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Tag: viva prep

Nathan

Add It Up

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All the papers and books you read.

All the hours on all the days you showed up and worked.

All the words on all the pages that you wrote, rewrote, proof-read and wrote again.

All the meetings with your supervisor.

All the new things you found and created.

All the ideas that weren’t there before.

You bring all of that together and it means a lot. There’s always more or different things to do. There are always questions to be asked at the viva. But if you add up everything you did you can be sure that you have a contribution.

And you can be reminded that that contribution exists because of you.

Nathan

Get Away

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It would be nice to down tools, kick back and relax when you submit your thesis. You did it.

Wait, I mean: YOU DID IT!!!

It’s worth the exclamation marks because submission is an incredible achievement. One wish I have for all PhD candidates is that they could take a little time to relax and enjoy that feeling. I wish that they could get away and take a real break after all that work.

I also know that might be out of reach for many. Day to day life, responsibilities and resources might not allow for a holiday after submission. What will you do to enjoy that time?

The world won’t stop turning but perhaps you can halt the wheels turning when it comes to your research. Take a little break from your thesis and research after submission. Press pause so that when you start your preparations you’re more rested and more able to engage with the work you still have to do.

Nathan

Compromises, Choices, Reasons

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I’ve very rarely met PhD candidates who describe their research journey as completely smooth.

I’ve also, thankfully, very rarely met candidates who say that it was a total nightmare!

Most PhD candidates made plans, worked hard and did enough.

Sometimes plans worked out well. Sometimes their plans had to change for reasons that were not obvious beforehand or circumstances that changed suddenly. Perhaps a candidate couldn’t do all of the research they wanted. Perhaps the questions or processes had to change. Perhaps they had to do something else entirely.

 

I’ve seen candidates approaching their viva worry because they frame changes or shifts as compromises. “I wanted X but I had to do Y.” “This could have been great but that wasn’t all it could have been.”

But compromises are still chosen and choices are made for reasons. Examiners might want to unpick circumstances and choices at the viva, so it helps to review those reasons as you get ready.

A better reason for reviewing your choices though is that they help you to remember that you did the work. You were not always in control of the situation but being a clever and capable researcher you made a reasoned choice.

Unpick the whys to help explain your PhD journey to your examiners.

Unpick the whys to help you explore your capability and build your confidence.

Nathan

Significant To Who?

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When thinking about your significant original contribution it’s natural to think about why something matters. The results and conclusions in your thesis have value and it’s right that someone – like your examiners – would want to explore that in your viva.

It makes sense to reflect on why your work matters and how you explain that as part of your viva prep. It’s also a good idea to think about who your work matters to as well.

For example, my thesis contained algorithms I’d developed for calculating certain properties of mathematical objects. That’s my simplest explanation without invoking fancy terms and funny symbols! This work mattered because these properties were typically very time-consuming for people to calculate. My algorithms had limits but they were very quick and easy to use.

That’s the why. The who, the people who would be interested, was a little more niche.

People interested in my work might be people who needed a tool. Or people who were looking to develop their own. Or even people looking for a little inspiration. But my work wasn’t for everyone.

Explore why your work matters as you get ready but remember to think about who it matters to as well.

Nathan

A Dreaming Reflection

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I was recently reminded of the Dreamer, Realist, Critic model for creative thinking. One way a person might apply it to a situation that needs ideas is to think in three phases:

  • Dreamer: What ideas can I find for this? The sky’s the limit!
  • Realist: How can I find a practical idea? I have to be grounded.
  • Critic: Where are the flaws with my ideas? I have to be serious.

I’m simplifying for brevity, but you get the idea. Disney is said to have used these various stages of thinking to help explore projects. More generally, it’s helpful to have structure to help focus.

As with so many tools like this I think it has a natural application to viva preparation, particularly in reflecting on the thesis contribution. The three words have good connections with different ways to focus:

  • Dreamer: How can we apply this contribution? What are the different ways someone might value it?
  • Realist: How did you come to these ideas? What tools, methods and resources did you use?
  • Critic: Where might there be problems in your research? How can you account for different perspectives?

I’m simplifying for brevity here too, but again you get the idea. Take the questions, write down some thoughts and reflect on your research and what it means.

Nathan

Your Supporters

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You’re not alone as you get ready for your viva. There are many people around you who can make a practical difference to your preparations but you might need to ask them for their support.

Don’t leave it too late. A lot of viva prep is work you’ll do by yourself. You probably don’t need a lot from others, but that makes the practical support you do need all the more valuable. It’s important to get it right.

Beyond your supervisor, who are your supporters? What do you need from them? When will you ask for their help?

Nathan

Better Than Busy

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I was really busy when I was getting ready for my viva.

I’m thinking about the volume of work I did. About six weeks, 9am to 4pm with lunch breaks: reading my thesis, reading papers, making notes, planning a presentation, talking with my supervisor and trying to throw away hypotheticals that would pop into my mind.

Here are some things I did not do during those six weeks:

  • Apply for jobs;
  • Work at a job I already had;
  • Have to manage a household or substantial responsibilities;
  • Manage any health conditions;
  • Think about life after the PhD.

I did a lot of work to get ready for my viva and a lot of it was useful. But I look back and see that I did more than I needed to so that I kept busy. I kept the feeling going for myself that I was getting ready.

