Headers & Footers
Annotation can help make your thesis more useful for the viva – and there’s a lot of empty space in the borders of your thesis pages. The top and bottom of a page could be helpful to highlight key points,...
Daily viva help for PhDs
Annotation can help make your thesis more useful for the viva – and there’s a lot of empty space in the borders of your thesis pages. The top and bottom of a page could be helpful to highlight key points,...
I imagine that if Aesop wrote a new fable about a Tortoise and a Hare getting ready for their vivas there would be some interesting updates… The Hare would rush their prep. They’d get it done but only by working...
In the days leading up to the viva your big picture checklist might look a little like this: Research? Done! Pages? Written! Thesis? Submitted! Prep? Completed! Confidence? ……… Your confidence might be the last thing you have to check off....
Knowing exactly what to say to answer every question in your viva isn’t a reasonable expectation. It’s not required for the viva. Your examiners don’t expect it from you. You would probably need to know all of the questions before...
Underlining can make your thesis better for the viva. You could underline key references. You could make sure you can find your typos. You could show key words or definitions. You could underline a sentence that is amazing. You could...
Since July 2010 I’ve delivered sessions about the viva to over 6000 postgraduate researchers. I have the 300th Viva Survivor session in my diary for early 2022. Shortly after that I’ll mark the five year anniversary of this daily blog....
There’s no best, one-size-fits-all plan for viva prep. You have to explore what works for you, and if you’re busy that could feel quite stressful. This blog contains lots of ideas for what might help someone get ready. How do...
A practice I return to again and again is to leave a note on my desk to help Future-Nathan get started when they sit down for work. It’s a kindness, a little thing to help me get going. I could...
We don’t own a toaster. The rest of our family think we’re really weird. They can’t wrap their heads around why we choose not to have a toaster and prefer to use our grill. We still toast things! We just...
Two or three little colourful pens can make a big difference to your viva. Highlighters can help make important details stand out in your thesis so you don’t have to search for them. A little effort during your viva prep can help...