Loving Your Viva
A poem, seeing as it’s February 14th! Most candidates won’t love their viva, ‘Though most PhDs won’t hate it either; If you prepare and give it a chance, Examiners won’t lead you a merry dance. Believe it will be...
Daily viva help for PhDs
A poem, seeing as it’s February 14th! Most candidates won’t love their viva, ‘Though most PhDs won’t hate it either; If you prepare and give it a chance, Examiners won’t lead you a merry dance. Believe it will be...
Take several years of difficult and demanding work. Sieve together with months of writing. Stir in vague half-truths and uncertain expectations. Add two experienced academics to the mix. Fold together with nervousness, worry, future plans and, depending on circumstances, pandemic-related...
I love starting something with a list. There are lots of lists that can help with getting ready for the viva: A list of key references in your bibliography. A list of important results from your thesis. A list of...
I forget where I first heard that “slow is fast and fast is slow” – the point being that taking one’s time to do something helps it to get done more quickly than charging ahead and risking problems. This idea...
Pick a method or process that you have used many times through your PhD. It might involve special equipment or software, precious resources or simply be related to how you get something from journal articles. Now write the procedure out...
A question that’s expected can be prepared for. A question you expect can still be difficult to respond to. If you expect a question you might not be asked it after all. And if you prepare you may still find...
If it’s hard to get started on viva prep or you’re putting it off then perhaps you need to make a plan – not to procrastinate but to give yourself some structure. If you get distracted then maybe you need...
Do you want a simple task to help how you feel about your viva? Every day after submission, take five minutes to write down three things about your research: things that you know are good, that you’re proud of, that you...
Two words to prompt reflection on nearly every aspect of the viva and viva prep. What’s important… …about your thesis? Explore it chapter by chapter with a notebook in hand. Make notes about anything that stands out to you. …about...
Plan your viva prep. Take a sheet of paper when you submit and spend ten minutes thinking about how you would space out the work that you need to do. When will you start? Will a month investing an hour most...