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Nathan

Episode 56: Q&A Special 1

Episode

Hello!

A few weeks ago I asked for your questions for a Q&A episode, and here we are! Thanks to those of you who submitted questions; there were only a couple of you, but the questions that were asked are really important to the viva process. I hope that the answers are helpful, I was able to share a mix of some of the research I’ve done in the last few years and also some of my opinions about how to prepare well. One of the questions wanted to know about the comparison between vivas in the UK and in Europe, something I don’t know a lot about: if anyone has any links to resources about this area then do let me know!

I had fun recording this episode, and if it seems like a useful thing then let me know, and maybe it can become a quarterly bonus or special episode. You can find me on Twitter as @DrRyder and @VivaSurvivors, or you can email me. And please get in touch if you want to come on the podcast to share your PhD and viva experiences!

Thanks for reading!

Nathan (@DrRyder and @VivaSurvivors)

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Nathan

Q&A Episode Coming Soon

Episode, Update

Hello!

One of the few podcasts I regularly listen to is the Tim Ferriss Show: I highly recommend it, Tim interviews people about how they manage to be excellent in their fields. It’s a wild ride sometimes, and he has a huge variety of people on his show. I don’t think that the Viva Survivors Podcast is a “wild ride” but I think it’s great that there is such a variety of PhD graduates who come on here to share their experiences.

A few times now, Tim has had special Q&A episodes and listeners ask him all kinds of things – anything and everything really. It struck me a month or so ago that this might be a useful thing to do on Viva Survivors, at least every now and then. I used the poll function on Twitter to see if this was interesting to followers, and got a couple of positive votes, and also heard from several friends to say that this was a neat idea.

So let’s do it!

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Nathan

Episode 52: Dr Emma Cole

Episode

In this episode I’m talking to Dr Emma Cole, creator of the PhD Vlog YouTube channel, and recent viva survivor! Emma’s PhD research looked at modern performances of Greek tragedies, and we had an interesting chat about her research and viva. This isn’t the first time we’ve talked, as I appeared on Emma’s vlog earlier this year in an episode all about viva preparation. It was great to catch up with Emma and to hear about how her viva had turned out.

Episode 53 is coming up on Monday 14th December, and that will be the last episode for 2015. After the holidays we’ll be back for a new episode in mid-January, and soon after that I plan to launch the Patreon campaign to help support the podcast. I’m really excited to be able to share this with you!

If you want to hear more about this before any official announcements then get in touch. Email me here or find me on Twitter as @DrRyder or @VivaSurvivors. I love hearing from people who want to come on the podcast to share their PhD and viva experiences and if you can, please consider supporting the podcast by buying one of my ebooks on viva preparation.

Thanks for reading!

Nathan (@DrRyder and @VivaSurvivors)

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Nathan

Shout-Out: The PhD Vlog Video

Update

Today seems like a good day to do a shout-out for the video that I made with Emma Cole earlier this year. Emma produces the PhD Vlog YouTube channel and has made lots of great videos to highlight what the PhD is like. I think that it’s particularly valuable for candidates approaching the final year; it gives good ideas of the kinds of pressure and work that can affect postgraduate researchers.

We chatted over Twitter when Emma was doing a series on the final 30 days of her PhD, and thought that it might be fun to do a video on preparing for the viva for her channel. As I prepare this post it’s had almost a thousand views, which is amazing. If you’ve not seen the video check it out (below). It’s just under 9 minutes, and we talk through common viva topics, as well as ideas for preparing for the viva.

Oh, and why is today a good day to re-share the video? Because today, unless something technical goes wrong, I’ll be interviewing Emma – now Dr Emma Cole – about her viva for a forthcoming episode of the podcast! Stay tuned to Twitter or subscribe to the blog for alerts.

Thanks for reading!

Nathan (@DrRyder and @VivaSurvivors)

Nathan

Episode 45: Dr Eileen Pollard

Episode

In this episode I’m interviewing Eileen Pollard, who completed her PhD at Manchester Metropolitan University in 2013. Eileen’s research was on the writing of Hilary Mantel. We had a good chat about how she came to do her research, how she prepared for her viva and what happened on the day.

Eileen talks on the podcast about a technique she found particularly useful in her viva prep; you can find the method in the chapter ‘The Examination Process’, in How to get a PhD: A Handbook for Students and their Supervisors, which you can find on Amazon here, and I think I found a link to the method on Google Books.

If you’ve got questions or comments for this or any episode then feel free to comment on the site, or email me. You can also tweet @DrRyder or @VivaSurvivors. I love hearing from people who want to come on the podcast to share their PhD and viva experiences. If you can, consider supporting the podcast by buying one of my ebooks on viva preparation.

Thanks for reading!

Nathan (@DrRyder and @VivaSurvivors)

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Nathan

Calling all PhD Graduates!

Update

The Viva Survivors Podcast is almost three years old! I can’t believe it personally, it seems like only yesterday that I was sat on my friend Shaine’s couch, hoping that the app I had downloaded was going to work fine and that his daughter would stay asleep while we chatted about his research and viva.

