Bit By Bit
Idea by idea. Paper by paper. Day by day. There’s no other way to put your PhD together than keep showing up, good days and bad, and work your way through. Learn more, do more, achieve more and find your...
Daily viva help for PhDs
Idea by idea. Paper by paper. Day by day. There’s no other way to put your PhD together than keep showing up, good days and bad, and work your way through. Learn more, do more, achieve more and find your...
In the opening minutes of any viva session I ask two simple questions of the cohort: When is your viva? & How do you feel? Both of these questions, and their responses, are really helpful to me. I start to...
Your thesis is proof that you did the work. It’s the best summary you are able to make of years of research you’ve done. Your thesis is a talisman to hold on to. It’s one more thing you can look...
Are there risks of danger, problems or disappointment in the viva? In general when we consider risk it’s worth assessing three elements: The Bad Thing: the problem or outcome you’re concerned about. The Likelihood Of The Bad Thing: an honest...
A little exercise that might help with viva prep and getting ready. Take a sheet of paper and divide it into quarters, giving yourself space to write notes in response to the following questions: What were your greatest challenges doing...
Viva prep is a series of tasks and activities that help you towards being ready for the specific challenge of your viva. From that perspective, I think it’s fair to think of it as a workout: you’re exercising specific mental muscles,...
Reading your thesis is an essential viva prep activity, but it’s not for the purpose of memorising a book. You don’t have to be ready to recall everything you’ve ever done or written in your viva. You read your thesis after...
(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!...
To do research and write a thesis you have to be pretty smart. You must know lots and understand many complicated and complex facts. However, to get ready for your viva you don’t have to do anything especially complicated: Make...
Public holidays can be special, but are usually just a bit different: a day off or a change of pace. Of course, a royal coronation or other big public event is a pretty special occasion for a lot of people!...