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Month: October 2017

Nathan

Soundbites

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It’s cool when you can summarise your research in a tweet. I loved the challenge of explaining my work so that a layperson could understand.

I explore ways to tell apart complicated knotted structures. For my PhD, I found several new processes and results using maths!

There might be some value in breaking down your chapters or key results into soundbites, as a reflective exercise. You could start off with 100 words to summarise a chapter, then try to do it in 25. Could you explain a chapter in ten words? You’d lose something, but it could help you to think through what’s important.

Just remember: this might help you to reflect on your work, but you’ll need more words to tell your research story to your examiners. You can’t predict all of their questions ahead of time, but you can be sure that they want more than a quip.

Nathan

The Four Elements

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There are four elements of practical viva preparation, four key modes of activity to pay attention to:

  • Thinking: specifically, reflecting on your work, how you did it, what it means.
  • Reading: your whole thesis, carefully, and any papers that you need to remind yourself about.
  • Writing: adding annotations to your thesis and creating summaries of your work.
  • Talking: making and using opportunities to practise answering questions about your thesis.

None of them requires you to learn radically new skills. Investing time in these areas will be rewarded by your increased confidence as the viva comes around. There are lots of things that you can do in each of these areas:

  • Thinking: use a questions list; explore your contribution; reflect on why your thesis matters.
  • Reading: don’t skim the first read-through; look for vague passages; target the good and bad.
  • Writing: make important parts stand out; write overviews of your chapters; find new ways to explain things.
  • Talking: talk to friends; have a mock viva; give a seminar and take questions.

You might not have done any of these things during your PhD, but you can do all of them. You only have to find expressions of the four elements to match your personal preferences: for example, not everyone will want a mock viva, but every candidate will benefit from practise through answering questions.

Find ways to think, read, write and talk that build confidence for your viva.

Nathan

Awards

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One way viva processes differ around the UK is in terms of awards. These are the various outcomes. Often people think in terms of corrections: no corrections, minor corrections and major corrections. If your viva is coming up I would encourage you to check exactly what each of these means at your institution.

Some universities give three months for minor corrections; others, only four weeks. At some institutions major corrections is an acknowledgement that your thesis is on track but you have some substantial editing or rewriting to do; at others, you must formally resubmit your thesis and have a second viva. Check the outcomes before you go to the viva. Better to know all of the possibilities…

…and then temper them with facts. Most people get minor corrections. It’s likely you will too. They won’t be terrible, but they’ll still be work that needs doing. Sketch a plan now. How long would you have to complete them? What would you have to do in order to complete them in that timeframe given everything else you have going on?

Be realistic. Prepare to pass and prepare for that final burst of work to make your best thesis.

Nathan

Anonymous Seminar Rooms

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I think this is the best way to describe the places where most vivas happen. They might just be another seminar room in your department, but some universities have their own viva suites. You probably can’t control where it will be, but you will know in advance, and that can be really useful.

Any space you’re working in can have an impact on the quality of the work you do. The room your viva is in can have an impact on how you feel. But because you know the location in advance you can do something to help yourself.

Check the layout. Does it make a difference to you if you can see a clock in the room? If there is one, do you want to sit with your back to it? Check it there is a whiteboard, chalkboard or flipchart. Would you need one of these? Is there a window in the door? Would you sit with your back to that, so you don’t get distracted by passers-by?

Environments do have an effect on our confidence and performance. Explore your viva room ahead of time and see what you can do to make it the best space for you.

Nathan

10 Thesis Reading Tips For Viva Prep

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I always tell people that reading their thesis is an essential part of viva prep, like it’s the easiest thing in the world – and I know that I struggled with it a lot! By the time I submitted I felt like I was burned out on my thesis. I felt confident, but was looking forward to when it would all be done. Here are ten tips for reading your thesis that should help with your viva preparations:

  1. Take a break for at least two weeks after you submit. Give yourself a little distance from your thesis.
  2. Plan when you’ll read it. When will you have read the whole thesis?
  3. Put Post Its at the start of each chapter. Make your thesis easier to navigate.
  4. Put Post Its where you find something important. Make it easier to find your thesis essentials.
  5. Try not to skim-read your thesis. Read it line-by-line at least once.
  6. Make a list of questions that one might have about your thesis. Keep them in mind.
  7. Underline typos when you see them. Don’t obsess about finding them.
  8. Make a glossary of terms. Whenever you find a piece of jargon, break it down.
  9. Set some goals. How many times do you need to read your thesis to feel happy?
  10. Take a day off from reading your thesis from time to time!