I did that partly because I could hide in busy-ness, partly because I was unfocussed in my life then and partly because I didn’t know what to expect from my viva.

 

I’m going to assume that you have to commit a serious amount of time to at least two of the items on the list above right now. Your life and time is not as open as mine was. I’m going to assume as well that, if you’re reading this post, you have at least some idea of what to expect from the viva.

You don’t have time to keep busy with your prep. In some ways that makes you fortunate compared to 2008-Nathan. You can be effective in your viva prep instead.

Sketch out your prep plans. Check you know what to expect. Ask for help. Don’t throw yourself into stress and rush and busy. Work out how to get the work done alongside your life.

You can do better than busy.

 

PS: if you’re looking for more helpful ideas about the viva then take a look at Viva Survivors Select – my new curated zine series collecting great posts from the daily blog archive. The first issue is available now here. Thanks for reading!

Nathan

The Contribution Collage

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The Contribution is typically a lot of little contributions: lots of small pieces of new and good research that make a bigger picture of progress.

It would be nice if all of these pieces were uniform, regular and in pleasing proportions to fit together, but it’s probably more likely that your work creates a collage of contributions, each arranged just so to make the best Contribution possible after years of work.

  • Explore why each of these little contributions matters and you understand more of what the Contribution adds to your discipline.
  • Reflect on the Contribution and you’ll see how the smaller contributions add to the bigger picture of what you’ve achieved.

Whichever perspective you consider you’ll find interesting things to ponder as you get ready for your viva – and interesting things to talk about at your viva.

Nathan

Viva Survivors Select 01

Links, Update

I am thrilled to announce my new ongoing publication for PhD candidates: Viva Survivors Select!

This is my new curated series of zines. Every issue will contain a themed collection of posts from the blog’s archive plus a few new pieces of writing. I plan to release a new pdf issue each month and use this project to help postgraduate researchers by sharing my writing about the viva.

Front cover of Viva Survivors Select 01. In the background is a series of blueprint diagrams for electronic devices. Images are pitched at an angle. In the foreground are two text boxes, one approximately in the centre of the image, one at the bottom. Box in the middle, centred text has three lines: Viva Survivors Select 01 The Prototype Issue April 2025 Text box at the bottom: Nathan Ryder

The first issue is my prototype issue and features Viva Survivors posts from 2017. The eighth anniversary of the daily blog is on 18th April so this seemed like a great reason to go back to my early posts and look for the best writing to share.

In Viva Survivors Select 01 you’ll find the post below and nineteen more on the viva, viva prep and building confidence. I’ve also written an exploration of a very helpful viva prep tool and a short essay on writing. The zine has colour covers, public domain art and a lot of help for PhD candidates in a small pdf package.Page 8 from the first issue of "Viva Survivors Select". The top half of the page is taken up by a blog post; the bottom half has a simple line drawing of a filament lightbulb. Title: Lightbulb I don't know that it's universal, but the lightbulb is a powerful symbol for making a connection. One second you don't know something important, the next you do. I remember being sat on a train in early 2005, less than six months into my PhD. I was waiting to go and visit a friend. Just as the train doors were closing something CLICKED in my head and I could see the answer to a problem. It was just a little one but one at the root of a bigger problem in my thesis. Just like that, it came to me. And while there was a lot more work to do, this one little insight allowed me to write three chapters of my thesis. There were harder problems in my PhD, but this is the time I remember when something just came to me. Weeks of reading, of doodling and noodling, and then CLICK. When you have a real lightbulb moment, be grateful. What else are you grateful for in your PhD?


If you like the Viva Survivors daily blog and want something with a little more viva help then please take a look at Viva Survivors Select and see if it might be helpful for you.

If you like the Viva Survivors daily blog and want to support what I do in a practical way then please take a look at Viva Survivors Select and consider buying a copy.

And of course, if you know someone else who could use a little viva help then do tell them about Viva Survivors Select.

Thank you for reading, do get in touch if you have any questions – and look out for Viva Survivors Select 02, which will be released in mid-May!

Nathan

Preferences

Daily Post

Your preferences for the viva matter.

They can have an impact on how you engage with the viva and with what happens there. Some preferences can be met much more easily than others. And if some aren’t met you will have to decide what to do regardless.

 

Your preferences for viva prep are probably the most easy to meet: if you need to prepare at a certain time in a certain way or use particular materials to annotate your thesis that’s not so hard to do. You might have preferences around rehearsal – a mock viva date or help from particular friends – and these could be trickier, but not hard.

Preferences for examiner selection are just that: you can prefer certain people but have no direct control over their nomination or acceptance. Supervisors might ask candidates for ideas, but ultimately they have to select who they think will be a good choice. Academics asked to be examiners have to weigh up their other work and responsibilities. You might really want someone or an academic with a certain kind of background but ultimately your preference could be unsatisfied.

You might prefer a 90-minute viva or one that begins with a particular question. You might prefer to feel a certain way or to know in advance what the outcome will be. And you might prefer that you didn’t have a viva at all! But you can’t really control any of these things. There are things you might prefer and then the reality of what happens: some of your preferences might be met and some might not.

 

So what does all of this mean?

First, again, your preferences matter. It will probably help your general viva readiness to be aware of and fulfil your preferences as much as you can.

Second, you have to work past any emotional friction you feel from preferences that can’t be met. That might not be easy but there isn’t anything else to do.

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