The Overview
It’s reasonable to expect your examiners to ask you to summarise what you’ve done. It’s a fairly common opening question. Given that a thesis could run to many tens of thousands of words it’s probable your examiners would want you...
Daily viva help for PhDs
It’s reasonable to expect your examiners to ask you to summarise what you’ve done. It’s a fairly common opening question. Given that a thesis could run to many tens of thousands of words it’s probable your examiners would want you...
I’ve loved maths since I was a child and first realised the wonder that 4 times 6 was the same as 6 times 4. My love sent me on a journey that lead to a PhD in pure maths. A lot...
If you’ve had your viva, and a friend or colleague has theirs coming soon, ask these four words first, before you start to offer your story, your opinion or your advice. See what support someone needs. Get a sense of...
“How do you eat an elephant?” One bite at a time… It’s an old joke or proverb, depending on how you look at it, but there’s certainly wisdom as well as eye-rolling. You could never have done your PhD in...
Nervous and confident aren’t polar opposites. If you feel nervous about something – like, say, your viva – then you’re recognising it’s important. Nervous isn’t the same as being anxious or being worried, although it might not be comfortable. Nervous...
Everyone is talking about them for Summer 2021! Your thesis is the must-have accessory for your viva wardrobe, and can be accessorised itself, in so many wonderful ways: Strategic Post-it Notes to show the brilliant beginnings of chapters or index the...
My favourite teacher in high school, Mr S., used to have a set of “laws” on his wall. First among them was a lazy mathematician is a good one. He would repeat and explain it a lot, because he didn’t mean...
Today could be a rest day for you, even if your viva is soon. Ready for the viva means you have to refresh your memory, rehearse for the situation of talking with your examiners and remind yourself that you did...
…you did the work. Not just the prep but all the work before that too. You did the research. You wrote your thesis. You earned and achieved your way to submission. You took time between submission and the viva to read...
“How do I get ready to answer classic questions in the viva?” I’ve been asked this many times over the last decade – I’ve met over 5000 candidates in seminars and webinars, so there’s a lot of questions I’ve been...