You Are Here

Month: May 2026

Nathan

The Shape Of Your Thesis

Daily Post

You don’t need to memorise your thesis to be well-prepared for your viva. You’ll have it with you in the viva, annotated in whatever way suits your needs, and you can consult it whenever you need to.

To get ready for your viva you need to read your thesis and re-appreciate what you’ve done.

  • Do you have a single project or lots of smaller projects?
  • Does your thesis share a big book-length project or a collection of papers?
  • Is your thesis “different” in some way: do you have a creative work, a portfolio or something else entirely that isn’t typical for many candidates?

Whatever you have, take time after submission to read it carefully. Again, you don’t need to memorise what you’ve done but it will help to refresh your memory and appreciate the shape of your thesis.

Make sure you know the flow of information and ideas in your work as you’ve presented it.

Nathan

When You Find Problems

Daily Post

If you’re reading your thesis, preparing for your viva or even simply reading the regulations for your viva and think you’ve found something that could be a problem:

  • First, don’t panic. It may or may not be a problem. It’s worth checking carefully.
  • Second, think about the impact. Big or small? Specific or general? How big of a deal is it?
  • Finally, what actions do you need to take? What would match the potential impact?

A problem, if it really is a problem, could make you worry. You probably don’t have to face it alone. There are lots of people around you who can offer support, advice and practical help. If there’s any kind of viva-related problem then there’ll be a way forward.

Don’t panic. Think about the impact. Take action.

Work past worry.

Nathan

Yeses & Noes

Daily Post

I had to look up the proper pluralisation of yes and no for this post!

And when I did it turned out that there are variations: there are several different options for both. Do you capitalise your YES to make it clear? Do you simply refer to a lot of negativity as “nos”? Do you dare to offend grammar lovers by adding apostrophes?

Whatever you decide you have to be ready to say why.

Which brings us to the viva: when you’re sharing what you did during your PhD there are some aspects that could seem as simple as a yes or a no.

Yes I did that or no I did it this way. While it might be simple you’ll still need to say why.

Be ready to share the whys for all your yeses and noes at your viva.

Nathan

Every Question, Any Question

Daily Post

You can’t know every question you’ll be asked in advance of your viva.

You can be prepared to respond to any question you’ll be asked at your viva.

Read your thesis, annotate it well, make helpful summaries to focus on what matters and rehearse – you still won’t know every question you’ll be asked but you’ll be ready for any question that your examiners have for you.

Nathan

“The Perfect PhD”

Daily Post

What do we mean when we’re thinking about a perfect PhD?

Candidate? Research? Thesis? The journey?

In some ways it doesn’t matter: there’s no perfection to be found!

There’s good: you can recognise what you do well, what you’re capable of, what you present well in your thesis and how it all ties together in your PhD experience.

There’s difficult: you can consider the challenges, the obstacles overcome, the struggle to write and more.

There’s better: you can reflect on what you have made better both in your research and in yourself – and possibly even see where things could be better still but aren’t yet.

There’s good, there’s difficult, there’s better – and there’s enough.

There’s no perfect in your PhD, but there is enough to show that you are a good researcher. There’s enough to show you have made a contribution at your viva.

Nathan

Live Webinars, Summer 2026

Event, Update

In brief: I have five independent viva help webinars happening soon.

 

“Thank you so much this was very helpful – I have my viva on Monday and am feeling a bit more confident now :)” – Liverpool John Moores University PhD candidate

I regularly deliver Viva Survivor and 7 Reasons You’ll Pass Your Viva sessions for universities and doctoral programmes around the UK. However, not every university engages me to deliver sessions – and sometimes even when they do there’s limited availability.

So, to create more opportunities for PhD candidates to access viva help sessions, I’m offering a range of dates and times for my 1-hour 7 Reasons You’ll Pass Your Viva live webinar in June and July:

Morning, afternoon and evening slots – and for the first time ever I’m offering a Saturday morning session for anyone who might struggle to attend during the week.

 

“Thank you for such an engaging and helpful session!” – University of Liverpool PhD candidate

7 Reasons You’ll Pass Your Viva was developed in the early days of the first COVID lockdown in 2020 and has grown to be one of my most-requested sessions. I love sharing this 1-hour confidence-boost for the viva and seeing how it resonates with and helps PhD candidates.

Registration for these live 7 Reasons You’ll Pass Your Viva webinars is £20 and includes a follow-up email, a pdf copy of my 101 Steps To A Great Viva guide and access to a catch-up recording of the session.

 

“Thanks, really helpful session that’s helped me feel confident about the viva!” – University of Edinburgh PhD candidate

Tickets for all 7 Reasons You’ll Pass Your Viva sessions are available now. If you’re looking for viva help then I hope you can join me on one of these dates:

Thanks for reading. If this might help a friend then please share this message.

All the best,

Nathan

Nathan

Rehearsing For Examiners

Daily Post

A mock viva might be the best thing you could do to be ready for meeting your examiners. Taking time to practise being in the viva environment will help you rehearse listening to questions, taking your time and responding. This should help you feel comfortable and confident for your viva.

It’s not all you can do though. Make sure you’ve had a good conversation with your supervisors about your examiners. Get a sense of who they are and what they do if you don’t know already – and dig deeper by exploring their most recent publications. This can help you appreciate any particular areas of crossover or connection with your research.

Your examiners will be preparing to do their job well at your viva. You need to do the same. They have a responsibility and a role to play: you can be ready for them through rehearsal and preparation.

Nathan

A Rest Day

Daily Post

At least, I hope today is a rest day for you! If not, I hope you’re able to rest soon.

I’ve written about rest so much that I thought today I would simply share all the posts I have on the topic: here!

Rest is an essential part of viva prep. Plan what you’re going to do and how you do it to give yourself plenty of space to rest well.

Nathan

Unspoken Rules

Daily Post

“Everyone knows that about the viva!” – except when they don’t.

Regulations can be consulted but only show some of the picture of what to expect. Your department could have expectations that are assumed as common knowledge. There may even be expectations within your discipline that “everyone knows” about viva lengths, discussion focus and examiner selection.

Everyone knows what to expect – except when they don’t. If you don’t know what to expect or don’t know how something is supposed to be with your viva then find the right person to ask – and ask!

Then, whenever you can, share what you do know with others to help them on their journey to PhD success.

Nathan

Cramming Isn’t An Option

Daily Post

There are lots of ways to prepare for your viva:

  • You could spread the work out over a month or schedule it within two weeks.
  • You could read your thesis in an afternoon or review a chapter per day for a week.
  • There’s a range of options for annotation, writing summaries and learning what to expect.
  • And you could, depending on mutual availability, have a mock viva anywhere from a few days to a few weeks before your viva.

Cramming, however, isn’t an option for viva prep. If you don’t plan your prep and leave it to the last minute – or try to overload your days – you will only add stress to your situation.

Stress won’t help.

Instead, plan your viva prep. Consider how you’re feeling, what you’re doing and how you like to work.

Make an honest plan not a hurried one. Ask for help when you need it and take your time to do the work – give yourself time to gently think, consider and reflect.

Cramming isn’t an option for viva preparation.

1 2 3 4