Forty episodes later and here we are. I’ve had to take time off every now and then, but am really feeling back in the flow again now. Part of this is having a loose schedule to work towards, of releasing two episodes a month, give or take. This has been easier in the last six months because at times I’ve recorded several podcasts in a very short space of time and then released them every few weeks.

I’m writing now because I need YOUR help to make the next few episodes happen. Can you come on the podcast and share your experiences? Or do you know a PhD graduate who would be happy to share their PhD and viva stories? I’m looking for three kinds of interviewees at the moment:

  • PhD Graduates: full time, part time, recent or from years ago, I want to hear from you and hear all about your research and experiences. Many more people want to hear what your viva was like too!
  • Academics: I’ve so far made two Academic Job Specials, and these have been really popular in helping people think through different aspects of pursuing and maintaining academic jobs and careers. Academia is in the mind a lot around viva time for many people – your experience and advice could really help.
  • Examiners: Have you examined PhD theses and conducted vivas? You have really valuable ideas about the other side of the viva, and this could be hugely helpful to those who listen to the podcast. Dr Katy Shaw shared her experience of being an examiner in Episode 32. Your advice could also really help.

I’ve got a few weeks coming up where I will be largely working from home; I’ll be using some of this time to play with my daughter, some of it to start writing my next book and I want to use some of it to record the summer slate of podcasts. It may be that if you were interviewed in the last week of May that your Episode would not debut until the end of August – but if you have the time now it will be hugely helpful in maintaining the podcast this year.

If you want to come on the podcast, for any of the three possibilities mentioned above then please get in touch – either email me, tweet @VivaSurvivors or @DrRyder or leave a comment on this post. If you know someone else who would be great to have on the podcast, or have an idea of a viva-related area that you think would be good to explore then let me know too.

I’ve loved doing this podcast for the last three years, and look forward to doing it for a long time to come. Please help me make that happen.

Thanks for reading!

Nathan (@DrRyder and @VivaSurvivors)

PS: I have a new book out!

Support the Podcast!

Nathan

The Viva: Who? What? How? is out!

Update

"The Viva: Who? What? How?"

The Viva: Who? What? How? is out now!

What is this?

An ebook. Twenty-seven chapters, nearly 20,000 words, and answers to the most frequently asked questions about the PhD viva in the UK. I deliver viva preparation workshops, and over the last five years I’ve got a great understanding about the questions that distract PhD candidates. This book helps eliminate those distractions.

There are more details below, but if all you want are the purchase links, here they are!

  • In the UK, The Viva: Who? What? How? is in the Kindle Store here.
  • In the UK and around the world, The Viva: Who? What? How? is available from Payhip here.

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Nathan

Episode 38: Dr Robin Wilson

Episode

In this episode I’m chatting with Dr Robin Wilson, who had his viva in January. Robin’s PhD at the University of Southampton was in remote sensing, and it was really interesting to hear about how he got interested in that area, as well as the results and applications of his research. Robin also shared some of his experiences of doing his PhD in a Doctoral Training Centre – something that is becoming more and more common. You can find Robin on Twitter as @sciremotesense.

If you’ve got any questions or comments about this episode, then comment on this post, tweet @VivaSurvivors – or email me! And please get in touch if you’d like to appear on a future episode. I’m always looking for more PhD graduates who are happy to share their research and viva experiences. I’m also looking for academics happy to talk about Academic Jobs or what it is like being an Examiner for future specials.

Thanks for listening! (and reading!)

Nathan (@DrRyder and @VivaSurvivors)

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Nathan

Episode 32: Ask an Examiner 1

Episode, Podcast

I’ve had a lot of requests over the past few years to interview someone who has experience as a thesis examiner. It’s not difficult to see why: there are a lot of mysteries around examiners in the viva. Who are they? Why them? How do they approach reading a thesis and examining a PhD candidate?

In the first of a new specials series, I’m very happy to welcome back Dr Katy Shaw, who previously came on the podcast in Episode 10 and Episode 14. Katy has lots of experience as a PhD examiner, so we had plenty to talk about – including lots of useful information for PhD candidates.

Let me know what you think of this episode; I hope to interview more examiners in 2015, so if there are more questions you want me to raise then get in touch: leave comments on this post, tweet @VivaSurvivors or email me!

Thanks for listening! (and reading!)

Nathan (@DrRyder and @VivaSurvivors)

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Nathan

Episode 31: Dr Katy Vigurs

Episode

In this episode I’m talking to Dr Katy Vigurs about her experiences as a postgraduate researcher and her viva. Katy’s research was in Partnership Working, and at times she researched for it both full and part time, as well as lecturing and being a parent. Katy completed her PhD at Staffordshire University, and continues to lecture there now, as well as supervise PhD and EdD students.

Please leave comments or questions on this post, drop me an email or just tweet @VivaSurvivors. The next episode, the first in a new specials series, debuts this Thursday, 4th December 2014.

Thanks for listening!

Nathan (@DrRyder and @VivaSurvivors)

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