-week catch-up recording, helpful handouts and a couple of special surprises along the way.

I’m really very excited to host this session with an open registration for the first time. Information about Viva Survivor and registration are all on this page on Eventbrite. The session itself will be live on Zoom on Thursday 5th December 2024.

 

If either of these upcoming sessions seem helpful to you then I hope you register and can join me for them. If you know someone who would benefit then please do share the link. And if you have any questions about either of the sessions then please do get in touch.

Thank you for reading 🙂

Nathan

Nathan

Stop & Go

Daily Post

When you submit your thesis you have to stop, at least for a little while.

Take a break from thinking about your research.

You might be able to have a proper break depending on your circumstances; you might have to do other work, but at least stop thinking about your research and your thesis and the many other things that have been on your mind for so long.

Relax. Wait. It’s OK.

When the time comes and you have a viva date then go: do the work, read your thesis, make notes, rehearse and do everything else you need to do to get ready.

Stop and go. Stop when you need to. Go when you need to.

And rest, relax and look after yourself as much as you can.

 

It’s been great to press pause on writing Viva Survivors for three months! I’ve focussed on some other creative projects outside of vivas and PhDs and doing so has brought me a lot of joy and satisfaction. I’ll be continuing with them in due course, but for now it is great to get started again with the blog.

Hence, stop and go.

Nathan

An Imperfect Thesis

Daily Post, Sabbatical

“Submitted is perfect” was a piece of thesis writing advice that jumped out to me on Twitter a few weeks ago. I wish I could remember where I saw it, though I imagine the person sharing it was not unique in expressing the idea. There are several ways that the advice could be interpreted, some very helpful and some much less so.

It was intended to mean that getting a thesis in is a big enough goal: a “perfect” thesis is one that is handed in on-time rather than one which is “perfectly written”.

A less helpful reading could be that a thesis is perfect when it is submitted – and that if someone receives corrections there must be a terrible problem or situation.

It’s important to know what corrections are. A typo. A passage that requires editing. An update. A change of structure to a paragraph or a reframing of ideas. Corrections are requested when there is something needed to make the thesis better – but only because the examiners recognise the value of the contributions within the thesis.

Corrections are one more step in the PhD process, not a sign of an imperfect thesis, nor a sign of a problem with your work.

 

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 March 14th 2023.

Nathan

Before You Prepare

Daily Post

Viva prep is a set of tasks and activities you complete between submission and the viva which help you to feel ready for the viva. Before submission, to create a good space for your prep, do the following:

  • Read the viva regulations for your university.
  • Gather some nice stationery to help with note-making.
  • Sketch out a rough plan for how you will do your prep.
  • Ask your supervisor about their availability.
  • Ask friends and family to support your prep time.
  • Finish your research and your thesis.

Of course, the last one is pretty important!

The other points are also importatant but they’ll take up far less time to help you make a good space for getting ready for your viva.

Nathan

An Imperfect Thesis

Daily Post

“Submitted is perfect” was a piece of thesis writing advice that jumped out to me on Twitter a few weeks ago. I wish I could remember where I saw it, though I imagine the person sharing it was not unique in expressing the idea. There are several ways that the advice could be interpreted, some very helpful and some much less so.

It was intended to mean that getting a thesis in is a big enough goal: a “perfect” thesis is one that is handed in on-time rather than one which is “perfectly written”.

A less helpful reading could be that a thesis is perfect when it is submitted – and that if someone receives corrections there must be a terrible problem or situation.

It’s important to know what corrections are. A typo. A passage that requires editing. An update. A change of structure to a paragraph or a reframing of ideas. Corrections are requested when there is something needed to make the thesis better – but only because the examiners recognise the value of the contributions within the thesis.

Corrections are one more step in the PhD process, not a sign of an imperfect thesis, nor a sign of a problem with your work.

Nathan

Down Time

Daily Post

You can afford a little break at submission. In most instances, even if a candidate has an idea of their viva date, it won’t be confirmed at the time they submit their thesis.

When you submit you have time. Plenty of time to get ready, but also plenty of time to relax. Rest. Take time away from the work you’ve been doing to get your research finished and your thesis ready.

Pause, for your own sake. You have to look after yourself so that you can get ready.

A little down time will help in the final days and weeks leading to your viva.

Nathan

Make Plans

Daily Post

Make a plan for submission. Set milestones to help keep you on track. Check the details for the official things you need to do. Maybe ask a friend to go with you if you have to submit paper copies and make an event of the occasion.

Make a plan for your prep. It doesn’t take a lot to get ready; if you’re already busy it helps to map out what you will do and when you will do it. Ask for help in advance so you can arrange specific times. Start soon enough so you don’t have to rush to finish.

Make a plan for the viva. Think about how you would like it to go, how you would like to present yourself, what you will need for the day. Plan your outfit and supplies. Plan your space if your viva is over video. Decide on how you will try to engage with questions. Check the details but remember that you can’t control everything: you can plan to do your best.

Make a plan for the short break at the end of the viva. Find something to do in that brief period of waiting to occupy yourself.

Finally, make a plan to celebrate your success!