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Year: 2023

Nathan

Measuring PhD Success

Daily Post

What does PhD success mean? I’ve heard lots of possible ideas over the years:

  • No corrections? Is that the goal?
  • Two or more publications? Is that what you want? Or need?
  • Just getting through?! Is that enough?
  • Feeling proud at the end? (I think that would be nice)

Success has to involve the viva in some way – and passing it of course! So success also has to involve doing the work necessary to get to submission, preparing for the viva and doing well on the day.

PhD success has to include the viva – but PhD success doesn’t mean simply passing the viva. I think given that every PhD journey is unique and personal it follows that PhD success would be too.

PhD success can’t simply be measured in the number of corrections, how many papers you write or how many times your examiners smile during the viva. Every candidate has to set the measure for themselves. Every candidate has to find what their PhD means and what success means.

And, whatever stage you’re at, you have to figure it out for yourself. You may find help in blog posts like this or conversations with friends: at some point you have to decide what you’ll accept as success and then work towards and deal with that.

What does PhD success mean?

Well, what does it mean to YOU?

Nathan

Character Sheets

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In tabletop role-playing games, players have character sheets. These are a way of capturing information about the person you are pretending to be in the game. Are you a warrior or a wizard? What equipment do you have? Character sheets list statistics about the character, measures of how skilful someone is and perhaps key details about their past or their talents.

If all of the above sounds totally unfamiliar then from real life picture a CV or resume. These do something similar to a character sheet. They show what someone has achieved, a shorthand for showing ability and success, essential skills and qualifications. It’s not the whole story, but a helpful summary for reminding someone or sharing key details.

As you prepare for your viva, consider making a character sheet for yourself. List your accomplishments, summarise the skills and talents that make you amazing, and highlight the ways you have levelled up. Summarise what you can do now as a result of your PhD journey.

In a game, a character sheet might describe someone fictional and amazing. For the viva, create something which shows a real, amazing person: you.

Nathan

Snapshots

Daily Post

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 want to know will not be present in their story.

It’s like looking at someone else’s holiday photos. Holiday snapshots show things someone else noticed or were interested in. At first, talking about it might only give surface impressions, the short version of what happened.

Every viva story is a snapshot of an experience. A viva story doesn’t reveal everything and without context could even be confusing.  Ask about what you need to know. And ask the right people! It makes more sense to ask a few people from your own department about their viva than trawl the internet for lots of stories.

Figure out what you need to know to have more certainty for your viva and your preparations.

Nathan

Finding The Answer

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Lots of questions have answers.

Answers are things that are known: factually accurate, true or perhaps established as a logical argument with sufficient supporting reasons and information.

If you were asked a question and needed to find an answer in the viva there are lots of things you could do or try:

  • You could stop and remember the answer, or at least attempt to.
  • You could use a piece of paper and calculate something that leads to the answer.
  • You could stand up at a whiteboard and draw while you talk to explain the answer.
  • You could check your thesis to look for a piece of information that holds the answer.
  • You could ask a question of your examiners to help explore the situation.

Lots of questions have answers and if you are trying to find an answer in the viva there is a lot you could do to find it.

 

But not every question has an answer.

Some questions seek opinions. Some are hypothetical and explore a scenario – or how someone thinks about it. Some questions have an answer – and you might not know it. Some questions don’t have answers, but they are worth exploring all the same.

If a question has an answer you might be able to find it. If a question doesn’t then you can still engage with it.

Not every question has an answer, but every question asked at the viva is something you can engage with and respond to. If there’s an answer there then there’s plenty you can do to find it – and if there isn’t you still have an opportunity to demonstrate your work, your ability and your knowledge.

Nathan

Now You Can

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If it won’t cause pain or upset, think back to who you were when you started your PhD journey.

Consider what you knew and what you could do, and compare that with your capability today.

Being ready for the viva is partly all the work you’ve done, partly the specific preparations for the viva and partly how you feel about yourself and what you can do. A PhD journey can be long and difficult; sometimes, when reflecting it can be natural to remember the beginnings or the harder moments.

Instead, remember where you are today. Remember the skills, the knowledge, the talent and the success that you have. You are not the person you were. You are not who you were when you began.

