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Year: 2022

Nathan

Expect Good

Daily Post

What could your viva be like? It could be lots of things!

It could be four hours long but feel like it’s over in half that, like mine felt to me. It could begin with a chance for you to summarise what you’ve done or with an open question from one of your examiners. It could be that you are sat around a seminar room table with your examiners or that you’re talking to each other over video and at a great distance.

There’s a lot of variety to the viva. When you account for all of the weird one-in-a-million cases, like someone (me) standing for their four hour viva, the chief expectation for vivas is that they are good.

Expect your viva to be good. Expect your thesis to be well-received. Expect your examiners to be good and prepared. Expect that you’ll receive good questions.

Expect yourself to be good enough.

Nathan

What Are You Holding On To?

Daily Post

We have a fireplace in our living room that looks like a coal fire. It’s not. It’s a gas fire.

It’s not connected up. The previous owners of the house had it disconnected and we’ve never needed it. We use the mantlepiece to stand pictures and ornaments.

In front of our not-fireplace we have a shiny metal stand with a set of fireplace tools. Tongs for moving coal, a brush and shovel for sweeping ash, a poker to stoke the coal fire.

Again, the coal fire is fake, the fireplace doesn’t work and we have a set of tools just to one side that we never use. We don’t need any of it! And yet we keep it all the same.

 

All of which is a long way to get to ask you: what are you holding on to that you don’t need any more?

Maybe you’ve submitted your thesis and have been holding on to an idea that you didn’t quite finish exploring.

Perhaps you’re a little stuck in your prep focussing on parts of your work that just aren’t important.

Or it could be that you’re holding on to an idea of who you are, what you can or can’t do, and that idea isn’t helping you any more.

It might be hard to let go sometimes. But if you consider what you’re holding on to, even if you can’t get rid of it completely, perhaps you can reflect and see what will help you more.

Nathan

Stacked Up

Daily Post

My daughter loves reading but hates tidying.

Consequently our living room builds up towers of books and ad hoc bookcases that lean against table ends. About once a fortnight something collapses, usually when just one more book has been added to an arrangement. Just one more book was just enough for the whole thing to give way.

As parents we encourage simplicity, putting things away, keeping what you need, tidying up what she’s finished with. She’s eight. She’ll get there.

(I hope!)

Viva prep isn’t that different, or at least how I’ve seen a lot of good candidates approach the work. They see “Just so much to do!” and think “How will I stack that up with what I already need to do?!”

It’s really not that much work. Starting with something simple helps.

Start by thinking about what you need to do to get ready. Start by listening to friends and colleagues about what they did. Start by making a little plan. Start by realising that you don’t have to stack all the work up: if you think ahead you can take your time. You can do the work in a way that works for you.

Then neither your viva prep nor your life will come crashing down around you.

Nathan

No More Feedback

Daily Post

There’s a difference between the thoughts you want from your supervisors before and after submission.

While finishing your thesis there are all sorts of things you might want them to consider. Does it read well? Is this right? Does it communicate what I want it to? Can you spot any typos? You want their thoughts on these and other questions because you want your thesis to be as good as possible. It can’t be perfect, but you want it to be good enough.

Your supervisors’ feedback can be a valuable part of the work that you need to do.

After submission, you still need thoughts from your supervisors but the need is different. You don’t need more ideas or suggestions on how to make your thesis better. Instead you want an outsider perspective. Your methods are sound, but what other approaches are there? Your conclusions are valid, but how else might someone look at what you’ve done? Your work is good, but what other good work could someone do in this area?

You’re not looking for more feedback. You’re looking for a different perspective. Not necessarily your examiners’ perspective, but something different to get you thinking. Listening to different perspectives as part of your prep – and responding to them – can be useful practice for the viva.

Nathan

The Final Thing

Daily Post

What’s the final thing you need to do before submission?

What’s the final piece of information about your examiners that will help you feel better about them?

What’s the final thing you need to know about the viva?

What’s the final question you’ll have for your supervisor?

What’s the final task you’ll do as you prepare for your viva?

What’s the final thing you’ll do on the day to help you feel ready?

Getting started isn’t necessarily always easy, but sometimes it’s as simple as doing something. Finishing isn’t necessarily always hard, but sometimes it helps to know the final thing you might cross off your list.

Nathan

Your Viva Is Not An Unknown

Daily Post

You can’t know in advance what your examiners will ask for every question. You can’t know how long it will be exactly. You won’t know what parts of your thesis they think need changing, amending or updating. You can’t know how you will feel when you’re there.

But you know what it’s all about. Your thesis is a guide to what might come up. A guide doesn’t tell a person everything, but it lays out what is important. You can know many of the topics that will come up in your viva because you wrote your thesis. You can know what happens in vivas because there are regulations for your institution and expectations in the wider academic community for what vivas are supposed to be like.

You can’t know everything about your viva in advance. That doesn’t mean your viva is an unknown.

Nathan

Use Your Time

Daily Post

You don’t know how much time you’ll have in your viva. However long it is, it’s not worth stressing or obsessing. The best thing you can do is use the time that you have well.

Use your time to listen, pause and collect your thoughts.

Use your time to make notes if that will help.

Use your time to ask questions to clarify an examiner’s line of thinking.

Use your time to take a break.

Use your time to engage with the discussion, respond to questions and share your research.

Don’t focus on how long or short your viva might be. Instead, focus on how you can make the most of the opportunities you have in the viva.

Nathan

Who Is At The Viva?

Daily Post

In the UK there have to be at least two examiners, one internal and one external. Both are important. It’s not true that the external has the final say or is senior to the internal. Both will have read your thesis. Both will be prepared. Together they will lead the discussion in the viva and together they will determine the outcome.

An independent chair could be part of the viva process: a member of staff who will observe and confirm that the viva was fair. Some universities always insist on a chair; others require them for certain situations. If there needs to be a chair then they will be there.

You might need your supervisor at your viva. It might feel appropriate to have them be a witness to a final step of your PhD journey. You might need them to make notes about what you discuss or you might need the help of having a supporter in the room.

Or you might need them to not be there: that’s fine too!

Finally, you need to be there. You need to be present, prepared and ready to engage.

Who is at the viva? In short, everyone who needs to be.

Nathan

Getting Prep Done

Daily Post

If viva prep seems hard – you’re tired, stretched, stressed, busy – then think about how you can make doing it somehow rewarding to you.

  • Can you incentivise getting it done?
  • Can you record doing it in a fun way?
  • Can you create a routine or ritual that helps you get the work done?
  • Can you include others in your prep in a useful way?

You need to prepare for your viva, but that need by itself might not be enough. What can you do to help you get it done?

Nathan

Don’t Deny Nerves

Daily Post

If you feel nervous about your viva there is a reason. Don’t try to put it to one side or squash it down, because that feeling is trying to draw your attention to something.

  • If you feel nervous because you don’t feel ready, then take time to prepare for your viva.
  • If you feel nervous because of something that doesn’t seem right in your thesis, then talk to your supervisor and figure things out.
  • If you feel nervous because you don’t know what to expect then find out more!

And if you just feel nervous but can’t put your finger on why then most likely you are recognising that the viva is important. This matters to you. Still, don’t push away your nerves, but instead focus on building your confidence, a counter-feeling that will help bring your nervousness into perspective.

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