Snapshots
Remember that if you ask someone about their viva you are going to get a picture of what happened, and not the event itself. Not all of the details will be clear and perhaps some of the things you really...
viva stories
The Viva Needs More Understanding
Candidates need to know more about examiners: how they prepare, what’s involved, what they’re asking, what they might ask and do and why. Examiners need to know more about candidates and the PhD journey in the 2020s: they need to...
Viva Varieties
When you hear lots of different stories about the viva it’s natural to group them together. Short vivas. Long vivas. Tough vivas. Easy vivas. A presentation to start or an opening question to get things going. Lots of questions. Hardly...
My Atypical Viva
Later this year I’ll “celebrate” fifteen years since I had my viva, and remembering that makes me realise one more time just how different my viva was to everything I’ve heard since about vivas. Before I had my viva I...
Realistic
You can’t know exactly what will happen at your viva before you have it. But you can know about the many vivas of your friends and colleagues. Use stories of vivas in the past to help get ready for yours in...
The Numbers Game
95% of vivas are finished by the four-hour mark. I estimate that less than one-in-ten candidates will be asked to prepare a presentation. Around 85% of candidates are asked to complete minor corrections to their thesis as the formal outcome...
Sample Of One
You need to hear a few stories before a full picture of the viva comes into focus. One bad story could convince you (wrongly) that you’re in for a bad time. One good story wouldn’t explain enough of what to...
Myth & Truth
There are lots of myths about the viva: they’re impossible to really prepare for, they’re unfair, unknowable, harsh, a hazing, and not that fun. There is lots that is true about the viva: the vast majority of people pass, regulations...
Pass It On
After your PhD, tell others what you learned. Not just the ideas in your thesis, but what you’ve learned about working well. What you can do now that you couldn’t before. What you learned at the viva even: what that...
Labels
PhD student or postgraduate researcher? Examiner or academic? Expert or experienced? Prepared or ready? The labels we use make a difference. They’re a part of the story we tell ourselves about a situation. Some labels help and others don’t. What...