You have to read your thesis. It can feel like a chore at times, but it really is essential for the viva. Do everything you can to make the process work well for you.

Nathan

Pre-Corrections

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Nearly every person that I’ve spoken to about mock vivas had theirs about two weeks before the actual viva. For them it was a chance to explore their thesis, get questions about their work and see how they would feel responding in a viva-like situation. Most people want something like that from the mock.

A while back I spoke to someone who had their mock viva a month before they submitted their thesis. They wanted to see how well they were communicating, both through their thesis and through the answers they gave to questions. Their early mock viva gave them a chance for “pre-corrections”: based on questions and feedback they tried to improve their thesis as much as possible before submission. That didn’t mean that they weren’t expecting corrections later but they were using their mock to make their thesis the best it could be.

I’ve never interviewed anyone else who has had such an early mock viva. It might not be a terrible idea to do something like it though. Why not host a seminar or have a series of conversations to unpick how well you’re communicating your research? What could you do to improve?

Nathan

Training Days

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I have a hard time defining my job title. Sometimes I’m a freelance consultant, sometimes I’m a writer, sometimes I’m a skills trainer. I go back and forth on describing my Viva Survivor workshops as training. I share ideas and advice, explain what the viva is all about and help people to see that they have a lot of talents already. I want to help people feel as confident as possible for their viva. Some days I feel happy saying that the workshop is a skills training session, other days it doesn’t feel quite right.

Your institution probably provides a lot of training opportunities. They might book me to come in or provide their own sessions on viva prep, or they might not do something like that. Regardless of whether or not they provide viva training, look around for other sessions that could help you with finishing your PhD and preparing for the viva.

Look for workshops on presentation skills, confidence building, assertiveness – none of this is about the viva or viva prep, but all could help with it. Even if you’re three months from submission, if you feel it will help, see if there are any academic or thesis writing workshops. There will be valuable lessons you can learn from a half day session. The real value, of course, is when you make changes as a result.

See what’s on offer, see what you might learn and then think about the difference that could make.

Nathan

Think Again

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Like most PhD candidates, after my viva I had corrections. For two of my chapters in particular, my examiners were convinced I had proved what I stated, but they didn’t like how it was explained. It read too much like a story, they said, not like maths at all. They told me I had to correct it by re-ordering those chapters.

It seemed impossible. I had spent almost three years developing my explanation. As far as I was concerned, this was the only way to do it. Slowly though, I restated all of my terms. Bit by bit I built it back up. In the end, the chapters were shorter, more precise, easier to read and more effective at communicating the algorithms I had developed. My thesis was profoundly better as a result.

I’m grateful that my examiners gave me the opportunity to re-explore one of my big results. I’m grateful because it gave me a chance to start again: I knew the result was true and I worked out a more helpful way of communicating it.

On the run up to the viva, it could be useful to take a step back. Explore whether or not there are alternate ways of expressing your work. If your thesis is finished it can still be valuable to let your mind wander. How else can you explain your research?

Nathan

Active

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You have to read your thesis to prepare for the viva. Cover to cover, everything, don’t skim. It will help a lot.

If you re-read though, and re-read again, there’ll come a point where it becomes a passive activity. You do it for the sake of doing it. Your attention is on other things, and while you might feel good for taking a look at the book again, you’re not actually getting any benefit.

When that happens, switch gears: go back to being active. Annotate your thesis. Make a list of your most important references. Create some summaries to help you find the heart of your research. Have a conversation with a friend about your results. Ask your supervisor to run through your methodology and throw in some left-field questions.

Effective viva prep is active.

Nathan

3 Questions You’ll Never Be Asked…

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…but you might get a lot of help from considering them:

  • What do you not want to talk about in your viva?
  • Following on from that, why do you not want to talk about it?
  • What would you say if it did come up?

Your examiners won’t ask these questions, but answers to them will help you. Reflect on your thesis and research journey. What do you not want to focus on?

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