A Lot To Do
That’s how it can feel with viva prep and getting ready for the viva. Things to read, things to check, people to find out about, regulations and expectations to unpick, a mock viva or conversations to prepare for and have...
viva preparation
Viva Prep Party!
Imagine that viva prep is an amazing party! Look at your diary and think about when you’ll host it. Who do you invite? Do you need to invite more people so that you can be sure of enough help? What...
Getting Ready & Being Ready
The process and the goal. Getting ready means reading your thesis, asking questions, checking things, making notes and building confidence. Being ready means feeling certain that your viva will be successful. Before you sit down to get ready, think ahead...
3 Kinds Of Viva Prep
Rushed: done in a hurry in the days leading up to the viva. Worried: done while wondering whether or not the right things are being done. Overinvested: a LOT done, far more than needed, either through concern something will be...
The Last Review
What will you look for when it’s the last time to look over your thesis before your viva? The sections and sentences you’ve highlighted? The red pen that shows the typos and changes you want to make? The paragraphs that...
Extreme Prep!
Good advice about viva prep doesn’t include the following: Read your thesis for twelve hours a day, every day! Make notes on everything you can think of!! Re-read every reference in your bibliography!!! Have three mock vivas! Do one while...
Perspective, Not Perfection
As part of your viva preparations, make sure you have researched your examiners’ most recent publications. For both external and internal, take a look at their last two or three papers. Get a sense of their interests, the methods they...
Three Easy Wins
I start most working days with “three easy wins” for my productivity: before I get stuck into the harder stuff and deeper thinking I do three things that help me feel like I’m already making progress. A walk is often...
Prep Is A Workout
Viva prep is a series of tasks and activities that help you towards being ready for the specific challenge of your viva. From that perspective, I think it’s fair to think of it as a workout: you’re exercising specific mental muscles,...
Figuring Out Fears
It’s not irrational to be nervous about your viva or concerned for what might happen. The outcome matters, it’s important, and naturally anyone who faced a viva in their near future could feel a little nervous. If you’re anxious, worried...