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Tag: viva help

Nathan

The Big Announcement

Update

I’ve written a helpful little guide to the PhD viva and I need your help to make it a reality.

From today until May 31st I’m running a Kickstarter campaign to fund a print run of 101 Steps To A Great Viva. I’ve nurtured this idea for a long time and I’m thrilled to be sharing it now.

Draft interior pages from 101 Steps To A Great Viva

If you find Viva Survivors helpful then please take a look at my Kickstarter. I think you’ll like what you find and if you think it’s worth backing there are some great rewards to say thank you:

  • Copies of 101 Steps To A Great Viva, including limited earlybird pledges at the time of writing!
  • Signed copies of my last book Keep Going – A Viva Survivors Anthology.
  • Your name listed in the special thanks section of 101 Steps To A Great Viva.

There are also a limited number of very special pledges to have a 1-2-1 conversation with me over Zoom! We can talk viva prep, advice, respond to particular questions and just go over anything you need for your viva.

Thank you so much for reading and do take a look at 101 Steps To A Great Viva. I’m so happy to share this with you today and I hope it can help you or someone you know. Pledge your support and help me make a print run of 101 Steps To A Great Viva!

Draft cover of 101 Steps To A Great Viva

Nathan

Another Little Announcement

Update

(The Big Announcement is coming on Tuesday 16th May!)

I’ve written a short and helpful guide to getting ready for the viva and you can help me publish it – in fact, I would be very grateful if you did!

Cover of 101 Steps To A Great Viva!
My draft cover!

101 Steps To A Great Viva is a 24-page zine packed with practical steps for any PhD candidate. I’ve been thinking about this for years while I’ve been writing the Viva Survivors blog and delivering webinars. For the last six months I’ve been planning, writing and rewriting and I’m really pleased with how it has finally come together.

The Kickstarter to produce a print run of 101 Steps To A Great Viva will launch on Tuesday 16th May. I need your help to make my little helpful guide a reality. Please go to the Kickstarter pre-launch page today and use the “Notify me on launch” button. This does not commit you to supporting the Kickstarter or paying any money, but it will help the project to be shared more widely and you’ll be emailed by Kickstarter when the campaign starts.

On Tuesday, when the campaign launches, you’ll be able to decide if you want to pledge money to back it. If you do I’ve got some great rewards to say thank you, depending on your level of support:

  • Signed print copies of Keep Going!
  • Your name in the thanks section of the zine!
  • 1-2-1 Zoom conversations with me!
  • And, of course, 101 Steps To A Great Viva sent through the post!

Thank you for reading. Please use the notify button on the Kickstarter pre-launch page and help me make a print run of 101 Steps To A Great Viva a reality 🙂

Nathan

Oxygen Mask

Daily Post

Make sure your oxygen mask is fitted before helping others…

It’s the instruction given in aeroplanes in case of emergency, and used as a metaphor to encourage people to make sure they have what they need before assisting others.

The metaphor applies to viva prep too. You can’t help yourself if you’re not in a good place to begin with.

You need rest. You need space. You need time.

You need to be able to breathe.

Make sure you have your oxygen mask on before you help yourself get ready for the viva.

Nathan

A Little Announcement

Update

(because The Big Announcement will be in a few weeks!)

The Headline: I’ve written a new publication and I’ll soon be running a Kickstarter campaign to fund producing a print run!

Cover of 101 Steps To A Great Viva!
My draft cover!

101 Steps To A Great Viva is a short guide to the many things that a PhD candidate can do to work towards a great viva. From understanding expectations to building confidence, via planning your viva prep and asking for help, the guide covers 101 actions that any candidate can do. I share a concise and simply-framed statement for each followed by an exploration of what that means, how someone might do it and what it does for being ready for the viva.

101 Steps To A Great Viva is the publication I’ve been thinking about for years: an original, short guide of viva help. Bite-sized help built on my experiences of working with over 7500 postgraduate researchers and writing the Viva Survivors daily blog for more than six years.

I’m really pleased with what I’ve developed and 101 Steps is 95% complete. A few more edits and it will be ready to be printed. Which is where I need help!

Draft of Page 7, Getting Started
Draft of Page 7!

A few weeks from now I’ll launch a Kickstarter campaign to fund producing a print run of 101 Steps To A Great Viva. I need people to help me by pledging money – and in return I’ll be offering rewards, from copies of the guide, ebooks and print copies of my last publication and even 1-2-1 Zoom conversations with me! If everything goes well enough with the crowdfunding, I’ll be sending out the first copies of 101 Steps in July 2023.

If this sounds at all interesting to you today, here’s how you can help: please go to this link and use the “Notify me on launch” button. That way you will be emailed on the day I launch the campaign, which I’m expecting will be Tuesday 9th May 2023. Using the “Notify me on launch” button won’t obligate you to pledge any money at all. The campaign will run for about three weeks after that, but early interest really helps with the algorithms that help organise these services.

