viva preparation

Decode Your Thesis

My thesis was full of codewords: technical terms and jargon that would have been tough for the uninitiated to break.

Genus 2 manifold. Unoriented link. Plait presentation.

How coded is your thesis? Jargon can save on words and be a shorthand for precision. It can also keep people out – maybe even you!

Check your codewords during your viva preparation. Make a short glossary to be sure of your definitions. Decode tricky terms in the margins. Stick in Post-it Notes with concise explanations.

Unpicking the meaning of words can help you think about how to explain them even better.

20 Small Steps To A Better Viva

Your viva can’t be the best, but there are many steps you could take to make yours better.

  1. Proofread your thesis before submission.
  2. Read your institution’s thesis examination regulations.
  3. Take a break after submission.
  4. Put Post-it Notes in your thesis to mark the start of chapters.
  5. Do a little research on your examiners
  6. Plan how you will get to the viva on the day.
  7. Have a mock viva.
  8. Talk to PhD graduates about their viva experiences.
  9. Talk to your supervisors about the choice of examiners.
  10. Annotate your thesis.
  11. Read your thesis carefully at least once between submission and the viva.
  12. Take steps to boost and maintain your confidence.
  13. Reflect on your research contribution.
  14. Explore your bibliography a little.
  15. Re-read any sections of your thesis that are conceptually difficult or tricky to explain.
  16. Figure out why you’re stressed (if you are).
  17. Help your friends and family to understand what the viva is all about.
  18. Take a bottle of water to the viva.
  19. Remember how much work you’ve done to get this far.
  20. Plan how you will celebrate passing your viva.

How you feel in your viva is not down to luck. Do everything you can to make your viva better.

Little things add up.

Refresh

It’s important to read your thesis as part of your viva prep to refresh your memory: a valuable check against mistaken impressions and details gone astray.

It’s useful in another sense of the word too: the modern, computing sense where you refresh a webpage to see what has changed. You read your thesis but it’s you who is refreshed. You spot something, a new thought occurs or a previously unrealised connection is seen.

And a possible third sense: after so long spent bringing your thesis to life, it could be refreshing to read it and be happy that it is done!

Need To Know

If you’re unsure about some aspect of the viva – the process, expectations or even something as subjective as the tone – then the answer is simple:

Figure out what questions you need answers for, then find people who can answer them.

If you need to know something then you need to do something.

The Problems

What will they ask?

What will they think?

What will they say?

How long will it take?

What corrections will I get?

What if I freeze?

What if I don’t know?

What if they don’t like it?

You can’t answer any of these questions before the viva. For some of them, there might not be an answer at all as circumstances don’t go that way. You can definitely spend your time thinking, maybe worrying about these problems, trying to anticipate different outcomes. That’s one approach.

Another approach would be to disregard these problems entirely. Instead, spend your time preparing for the viva and reminding yourself how you got this far.

Don’t

Don’t make assumptions about why a question is being asked in the viva.

Don’t answer a question without listening and understanding it first.

Don’t bluff, evade or lie.

Don’t hope for a particular finish time.

Don’t expect the viva will be impossible.

Don’t expect it will be easy either.

Don’t go without being prepared.

Don’t discount all of the work you’ve done and the talent you must have.

Don’t forget to celebrate when you’re done.

Unwritten

What did you not put in your thesis?

As my submission got closer there were several ideas I worked on which didn’t make it into my thesis. One little project was just too big in the end, and I couldn’t find a way to explain it concisely. One I chose not to pursue because it was just a restatement of ideas in a different way. And one section was a nice idea that just wouldn’t add much to the overall value of my thesis.

Reflecting with years of hindsight: the reasons why I didn’t include something stand in stark contrast with the things that I did include in my thesis. My thesis made contributions to my field. I judged, with support from my supervisor, that the things I left out did not make a meaningful contribution compared to the things I kept in.

If you’re finishing your PhD, what are you leaving unwritten? Why is it staying out? How does it compare with the work that makes up your thesis?

Ten More Top Fives

Earlier this year I shared a list post, Top Ten Top Fives, that had ideas on how to get started with thinking about the viva and viva prep. A simple setup, prompts to get ideas flowing and start making notes.

Today seemed like a good chance to add some more prompts:

  1. Top Five Academics Who Would Be A Good External!
  2. Top Five Tips You’ve Heard For Viva Prep!
  3. Top Five Expectations For Viva Day!
  4. Top Five Questions You Think You’ll Be Asked!
  5. Top Five Help Requests You Can Make!
  6. Top Five Questions For Your Supervisor In Preparation!
  7. Top Five Challenges You Overcame In Your PhD!
  8. Top Five Annotations You’re Going To Make In Your Thesis!
  9. Top Five Unanswered Questions From Your Research!
  10. Top Five Things You’ll Do To Celebrate Passing Your Viva!

There’s inertia to overcome with thinking about different aspects of the viva. A little nudge, a good prompt, can get things moving.

Looping Thesis Reflections

I like Pat Thomson‘s recent post about looping. In it she describes a useful writing method to quickly expand on a topic, then reflect to distil down, before expanding again. It seems like a nicely structured approach to get yourself started on a topic, or begin exploring new ideas.

It strikes me that it would also be really neat for reflecting on your research as the viva gets closer:

  • Pick an aspect of your work and just write freely about it for fifteen or twenty minutes.
  • Then take some time to reflect: What have you been writing about? What are you getting at?
  • Summarise your reflections in one sentence.
  • Now use this sentence as a starting point for a new period of writing.
  • Reflect and repeat until you feel satisfied.

I like Pat’s idea of reading through and thinking about everything that’s been written at the end too. An hour or so of writing and reflecting in this way could do a lot to get you exploring your thesis in a new way at the end of your PhD. A neat method for shaking off the cobwebs and seeing what else is in your work.

Pat’s a very generous academic, and shares brilliant ideas every week on her blog. I’d recommend you take a look at her past posts because I’m sure you’ll find something useful!

What’s In A Name?

Most commonly it’s “the viva” but I’ve also heard people refer to it – the event, the exam – as thesis examination, thesis defence, defending your thesis and of course the full viva voce.

I’ve also heard people call the viva, for various reasons: the interrogation, the End, the final hurdle and “I can’t even say it, I’m just dreading it!”

All of these people are talking about the same thing, but all from different personal perspectives. Whatever label they attach, whatever word they use, influences and reinforces how they think about it.

If you label your viva as “my interrogation” then I can imagine you won’t be looking forward to it. “Thesis examination” is quite neutral, neither hot nor cold. If it’s “the End” it’s possible you’re not being negative about it, but maybe you are. The label – the name – you give to your viva, influences how you think about it…

…but you can change the name. It’s a choice. So if you feel negative about it now, perhaps finding out more about the viva can change that feeling. Getting better expectations – both of the event and how you could be prepared – can help you to find a better name for it.

It’s OK if you just name it “the viva.” It’s fine if you call it something else. But the name always means something.

I suppose what I’m trying to say is: pick the most helpful name that you can.