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Month: January 2026

Nathan

Greater Than

Daily Post

Years of work and learning won’t make you infallible.

It’s entirely possible to get to your viva and be faced with a question you’ve never considered before. You can forget or go blank. And you can always be asked a question that – through lack of understanding, lack of knowledge or a glitch in the moment – it feels like the only thing you can say is “I don’t know.”

Taking all of this into account, how much more likely is it that you know something?

It’s not wrong to worry about what if’s, brain freezes or feeling uncertain as you respond to an important event like the viva. You can do something about all of these through preparation and through recognising that you don’t need to know everything.

Years of work and learning won’t make you infallible – but, for your viva, what you know is greater than what you don’t.

Nathan

Unexpectations

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There is a lot that you can expect from your viva.

If you explore regulations and viva stories you can get a good sense of what they are like. Regulations give a foundation of the process and what examiners do. Viva stories describe the pattern of experiences that candidates have.

They give a feel for vivas. As a result, you can build expectations you can work towards.

 

There is also a lot that you can’t expect from your viva.

Stories might showthe range of experiences but you can’t expect a particular viva length or a definite opening question. You can be confident of the work you’ve invested but you can’t expect your examiners to agree with you about every detail of your research.

You can know about vivas but still expect that there will be some unknowns – aspects of your viva that you cannot know until you get there.

You can expect a lot but must also expect the unexpected.

Nathan

Asking For Help

Daily Post

Viva prep is mostly solitary work but it can benefit from targeted help from the people around you. You might want a mock viva from your supervisor or a casual chat from friends. You might need your family to give you space. Depending on your situation you might need a lot more from others.

So how do you ask for help with your post-submission viva prep?

  • Ask early. Talk to people before submission so they know your general plans.
  • Express your need. Say what you need help with and why.
  • Ask for specific help to meet the need. Be clear when you describe what you have in mind.
  • Say please!
  • Give opportunities. Allow space to arrange when, give them a chance to offer a compromise if they can’t do the thing you were thinking of and make sure they know that they can say no.

Helpfully, when you leave space for a compromise you also start thinking about how else you might meet your needs. A mock viva is a great solution to meet the need for rehearsal but if your supervisor is not available there are other options.

Ask early. Express your need. Be specific. Say please! Give opportunities.

And, of course, say thank you 🙂

Nathan

How You’d Start Over

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If you were to start your PhD over again what would you do differently?

If you were to start again what would you do the same?

I don’t know how often examiners ask these questions. I’ve seen them suggested as good general discussion questions but haven’t verified if they’re widespread.

That said, they might be helpful questions to reflect on during viva prep.

 

What would you do differently? Write down three things you would change. Be specific. Say why. Consider the impact of these changes. What else might change as a result? Could you have done any of these at the time or do you only know this with the benefit of hindsight?

What would you do the same? Write down three things you would not change about your approach. Be specific and say why. What was the impact of these actions and why would it be important for you to do it the same again? Were you sure of their impact the first time around?

 

Your examiners need to unpick your process at the viva. It helps if you take time to do that during your prep.

Nathan

Lack

Daily Post

You’ve done a lot of work by the time you get to submission but as you prepare for your viva you might feel lacking in some areas.

  • Have I read enough papers?
  • Did I do enough research?
  • Do I know enough?
  • Am I enough to pass?

These are hard questions. If you find yourself facing them then remember you don’t have to just feel worried. Ask for help from people like your supervisor or your colleagues and find something you can do to build your certainty.

 

More importantly: if you find yourself confronting any of these questions then ask yourself why it’s there.

For example, Have I read enough papers?

  • Are you thinking this because you feel like there’s something you don’t know?
  • Are you concerned about your examiners?
  • Do you think your bibliography is maybe small compared to others?
  • Or is it something else?

When you start to pinpoint why a troubling question is troubling you then you can be more targeted in how you respond to it.

Nathan

Finishing

Daily Post

Viva prep is personal and purposeful. Make a plan that works for you, meets your needs and aligns with your situation.

Don’t cram: plan. Don’t squeeze everything in but allow time to do the work and allow space for adjustments. Leave room for changes so that you don’t make space for stress.

Decide what work you will do last. What final tasks might help you as you get within days of your viva? Will they be big or small? Will they be focussed on a particular aspect of your research or a more general final work?

How you finish your prep is as important as how you start. Finish your prep well. Decide in advance what you want to feel like or be doing and then you can plan a route to getting there.

Nathan

So Far, So Good

Daily Post

People often say this in an almost resigned way.

Well, we got here somehow…

At the viva it’s better to remember that you have got so far because you are so good.

 

Not perfect: good enough.

Luck didn’t lead you to this point.

You got this far, learned so much and made a difference because you are good.

Nathan

The Firsts

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There are a lot of firsts on your PhD journey.

What was the first day of your PhD like? How far have you come since then?

What was the first paper you read? How did it help?

When did you find an answer to the first question you raised? How many more have you found since then?

What was the first step towards the first big result you got? And what was the first big result?

When did you finish your first draft? How did you improve upon it?

After submission you’ll find your first typo, take your first step to being ready, have your first moment of nervousness at the thought of your viva and eventually face the first question at your viva.

There are a lot of firsts on your PhD journey. Don’t forget them – and don’t forget how much more you have done.

Nathan

2025 In Brief

Daily Post

In 2025…

  • …I published 362 new daily posts on Viva Survivors (I always take a few days off over Christmas)
  • …I delivered 44 viva-related sessions like Viva Survivor and 7 Reasons You’ll Pass Your Viva for 952 postgraduate researchers.
  • …I created eight issues of Viva Survivors Select, a series of curated and themed collections of viva support and developed five new games to help viva preparation.

Numbers can point towards confidence.

The right number can be a good representation of the effort and time you invest into something.

3136 posts on a blog is a lot. It’s been extraordinarily helpful for me to invest this time into writing. It helps me to think and find new ways of helping people with their viva problems.

952 people helped last year through my viva sessions. Over 10,000 total in my life as an independent researcher-developer. I get nervous and stressed before I deliver a webinar but the numbers help point me towards confidence. “I did all of that… I can probably do this too…”

 

2025 was a strange year. It was a hard year at times. There were lots of ups and downs in my work, my family life and in the world generally. But when things get tough and I can’t focus I can still look at the numbers.

What numbers do you have to help point you to confidence? What are your headlines for 2025? What did you do and what does it mean?

Find some helpful numbers to build your confidence up as you start 2026.

Nathan

Comforting Objects

Daily Post

I recently re-read Pat Thomson’s excellent post from September about emotional support objects – things in her space that help her feel better in different ways. They support her writing by distracting, inspiring or helping her to feel grounded.

Pat lists examples like a favourite mug, a smooth river rock and a particular leather journal. The context for the blog post is all about writing but I know from my own experience that these kinds of comfort objects can offer a much wider support.

I have favourite mugs and a leather journal cover that help my writing but I also have a paperweight that I keep to hand when I’m presenting and artwork on my walls that makes me smile.

I don’t take chances when it comes to my work. I work hard, I prepare and then I also have whatever I need to comfort and support me.

 

All of this makes me think of the viva too – and you, dear reader! What do you need?

You might already have emotional support objects but if not consider what you could try using or having around to support you. What could help you to prepare well? And importantly, what could help you to feel well in your viva?

And if you’re still working towards submission then please have a good search around Pat Thomson’s really very excellent blog which has a treasure trove of posts about writing, planning and academia. It’s really worth diving into.

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