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Tag: viva prep

Nathan

Guarding Your Research

Daily Post

It’s an easy enough mistake to hear “thesis defence” and believe that you have to guard your work.

Defence brings up ideas of protection, or courtrooms, of shielding and more.

An examiner might have a pointed question or comment, but you generally don’t need to worry about them piercing the armour of words and ideas you have fashioned during your PhD.

Defending your thesis means supporting your work. Defending your thesis means providing clarity. Defending your thesis means saying more after you’ve done a lot.

You don’t need to guard your research from your examiners. You do need to be ready to show exactly what it all means at your viva.

Nathan

Six Questions About Contributions

Daily Post

Examiners need to explore your significant original contributions to research at your viva.

In preparation for your viva it’s worth reviewing your contributions to think about how you would share them. There’s no right answer or script to use: the words you find in the moment will be enough. In preparation though, reflect on any contribution with the following questions to give you something to consider and speak about:

  • Why did you explore the contribution area?
  • How did you do that?
  • What did you find as a result?
  • When did you do this work?
  • Where did you do this work?
  • Who, if anyone, helped you?

The first three questions, Why-How-What, help to explore what makes the contribution valuable. The second three questions, When-Where-Who, reveal more of the context for the work.

Start with Why-How-What. Dig deeper with When-Where-Who.

No scripts. Just thoughts and ideas to draw from at the viva.

Nathan

Viva Survivor, Thursday 27th March 2025

Event, Update

Every day I share at least one helpful thought through the Viva Survivors blog. There’s a lot in the archives but it could take a long time to put together a full picture of what to expect and what to do by reading the last 2800 posts.

If you want a good idea of what to expect, what to do, how to get ready and how to build confidence then take a look at my upcoming Viva Survivor session on Thursday 27th March 2025. For three hours I’ll be sharing what vivas are really like, what effective viva preparation can look like and how someone can engage well with their examiners.

For three hours on Zoom you’ll get direct help from me through a live session that I have shared and developed with thousands of PhD candidates over the last fifteen years. I have a full plan, plenty of time to take questions from attendees, great follow-up resources and a catch-up recording in case anyone can’t stay for the whole time.

I love doing this session (I’ve delivered it almost 400 times!) and I hope that you’ll take a look at the registration page if you are looking for viva help. If you have any questions please get in touch – and do please pass on information of the session to anyone who might be looking for viva help.

One last time: Viva Survivor session on Thursday 27th March 2025!

Thanks for reading 🙂

Nathan

Knowing Your Stuff

Daily Post

At the viva you’re expected to know your stuff, whatever that might mean for someone in your field or discipline. Broadly speaking: you’re clever, you’ve done the work and you’re assumed to be capable.

It’s not hard to worry that you might be missing something, but keep in mind, to set the right perspective:

  • Knowing your stuff doesn’t mean you need to know everything.
  • Knowing your stuff doesn’t mean you are expected to have a fast recall of every detail.
  • Knowing your stuff doesn’t mean having read every paper.
  • Knowing your stuff doesn’t mean guessing every question your examiners might have.
  • Knowing your stuff doesn’t mean knowing all of your examiners’ stuff too.
  • Knowing your stuff doesn’t mean figuring things out quickly.

At the viva, knowing your stuff means being knowledgeable, capable and being willing to engage with your examiners’ questions and the discussion that follows from them.

To get as far as you have you must know your stuff: it’s the only way anyone could get to submission.

 

PS: want to know more about the viva process and expectations? Take a look at my Viva Survivor session. Registration is live for my March 27th 2025 webinar and includes follow-up resources and a catch-up recording if you can’t attend on the day.

Nathan

The Build-up

Daily Post

At submission sketch out a viva prep plan.

You might not know your viva date but that’s OK: you know your current situation. You know how busy you are and you know what responsibilities you have. With a little reflection you can also get a good feeling about how you need to approach getting ready.

A sketch of a plan can take account of busy-ness and obligations. Do you need two weeks to get ready or is it safer for your stress and your time to have a month? Sketch how you would do the work.

Start small and build. Day one of viva prep doesn’t have to mean reading your whole thesis, checking ten papers and having a mock viva. Build up to that. Read a little and then do more the next day.

The last week of viva prep will probably be busier than the first – but the last day might be more relaxed as you realise you’ve built up everything you need for meeting your examiners.

After all, you’re building on solid foundations.

Nathan

Density

Daily Post

Thousands of hours of work, spread out over hundreds and hundreds of days.

How much thinking? How much practical work? How much reading?

Now all squashed into several chapters, a few hundred pages maybe.

Your thesis is dense.

In preparation for your viva you need to dig in to it.

Read what you wrote. Reflect on what it means. Review what you need to so you feel ready.

And remember that dense substances are often very valuable.

Nathan

Contributions Matter

Daily Post

“How would you define your significant, original contribution?”

That’s a hard question for a lot of reasons.

It asks for specifics, your opinion and makes an assumption that there is one big thing you’ve done through your research. Personally, I would struggle to respond because I didn’t have a single focus during my PhD: my thesis was a collection of results, not one overall idea that I explored.

It’s a hard question, but it could be rewarding to unpick nonetheless. Reflecting might reveal some helpful ways to share your research with your examiners (and others).

It’s also helpful to reflect on all of your contributions, big and small. Look back over your PhD and think about your results, achievements and victories. What do they all amount to? Whether or not there is a single headline conclusion to point to, what do your contributions mean?

Remember that contributions can be a stepping stone to confidence: recognising what you’ve achieved can be a helpful way to boost how you feel.

 

PS: exploring confidence is a big part of my Viva Survivor webinar – alongside expectations, viva prep and the whole viva process. Registration is open now for my March 27th 2025 session and includes a catch-up recording if you can’t attend live!

Nathan

You Have Time

Daily Post

Or rather, you can have time.

You have time to get ready for your viva – or, rather, you can have time if you sketch out a plan and know in advance what’s expected for viva prep.

You have time to respond to any and every question at your viva – or, rather, you can have time if you rehearse and get used to the idea that you don’t need to rush to answer.

There’s time to do everything you need to get ready and time to do everything you need at your viva.

You might have to slow down to take that time and make the most of it.

Nathan

Final Preparations

Daily Post

My last viva prep task was to knock on my supervisor’s door with fifteen minutes to go, “Hi Hugh, just to check one more time, a genus 2 mutant can be defined as….?”

What will your final prep be?

Perhaps you’ll just check you have everything in your bag. Maybe you’ll focus on re-reading something one more time. Your last prep step could be to relax with a cup of coffee.

Or like me, your last task will be to stress at the last moment.

 

There’s an element of choice involved. You can plan your viva preparation. Sketch out a plan when you reach submission. You don’t need to account for every minute of every day until your viva, but by looking ahead you can remove stress, rush and a lot of doubts.

The last step in getting ready for your viva could be tiny or could be a big task. It’s better if it’s not panicked or stressed.

Nathan

The Greatest Hits

Daily Post

What are the best and most valuable references in your bibliography?

What were the biggest achievements of your years working on your research?

What could make the biggest impact now that your thesis is complete?

 

If you reflect on where your work comes from, what you did and where it could go then you have considered the context for your contribution, the contribution and a possible future for it. That’s a good piece of reflection as part of viva prep!

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