You Are Here

Author: Nathan

Nathan

Who Did It?

Daily Post

I often encourage PhD candidates to reflect on Why, How and What:

  • Why did you do this research?
  • How did you do it?
  • What was the result?

These three questions are useful for breaking down the thesis contribution. They could be a good way to build up a summary. They’re a nice reminder that your thesis has something valuable.

But don’t forget Who:

  • Who did it?
  • Who kept going?
  • Who got more capable, more knowledgeable?

Your thesis has a significant original contribution. It’s only there because you did the work. You persisted, despite any pressures or setback – you made it happen. You became more talented along the way.

So: who is going to pass their viva?

Nathan

Candidate or Thesis

Daily Post

A fairly common question about the viva, asked by someone who has to pass one in their near future, is whether or not it’s an exam of the candidate or their thesis.

“Is it me or my book?” – and the answer is both.

  • The candidate is being examined to see if they are a capable researcher; have they done enough? Do they know enough?
  • The thesis is being examined to see if it has what it needs; does it meet expectations? Does it have everything that a thesis in that field is supposed to have?

The candidate wrote the thesis, but on the day both have to be good.

Both typically are.

Nathan

5 Random Posts

Daily Post

Last year, with the help of a plugin, I made a little link that diverts to a random post every time it is used: www.viva-survivors.com/randpost/

I use it to find old posts to read. I look for little thoughts I might want to explore more. Occasionally I remind myself, “Oh wow, I wrote that! That’s pretty bad/good/silly/weird…”

Here are five random posts and five thoughts from them that seemed worth sharing:

  1. You Can’t Do Everything: “You can’t do everything [to get ready], but everything you do will help you.”
  2. Riddles: “…if a question in the viva might feel like a riddle or a challenge, remember it might not have a single right answer. In some cases it will have only the best response you can give.”
  3. Blinkered: “Don’t expect your examiners to know more than you, but don’t expect that you know every possible question or idea either.”
  4. “How Can I Help?”: “You don’t need to have had your viva to help someone else with theirs.”
  5. No Rush: “There’s no rush necessary in your viva preparations or in the viva UNLESS you make it that way.”

Each of those posts is more than a one-liner. And there’s 1600 more to find by using the random post link: www.viva-survivors.com/randpost/

Maybe you’ll find just what you’re looking for.

Nathan

The S-word

Daily Post

I try to be as careful as possible using the s-word.

…should…

You should get ready for your viva this way…

You should be prepared for your examiners to ask…

You should start your viva prep…

Lots of well-meant advice is hard to hear, hard to act on or hard to follow because the person speaking throws the s-word in the mix. It can raise tensions or muddy expectations. It can increase pressure on someone struggling if they hear that they should do something, in a specific way or at a specific time, that conflicts with what they feel able to do.

Don’t ask for people to tell you what you should do to get ready for your viva.

Don’t tell people what they should do for their viva.

Share ideas. Say why something helped you. Tell them what could work. Say why something could be valuable.

Leave the s-word out of it.

Nathan

In Your Way

Daily Post

Time or work pressure.

Not knowing what to expect.

Being unsure of how to prepare.

Hearing stories that create doubt.

There can be lots of obstacles in your way of getting ready for the way. They’re real, they are barriers. You can still be ready, but only you can take the steps to get these things out of your way.

You have to make a small piece of time for yourself. You have to find out what to expect. You can learn what to do to prepare. You can ask for more viva stories that help.

You can and you must deal with anything in your way of getting ready for the viva.

Nathan

Nervous & Excited

Daily Post

If you feel nervous about your viva then you’re reacting to the importance of the event. In anticipation you feel that you want everything to go well and that’s the nerves you feel.

If you feel excited about your viva then you’re also reacting to the importance of the event. You feel more certainty than a nervous person perhaps, and can’t wait for the viva to go well.

Feeling nervous isn’t wrong. Feeling excited isn’t wrong. Neither are end states. They change and can be made to change. Feelings can help to prompt your action.

Feeling nervous for the viva? What do you need to do to help (as nerves aren’t always comfortable)?

Feeling excited for the viva? What do you need to do to maintain your good feelings (as they might still need encouragement)?

How do you feel? So what do you need to do?

Nathan

The Numbers Game

Daily Post

95% of vivas are finished by the four-hour mark.

I estimate that less than one-in-ten candidates will be asked to prepare a presentation.

Around 85% of candidates are asked to complete minor corrections to their thesis as the formal outcome of the viva.

Approximately 10% could be told the outcome of the viva as they start the exam.

And as useful as these statistics can be sometimes for shaping expectations, they’re also really hard to give someone a game plan for the viva. Lots of overlapping ideas – and while they create a feeling to hope for or engage with, you can’t know what is going to happen until you’re there.

The statistics help but you can’t play that game. You have to focus much more simply.

Use the stats and the stories of friends to create a picture of the viva that honestly seems fine. Then do your best. Create the best thesis you can. Prepare as best you can. Boost your confidence as best you can. Start the viva well. Keep going.

It’s important to have good expectations for the viva but the numbers can be a distraction. Create good expectations for yourself too.

Nathan

Whatever Works

Daily Post

Good day socks.

A playlist that helps you feel happy.

A lucky teddy.

Three cups of coffee.

Dancing around.

A Post-it Note of encouragement.

An outfit that just feels right.

There’s practical must-do tasks that help candidates get ready for the viva – reading, checking, making notes, practising – and then there are the rituals, warm-ups, placebos and boosts that you just need. There’s no right or wrong, it’s not silly, it’s not weird: it’s what you need to feel right.

Whatever works, works. Use whatever you need to help you feel ready.

Nathan

When Are You Ready?

Daily Post

You can’t be ready for your viva until you’ve at least submitted your thesis.

You need to have spent some time doing various viva prep tasks.

To be ready you have to feel some amount of confidence for the viva.

To be ready you have to have some idea of what to expect.

Ready isn’t an irreversible state: you have to maintain it.

Once you do feel ready, consider: what could you do to hold that feeling? What can you do to keep feeling confident?

Nathan

Opportunities To Practise

Daily Post

A key step of viva preparation is investing a little time to practise. A mock viva could be a great rehearsal for the real thing, but it’s not the only option.

  • Simply talk. Sit down over coffee, over video if you need to, and just tell someone about your work. Invite their questions. Ask them to prompt you if you’re not being clear.
  • Give a talk. Invite colleagues to listen. Use a few slides but only to help frame your thesis and research. Don’t talk for long; use the time to get into conversations.
  • Have a mini-viva. There are thousands of possible conversations that this resource could prompt. One or two might give you useful practise.

There are reasons why mock vivas are generally valued as a part of viva prep. They’re supposed to help you explore what it would be like to be in the viva. More fundamentally though, you need practise at responding to questions; taking the time to think and feeling comfortable doing so.

So what opportunities will you make for yourself?

1 … 142 143 144 145 146 … 317