Opportunities At The Viva

In my experience PhD candidates worry a lot about general questions, specific questions, attitudes and the atmosphere of the viva:

• What if my examiners don’t agree?
• What if they disagree with me?
• What if I forget something?
• What if something goes wrong?

With even a little thought and exploration there are many small and helpful steps that any candidate can take to overcome viva-related obstacles – but I wonder sometimes if a simple change of focus could help more with a lot of problems.

What if, instead of looking at the obstacles that might occur, we looked first at the many opportunities that can be found at the viva?

• You have the opportunity to share your work.
• You have the opportunity to show that you’re a capable researcher.
• You have the opportunity to ask for expert opinions.
• You have the opportunity to have a thorough and interesting conversation.

And you have the opportunity to succeed!

PS: Want some ideas on how to make the most of all of these opportunities? Then take a look at The Submission Issue, the latest Viva Survivors Select collection – twenty posts from the archive and two original pages of help for £3.