You Are Here

Tag: #virtualnotviral

Nathan

Community Support

Daily Post

July was a busy month for me!

I tried to promote two lovely things when they happened but realised I hadn’t shared them via the blog. Do indulge me today while I share these with you in case you’ve not seen them and in case they help.

 

First: The #VirtualNotViral Tweetchat!

The @PhD-VirtualNotViral community has done amazing things in the last year and a half, building a regular space to support PhD researchers around the world. The #VirtualNotViral tweetchats have covered many topics with guests contributing their insights and responding to questions. I was very flattered to be asked back on July 5th to respond to questions about the viva and share ideas to help. The archive of that discussion is available as a Twitter Moment here. We cover a lot of viva topics and if you’re interested in this blog then the Moment will be of interest to you.

 

Second: The PhD Life Raft Podcast!

By chance, the next day an episode of The PhD Life Raft Podcast was released by Dr Emma Brodzinski which featured me as a guest! We recorded this several months ago, and it was lovely to see it released. Emma asked brilliant questions and it was great to be part of her podcast. It brought back happy memories of the old Viva Survivors Podcast – though I’m glad I was just being interviewed because I also remember the hard work of editing that goes on behind the scenes! You can listen to the podcast episode here – do take a look at the archive, because like Pat and Anuja of @PhD-VirtualNotViral there’s a lot of great work that Emma has been doing and this kind of project needs to be shared widely.

 

It was a lot of fun to do both of these and it’s got me thinking…

Do I have space in my work and life to do a regular Viva Survivors tweetchat?

Do I have space in my work and life to do a regular Viva Survivors podcast again?

More broadly, do I have a little space to do a little more to support others?

 

And do you have a little space to do a little more for your community, wherever you are?

Nathan

Remote Vivas

Daily Post

Virtual vivas, Skype vivas, Zoom vivas – I see lots of names being used for the same thing. The current situation in the world means some vivas will be delayed, and others will necessarily happen online. Remote vivas are needed, a sudden change in procedure, and so naturally that creates a space for worry and concern.

Thankfully, while previously rare, remote vivas aren’t new. There are people who can help you understand what might be ahead if your viva is in the near future.

Find academics and ask them about what doing a remote viva is like, what they might have to take into account. Ask PhD graduates who have had their viva over video, and see what that felt like. Set your expectations, and check if there is anything special you might need to prepare for. See if there was anything that surprised them – that perhaps now doesn’t have to surprise you!

A few weeks ago, when universities started closing their doors, I asked for help on Twitter. I knew a little about remote vivas, but it was more on the technical help side – check the software beforehand, check regulations, and so on. Thanks to the generous contributions of many Twitter users I was able to curate a thread of help starting here:

There are lots of valuable points here! If your viva is likely to be sometime in 2020, it’s probably worth taking a look.

By the end of the year, perhaps, universities will be opening their doors again. But it won’t hurt you to find out a little more. It’s always been useful for candidates to check expectations; it’s hard to prepare and feel confident if you don’t have a handle on what’s ahead.

Now particularly, when the backdrop of the world is a little more scary and uncertain, it’s important to bring your viva into focus. See what it might be like, as clearly as you can, and you can make your viva a little less scary and uncertain.