Now you can do so much more.

You know so much more.

And you have achieved so much more than when you started.

Nathan

Before Submission

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Viva prep comes after you’ve finished and submitted your thesis. Before submission your focus has to be on finishing your research and your thesis, with some attention reserved for life and your future beyond the PhD.

That’s not to say there aren’t useful viva-related things to do before submission. but they’re all small. They don’t really count as prep:

  • Read the regulations. Get a sense of the process at your university and the outcomes and timescales involved.
  • Plan your prep. You don’t need to get ready, but you can prepare to get ready! Sketch out how you will do it when the time comes.
  • Discuss your examiners with your supervisor. Who are they? Why are they good choices? Can you make suggestions?

The last task is bigger  but still a very small task compared to everything else you’ll do to get to submission. Suggest examiners if your supervisor asks, discuss why their choices are good ones for your viva if they are already set. You don’t get to formally choose examiners, but you can be sure of who they are and why they are good for you.

And apart from these three tasks: finish your research, finish your thesis and plan for life after the PhD.

Nathan

The Value of Advice

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Viva advice is available in many forms. There are books, podcasts, blog posts, seminars and people you can ask for help. You could talk to people on the internet, in your department or from your own network. You could speak in person, over email or via Zoom.

Viva advice could cost you money to buy a book while reading a blog post could be free. Searching the internet to find help could cost you time but be very convenient; asking a colleague might cost you in terms of scheduling, but be a quick conversation at the appropriate time.

There’s lots of viva advice and it costs in different ways – but it’s only worth the cost if it helps you to do something (or perhaps not do something) that helps you on the way to your viva. Viva advice is useless if you don’t do something as a result.

Advice is valuable, but the real value comes when you do something.

Nathan

What Now?

Daily Post

You’ve written a thesis that captures a signifiant and original contribution to your field.

What now? What could you or someone else do to build on these ideas? How might this inspire someone else?

 

You’ve done several weeks of prep for your viva and there’s only a few days to go before the big day.

What now? What do you need to do to feel prepared? Who can help and what are your priorities?

 

Your viva is done and it’s been a great success, just like you hoped.

What now? What do you have to do finish things off? When and how will you get corrections and any other admin done?

 

Everything is finished. You’ve reached the end of your PhD journey.

What now?

Nathan

Out Of Ideas!

Daily Post

I’m so sorry, but I sat down to write and I have nothing left to say.

Almost six years. That’s how long it took me to write everything that I could say about the viva.

It was a good run, I suppose.

 

Still, there are almost six years of daily posts to read on the site. You can use the random post link if you want to read something at random, or perhaps use a tag to find support on all sorts of topics like viva prep, examiners and viva confidence.

You could even take a look at the anthology I published last year if you want a really considered take on the viva, what to expect and what to do. It’s the best of five years of writing.

 

Who knows if I’ll ever publish anything again after today, April 1st 2023, but on the off chance that this is just a strange day where I feel a little foolish, do subscribe if you haven’t already! 😉

Nathan

Helpful Mindsets

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A famous saying, or an approximation of it: if you think you can or think you can’t, you’re probably right.

Our mindset shapes how we view things and how we do things. If you don’t think something will work, you might not do your best to see if it will. If you’re confident of success then you’ll find a way even if you experience setbacks.

What kinds of mindsets could help with the viva?

  • For submission: done is better than perfect.
  • For prep: small tasks add up.
  • For the viva itself: I am here to respond to my examiners’ questions (whatever they might be).
  • For corrections: get them done, then move on!

A mindset, a sentence, a little saying – however you frame them they can motivate action and produce results. They are not the actions, but the framing for them.

For example, done is better than perfect puts limits on drafting and redrafting. It expresses an end-point. It gives a nudge for action – but then you have to take that action. You have to set a timetable, you have to do the work and decide when you stop.

I am here to respond to my examiners’ questions (whatever they might be) reminds you of what you have to do in the viva. To be ready you’ll need to rehearse, read and feel confident in what you do and say.

A mindset leads to action, the action embeds the mindset: a positive cycle that can lead to good outcomes.

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