Daily viva help for PhDs
…compared with the amount of time you’ve invested in your PhD.
That doesn’t make them easy. That doesn’t mean they’ll fly by if they are many hours long. That doesn’t mean there’s no need to prepare.
Those thousands of hours in your PhD journey help make sure that the short time in your viva will result in success.
Why was your viva so long?
I’ve been asked many times before about why my viva was four hours long, but the question surprised me at a recent webinar. I’m not sure why. Perhaps it had been some time since the last asking, or maybe I had something else on my mind that day. But I was prompted to a little bit of reflection.
Now, I’m not my examiners and I don’t have their perspective why my viva was four hours. I can only share what occurs to me and what I think. To begin with, I had a thesis describing six projects; they were all in the same area but about different ideas. That meant that we had to keep going back to square one with explanations as we talked about the thesis.
I also had some issues with presentation. While my examiners accepted my contribution, they were less happy with how the thesis was structured. Information didn’t flow in some places. In others it just didn’t meet their discipline expectations. We had to talk about that and about the corrections that would follow.
Just over halfway through my total viva time we had a break of about ten minutes, but I didn’t really notice that the time had passed. And at the time I didn’t have any awareness of typical viva lengths, what vivas were like and so on. I don’t really know why my viva was that long. It just was.
When someone asks about my experience, I think they’re really asking, “Why might my viva be four hours long?” – and that’s a much bigger question.
It could be that you have lots of projects – or just lots to talk about. It could be that there are issues like I had, with presentation or structure or clarity. It could be that your examiners need to unpick something to fully understand it.
Or it could be that everyone in the room is just really engaged by the discussion and they want to keep talking.
Four hour vivas are rare, all things considered. Don’t expect yours to be, but if it happens to be that long it’s not necessarily for any bad reason at all.
“How long is the viva?”
It’s the number one question I have been asked in over twelve years of doing work related to the viva.
The most appropriate response I feel that I can give is to say that two to three hours is quite common; consequently it helps a candidate to be ready to talk and focus for that length of time.
The quickest response is to say that I don’t know and the person won’t know until their viva!
Perhaps the truest response would be that it doesn’t matter in the big picture: a viva takes as long as is needed.
And one more response: it may take hours but it might not feel like that. You could be so engaged and deep in conversation that the question of how long it is taking just slips away.
Candidates are always concerned about viva length, worried that theirs will be long – or too long, however that might be defined.
Remember: the longest viva will be shorter than the longest work day of your PhD. It has to be.
As challenging as your viva could be, it can’t be a greater challenge or require more of you than you have already given on your PhD journey.
There are lots of reasons why a short viva might be “good” but no good reason to try and make it that way.
The viva is not a race, so you don’t have to rush. The viva is not a quick-fire quiz, so you don’t have to respond to questions quickly.
Listen.
Breathe.
Take your time.
Long or short, your viva will be over sooner than you think.
Over the last year I’ve introduced my daughter to more and more video games. While we have different tastes and skill levels, we both love exploring, creating things within games and the simply joy of playing.
What neither of us has is much taste for is the desire that some gamers have for speedrunning – trying to complete games as fast as possible. Sometimes a game will have a certain bonus or prize for finishing in a certain time; sometimes people like to brag on YouTube that they are the fastest in the world. It definitely takes skill to do, but it’s just not for us.
Which brings me to remind anyone who needs to hear it that there’s no trophy for finishing your viva in a certain time limit. There’s no prize or even bragging rights if you were faster than a friend.
A long viva might not always be comfortable, but there’s not a lot you can do about it. You show up, ready to engage, and discuss whatever you need to until it’s done. Speed doesn’t matter. Long vivas don’t necessarily lead to more corrections.
Passing is already a great achievement. You don’t need to set any records to show that you’ve done something amazing.
Candidates give a lot of focus to time in the viva. How long could it be? How short might it be? What do they feel like?
My four hours felt very short. The short break afterwards felt very long. Many graduates have told me similar stories over the years; however long their viva was, it felt like it flew by.
It’s useful to be aware of stories and expectations, but how long a viva is doesn’t really matter for the most part. You won’t know how long it will feel like until you’re there.
Rather than focus on how long it will be or will feel like, it’s better to focus on what you will do in the viva.
How will you respond to questions? What will you take with you? How do you want to engage with your examiners?
I’m asked about short vivas in almost every Viva Survivor session:
They’re not from a place of not wanting to be in the viva. It’s just simple worry. Nerves and anxiety running wild. I don’t blame people for these questions, but they are the wrong questions to ask about the viva experience. There really isn’t much one could do to dictate the length of the viva, or steer examiners away from questions.
But what could you do?
You could prepare. You could practise. You could decide to engage with your examiners and do your best.
Maybe we could simply change our questions:
So what will you do?
Have you heard of the “rules of three” for surviving in extreme conditions?
People survive in extreme conditions, but only just.
I’ve heard PhD candidates wonder how they might survive in a potential three hour viva. That’s not extreme conditions, even relative to the viva! Most candidates could expect to be finished within three hours. It’s difficult to imagine what an extreme viva might be. There are challenges inherent in the process, but they’re not all or nothing, do or die.
PhD candidates survive the challenges of the viva – they manage to keep going in difficult circumstances – because of the challenges they’ve already faced in the three or more years of doing research.
The years help with the hours.
One of the most common concerns of PhD candidates is how long their viva will be. It’s a question that I can give no definite answer to for any particular candidate, but one that generally has many relevant answers:
That’s the big picture: it doesn’t matter. Maybe it feels important, but it’s more important to focus on being prepared, feeling ready and approaching the viva with as much confidence as you can, rather than spend time concerned about how long it will take.
There are lots of answers to “How long will my viva be?” – including the most honest one, “You’ll find out.”
There are far more interesting questions to spend time unpicking and answering.