Believe It Or Not
If you believe your examiners will be fair with their questions then you’ll be more likely to try to engage with them, rather than suspect a trap or harsh comment. If you believe you can get prepared during the submission...
Daily viva help for PhDs
If you believe your examiners will be fair with their questions then you’ll be more likely to try to engage with them, rather than suspect a trap or harsh comment. If you believe you can get prepared during the submission...
Writing a summary of some aspect of your thesis or research before the viva can do a lot of things to help you. It forces you to focus on something, to highlight the best parts or the most difficult sections...
Find a piece of music that makes you feel happy. Find a piece of music that lifts you up and makes you feel like your best self. Find a way to make sure that you have access to that music...
What if it gets silent in my viva? A small question I’m asked from time to time. A candidate hears that the viva is a discussion; discussions involve talking and so if the talking stops then it’s not going well,...
The viva is no more than a discussion about your research and thesis. The viva is no less than a final, great challenge at the end of your PhD. Your examiners want no more than to have a conversation with...
Hope for the best, plan for – well, let’s not say the worst! However, sometimes the best doesn’t happen and it helps to have a way to tackle problems while you’re getting ready for the viva. Maybe you read something that...
I’ve sensed the worry and the shame behind many PhD candidates’ questions about the viva. If only I’d done more, I could have worked harder… If I knew then what I know now I wouldn’t have made that mistake… Ugh…...
These words sum up part of my general philosophy for PhD candidates at and before their viva. There is always something you can do. Before the viva if you feel nervous, anxious or worried, there is always something you can...
I meet the occasional PhD candidate who is excited. That’s a good thing and I wonder sometimes about how to encourage excitement more generally. It would be nice to go to the viva with eagerness. But expecting your viva to...
The viva is an exam. It’s a relatively short exam to explore years of work and the specific outputs of that work. The examiners are accomplished academics in relevant fields. While every viva is different there are regulations and enough...