All Vivas Are Short…
…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...
viva length
“It Just Was”
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...
Time And The Viva
“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...
A Long Viva
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...
Long or Short
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...
The Viva Speedrun
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...
Time Passing In The Viva
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...
A Short Viva
I’m asked about short vivas in almost every Viva Survivor session: What can I do to have a short viva? How can I steer my examiners to ask fewer questions? How could I make my viva be less than an...
Survival Time
Have you heard of the “rules of three” for surviving in extreme conditions? You can survive three minutes without oxygen. You can survive three hours without shelter/warmth. You can survive three days without water. You can survive three weeks without...
Answers To “How Long Will My Viva Be?”
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: About...