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Year: 2023

Nathan

Actions & Improvements

Daily Post

There are many actions, big and small, that you can take to improve your readiness for the viva.

  • Placing a sticky note at the start of each chapter can help you navigate your thesis more easily.
  • Taking half an hour to reflect and list key references can help you make connections about your research.
  • Preparing for and having a mock viva can help your confidence grow for meeting your examiners.
  • Simply writing one short sentence – you can do this – at the start of your thesis can give you a little boost.
  • Describing your research to a friend over coffee can help you practise sharing ideas.
  • A two-hour meeting with your supervisor can help you review ideas, key questions and difficult problems.

There are many actions, big and small, that you can take to improve your readiness for the viva. Some may only help a little, but lots of small actions can add up to a huge difference.

Don’t neglect the little things – and don’t put off the big tasks!

Nathan

The Minimum

Daily Post

What’s the minimum amount of viva prep I can get away with?

There are no bad questions in webinars, no stupid questions, but there are questions that surprise me!

 

What’s the minimum? A core set of tasks perhaps – reading, checking, practising – or a time period to do the work in.

What’s the minimum? Well, all you “need” is to submit a thesis and attend on the day of the viva. That would be the absolute minimum, right?

What’s the minimum? Maybe we need a better question. Charitably, I can imagine that the person asking the question is stressed, tired, overwhelmed and wondering what they can do to fit in what could feel like a lot of work.

Maybe instead of what’s the minimum? we can focus on how do I get ready if I’m busy?

You plan, you break the tasks down, you give yourself a generous period of time to do the work, you ask for help and so on.

 

And at a minimum, you’ve invested three years of work when you meet your examiners. There’s still more work needed to get ready for the viva, but don’t forget the foundations you’re building on to be ready for that conversation.

Nathan

Anti-Expectations

Daily Post

There are lots of key viva expectations, based around the typical length, the structure, tone and overall (high!) pass rate.

There are also anti-expectations that are much more particular to individuals: beliefs and expectations that, despite the general picture, something will go wrong this time, for them. Hardworking, capable candidates can come to believe that…

  • …they won’t pass, despite what everyone says.
  • …examiners are not going to be fair, they’ll just look for problems and mistakes.
  • …they just can’t be ready in time for the viva.

With viva anti-expectations, worries are jumped on and magnified. Details from one viva story are generalised. Anxieties blossom through misunderstanding and become something difficult to be shifted.

 

Of course, every viva is unique. It would be ridiculous to claim that every viva is free from problems. But the overwhelming evidence from the stories presented and the available understanding of the general situation is that vivas are fair, examiners are reasonable and prepared, vivas are structured and they can be prepared for.

If you hold any anti-expectations, then look for the evidence that supports them. Is it convincing? Is there even evidence for what you’re expecting?

Or is it better to explore the general expectations of the viva that you can use to get ready?

Nathan

What Will It Take?

Daily Post

When you start to prepare for your viva, make a list of what you will need to feel prepared. Ask yourself:

  • What practical materials do you need to help you get ready?
  • How much time do you have to invest?
  • Who do you need to consult with?
  • What key tasks do you have to have finished?
  • What activities will you engage with?
  • What outputs or outcomes will help you to know that you are prepared?

With all of these questions responded to and items listed, you have a checklist. The more you mark off, the closer you are to being sure you’re ready. Even if you can’t get everything – say, if you can’t have a mock viva – if you manage most things then you can feel pretty confident for the big day.

What will it take for you to feel ready? Make a list and do as much as you can.

Nathan

One Last Time

Daily Post

It’s likely that you will have corrections to complete after your viva. You’ll probably still need to discuss your work with your supervisors. And it’s possible that you might want to do more work based on your thesis research, whether that’s as an academic at a university or just for your own private reasons.

And still the viva is most likely that one last time when you will have a chance to sit down and talk with an eager, interested audience about what you’ve been doing for years of work. Not just a part of it, not just a paper or a poster. Hours to talk about everything you’ve done and all that it means.

One last time.

Make the most of it.

Nathan

Preparing For Examiners

Daily Post

When you know who your examiners will be, start your preparations for meeting them by reflecting on three questions:

  • Why have these people been chosen?
  • How does your work connect with what they do?
  • What do you need to do to prepare now?

Reflect and make notes on who your examiners are and what they do, then think about what you need to do to get ready for them.

Nathan

True or False

Daily Post

It’s true that binary questions – yes or no, true or false, A or B – could feature in a viva as a means of simply qualifying details.

It’s a false expectation to think binary questions are the dominant format of the viva though.

The viva is a discussion, not a quiz. Engaging well at yours means sharing responses to questions, not merely providing short answers.

Nathan

Summaries Aren’t Scripts

Daily Post

There are lots of good reasons to write summaries of your thesis, your research or aspects of both as part of your viva preparation.

  • Writing a summary helps you to focus on what matters.
  • A summary can help you to collect and organise your thinking.
  • Creating a summary can help you to identify what matters too.

A summary can be a list of points or a page of paragraphs, written in ten minutes or drafted carefully over an hour.

A summary is not a script though. You might use a helpful question to prompt writing: there are many viva question resources on the internet that provide these. Still, your examiners are not expecting memorised responses and hyper-polished notes that you read from.

The summary helps you prepare for the viva. It’s not a script to read from during the viva.

Nathan

Feelings Matter

Daily Post

Whatever you feel about your viva, reflect and think about what that means you have to do.

  • Feel nervous? Why? What’s at the root of that? What could help?
  • Feel anxious? What’s the problem? Who could you turn to for help?
  • Feel uncertain? What do you need to know? Where could you get more information?
  • Feel unprepared? How much time do you have? What are you next steps?

And what if you feel confident? Well, what can you do to build on that and continue to feel confident for your viva?

How you feel about your viva matters – but then you have to do something.

How do you feel? What do you need to do?

Nathan

Viva Views

Daily Post

Your viva is a lot of work, both in prep and on the day.

Your viva is one day at the end of a thousand or so.

Your viva is likely to be a difficult but not insurmountable challenge.

Your viva is an event that you can feel nervous and confident for.

Your viva is yours and yours alone, unique compared to every other that’s gone before.

Your viva is similar to many other vivas that have happened (and will happen in the future).

Your viva is not the end of the PhD, but you’re getting close.

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