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Nathan

Best of Viva Survivors 2023: Viva Prep

Daily Post

It’s that time of year where I share my favourite posts from the last twelve months!

I always like to start my round-up posts with viva preparation as it’s a big part of the viva experience. The viva itself is done in a few hours, but preparation is often spread out over several weeks. Here are five helpful posts:

Look for more viva prep posts on the site, and look out for tomorrow’s post with my favourite reflections from this year.

Nathan

Why Write A Summary?

Daily Post

You’ve written your thesis, read it in preparation for your viva and maybe made notes on pages.

So why would you write anything else about it? Why would you write a summary as part of your viva prep?

  • To gather your thoughts. A thesis could have tens of thousands of words, but you don’t need all of them to defend your research in the viva. Writing a summary can help gather together your best ideas.
  • To focus your thinking. Sitting and writing with a simple question or prompt can help you to dig deeper into a topic. It’s far better than just making a note.
  • To reorder your ideas. To take highlights from different sections and combine them. To give you an opportunity to arrange your ideas for talking in the viva.

You could summarise a chapter or your whole thesis. You could write paragraphs or lists. You could zero in on particular aspects like the bibliography or methodology, or write a broad overview of all your work.

Why write a summary? To help you get ready for your viva.