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Nathan

Viva Survivor, Thursday 27th March 2025

Event, Update

Every day I share at least one helpful thought through the Viva Survivors blog. There’s a lot in the archives but it could take a long time to put together a full picture of what to expect and what to do by reading the last 2800 posts.

If you want a good idea of what to expect, what to do, how to get ready and how to build confidence then take a look at my upcoming Viva Survivor session on Thursday 27th March 2025. For three hours I’ll be sharing what vivas are really like, what effective viva preparation can look like and how someone can engage well with their examiners.

For three hours on Zoom you’ll get direct help from me through a live session that I have shared and developed with thousands of PhD candidates over the last fifteen years. I have a full plan, plenty of time to take questions from attendees, great follow-up resources and a catch-up recording in case anyone can’t stay for the whole time.

I love doing this session (I’ve delivered it almost 400 times!) and I hope that you’ll take a look at the registration page if you are looking for viva help. If you have any questions please get in touch – and do please pass on information of the session to anyone who might be looking for viva help.

One last time: Viva Survivor session on Thursday 27th March 2025!

Thanks for reading 🙂

Nathan

Two Dates

Event, Update

I am very happy to share two upcoming dates that will be of interest to Viva Survivors readers.

 

Next Thursday, October 24th 2024, I’m sharing my Final Year Focus session live on Zoom. I’m asked to deliver this many times over the course of a year by various universities in the UK but I haven’t run an independent session of it for a while.

Final Year Focus is a 1-hour webinar for any PhD candidate working towards submission. How do you take control of the massive amount of work to do in your final year? What can you do to get to grips with the work that matters? These are the big questions I’ll be sharing my thoughts on next week.

Registration details are here on Eventbrite: I’ll be recording Final Year Focus too so if you can’t make it next Thursday 24th October 2024 you’ll be able to catch up for four weeks afterwards!

 

Even more exciting: registration is now open for Viva Survivor on Thursday 5th December 2024.

Quite simply, without Viva Survivor there would be no Viva Survivors blog! Viva Survivor is a 3-hour session that I have now delivered more than 375 times, both in-person and online, for over 7000 PhD candidates.

I’ve had the very good fortune to develop and deliver this session so many times over the last decade and Thursday 5th December 2024 is the first time I have ever offered it as an independent webinar.

What do you need to do to get ready for your viva? What can you expect from your examiners? How can you build confidence for the viva? I’ll respond to these questions and many more at Viva Survivor. There will also be a four-week catch-up recording, helpful handouts and a couple of special surprises along the way.

I’m really very excited to host this session with an open registration for the first time. Information about Viva Survivor and registration are all on this page on Eventbrite. The session itself will be live on Zoom on Thursday 5th December 2024.

 

If either of these upcoming sessions seem helpful to you then I hope you register and can join me for them. If you know someone who would benefit then please do share the link. And if you have any questions about either of the sessions then please do get in touch.

Thank you for reading 🙂

Nathan

Nathan

Three From Three Hundred

Daily Post

On Friday I delivered my 300th Viva Survivor session to PGRs!

300!!! Had it not been for pandemic disruption I probably would have reached this milestone sooner. But had it not been for the pandemic I wouldn’t have had the opportunity to develop the session as a webinar. Or to develop other viva sessions that I now do.

From one half-day seminar I was asked to deliver in the summer of 2010, I’ve now worked with over 6700 PhD candidates to help them get ready for their vivas. I’ve written this blog for almost five years and produced the podcast for five years before that. I’m very thankful to continue doing what I do.

I’m sure with enough time I could write a list of 300 things about vivas, prep, helping and so on. Perhaps it is kinder to everyone to limit it to three observations that really stand out to me after these 300 sessions:

  1. Vivas often make candidates nervous, but being nervous is a symptom that the viva matters. Being nervous is rarely comfortable but it doesn’t mean that something is wrong.
  2. In many cases the viva and viva prep are nowhere near as great or taxing on a candidate as they might expect. Both seem much bigger to begin with than they actually are.
  3. In all cases, a candidate can get help for the viva by asking the right person the right question. It could be a supervisor or a colleague; it could be learning about expectations or seeking guidance. The viva is not an unknown.

I don’t have a formula to help every candidate feel better, but after three hundred sessions I have a pretty good idea of what can help. I feel very privileged to be able to make spaces to help.

And I’m looking forward to the next three hundred sessions already!

Nathan

Difficult Circumstances

Daily Post

“Viva Survivor” is catchy, but it can also sound a little negative to some ears. I checked the definition of survive a while back and was heartened to see a definition that matched my intent on using the phrase so widely: manage to keep going in difficult circumstances.

Most vivas are positive, engaging discussions that end well, but that doesn’t mean even the best viva doesn’t have difficult circumstances. Candidates are being examined on original work. For most candidates, this is the first time they have ever written a work of that length.

There are realistic expectations for the viva, but even so there is no predicting what will happen. It’s difficult to know what questions will be asked, what conclusions examiners might have, or even for a candidate to know how they might feel about the process as it happens.

The viva could be difficult, but that doesn’t mean it is an all-or-nothing challenge, or that a candidate should have doubts about whether or not they are up to the task.

If your viva is coming up, reflect: how many difficult circumstances have you faced and overcome during your PhD?

You can manage one more time.