Thank you so much for reading, and I hope you check out 101 Steps To A Great Viva!

Nathan

The Value of Advice

Daily Post

Viva advice is available in many forms. There are books, podcasts, blog posts, seminars and people you can ask for help. You could talk to people on the internet, in your department or from your own network. You could speak in person, over email or via Zoom.

Viva advice could cost you money to buy a book while reading a blog post could be free. Searching the internet to find help could cost you time but be very convenient; asking a colleague might cost you in terms of scheduling, but be a quick conversation at the appropriate time.

There’s lots of viva advice and it costs in different ways – but it’s only worth the cost if it helps you to do something (or perhaps not do something) that helps you on the way to your viva. Viva advice is useless if you don’t do something as a result.

Advice is valuable, but the real value comes when you do something.

Nathan

Out Of Ideas!

Daily Post

I’m so sorry, but I sat down to write and I have nothing left to say.

Almost six years. That’s how long it took me to write everything that I could say about the viva.

It was a good run, I suppose.

 

Still, there are almost six years of daily posts to read on the site. You can use the random post link if you want to read something at random, or perhaps use a tag to find support on all sorts of topics like viva prep, examiners and viva confidence.

You could even take a look at the anthology I published last year if you want a really considered take on the viva, what to expect and what to do. It’s the best of five years of writing.

 

Who knows if I’ll ever publish anything again after today, April 1st 2023, but on the off chance that this is just a strange day where I feel a little foolish, do subscribe if you haven’t already! 😉

Nathan

It Depends

Daily Post

There are many questions asked about the viva to which a response has to begin with, “It depends…”

  • Is it best to have an expert in my research area for an examiner? – It depends on what you think about the situation, what your supervisor advises and whether someone is available.
  • When should I start preparing for my viva? – It depends on how busy you are, how big your thesis is and how you want to approach things. There’s general advice but you have to tailor things to your situation.
  • Should I have a mock viva? – It depends on your relationship with your supervisor, your schedule and how you want to prepare.
  • Will I have an independent chair at my viva? – It depends on the regulations for your institution, and perhaps on who your examiners are.

And the list goes on.

There is lots of advice and good practice related to the viva. There are many general expectations. But so much depends on the candidate, their research, their thesis and their life.

When you ask for viva advice or look for help, think about how things change when it connects to your situation.

Nathan

Asking Your Community

Daily Post

Who do you know who could help you get ready for your viva?

Your supervisors can help with a lot: setting expectations, hosting mock vivas, sharing ideas of what examiners do – there’s a wealth of support from them potentially.

Departmental friends and colleagues around you understand: they may have first-hand experience of the viva, they could listen to what’s bothering you or even be a part of discussions to help you practise.

Family and friends might not understand: they can still help you by providing a space that you can prepare in, or by giving you time to do the relatively small work involved in preparation.

No person is an island. You don’t have to do everything alone. You might be doing the most work, but others can help lighten the load, in lots of different ways. Ask your community. Perhaps ask early to help set their expectations and schedule support, but know that there are lots of people in your life who can make a difference as you prepare for your viva.

Nathan

Three Mugs Of Tea

Daily Post

On any week day, before work really begins, I need to have had three mugs of tea. There’s nothing super fancy about the tea I drink. It’s not a special blend, made in an ornate pot or served with a wedge of lemon. I just need three mugs to give me enough caffeine and comfort to get to work.

Three will mean I can get to work writing or presenting, thinking or editing. Three mugs will probably get me through the morning. I drink water too, but the tea is the fuel that nudges me to get going.

Could I do the work I need without it? Probably, at least to some extent. It might take longer or I might feel more tired by the end, but I could probably get things done. But it’s a relatively simple need to meet, in order to work well.

With that in mind, what do you need on the day of your viva? What will help you to work at your best?

By the day of your viva you will have finished your research, submitted your thesis and prepared for the day itself. So what simple things could help you feel either more confident or more comfortable for your viva?

Figure out what you need. Make sure you meet those needs. Feel better for your viva.

Nathan

The 2000th Viva Survivors Post

Daily Post

(I couldn’t think of a snappy name!)

Except for the odd Christmas Day off here and there, I’ve now written and published 2000 days of posts on:

And a lot more! There are pages for resources, the old Viva Survivors Podcast and links to books and ebooks if that’s something that you need.

There’s even a link (click here!) if you just want to read a random post from the last five and a half years of writing.

 

Thank you for reading. Thank you for subscribing. Thank you for supporting the blog when you share it, donate via the Ko-Fi link on the site or buy a book.

Thank you to all of my workshop and webinar participants. Thanks to many colleagues and friends who have supported me along the way.

And thanks to all of you and all of that I’ll keep going! 🙂

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