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Nathan

Viva Survivors: 7 Reasons You’ll Pass Your Viva

Update

I had a great time last week sharing Viva Survivors: Getting Creative with PhD candidates dotted all around the UK (and the world!). It was really fun to take my creative prep ideas and see them connect: it was just lovely, as was the opportunity to respond to questions in real time. Bar the odd Zoom-related technical hitch it all worked wonderfully.

I’ll be sharing Viva Survivors: Getting Creative again in the future, but next I’ll be sharing another new free 1-hour session, Viva Survivors: 7 Reasons You’ll Pass Your Viva on April 22nd 2020. This is for PhD candidates who have their viva coming up and want to know why it’s going to be fine. Lots of people tell PhD candidates not to worry about the viva – relax, don’t stress, it’ll all be fine – sentiments which don’t always help because they often miss an important Why.

For some candidates, one thing – the right thing – can be enough to make the difference and help them feel certain about their viva. I have seven reasons to share next Wednesday, and my aim is to convince anyone coming that they will be fine for their viva. They may have work to do, things to check or prep to complete, but when the time comes, they can be ready. They will pass.

Like last week’s session, I want to run this again, but don’t have firm plans for now. If you want to come to Viva Survivors: 7 Reasons You’ll Pass Your Viva then book now! Full details are at the link: the session is free, but you have to register to attend. It’s open to 60 participants like the last session – which was fully booked – and at the time of writing 40% of places have gone. Simply click through to sign-up; all of the joining instructions will follow on after that.

Thanks for reading this. If it sounds like it might help you, then please register for a spot on the session. Hope to see you there.

Nathan

Nathan

Perfect Is Hard

Daily Post

Actually, it’s impossible.

Trying to be perfect for your viva will only cause you pain, stress, worry and other feelings of falling short.

Perfection will always be ten steps ahead of you, but ready can be right by your side.

Aim for being prepared: perhaps a little nervous still, but confident, fully capable of successfully meeting with your examiners and doing what you need to.

 

Nathan

Take Today Off Too (a haiku)

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Keep resting, pausing,

Breathing, thinking and holding.

It’s fine for today.

 

It’s a Bank Holiday in the UK, and following yesterday’s post, I’m encouraging you to take another day off from viva prep, if you’re in a period of actively preparing.

Probably you’re planning to stay home today! But that doesn’t mean you have to prepare for your viva today. Unless your viva is tomorrow – and even then, take it easy. Be rested for the final push, whether it’s a final 24 hours or your last six weeks.

Regular-type posts resume tomorrow!

(and more viva-related haiku here!)

Nathan

Take Today Off (a haiku)

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If you can, please do.

Rest. Breathe. Press pause on your prep.

Smile. Connect. Be.

 

I wasn’t going to do any more viva haiku in 2020, but this seemed like a good time to remind people – especially now – that preparation for the viva includes taking breaks. If you’re overwhelmed, stretched, stressed and tired then you don’t need to read your thesis more or check a reference. You need a day off.

And probably you can’t take a day “off” – you need to be a family person or a friend or an adult doing housework. You have responsibilities. OK. If you have to do those things, at least take today off from your viva. Just pause it. It’ll be there when you come back, and you will be prepared for your viva when the time comes. Please, if you weren’t going to already, take today off.

(more viva-related haiku here)

Nathan

A Trial Run

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Mock vivas have always been a good idea. A space to rehearse for the viva, an opportunity to build confidence at responding to questions and gain certainty that you’re prepared for the real thing.

Now, more than ever, a mock – or something like one – is a very good idea.

If your viva is going to be over video link of some kind then have a trial run. It would be great to do that with your supervisor. Have a formal mock, get a feel for the technology and the flow of conversation when people are at a distance.

Then explore the software so that you have an idea of keyboard shortcuts if you need them, screensharing if it might help or whiteboards functions. Get a friend or two to have test calls with. Look into the camera. Check to see what you look like. Check to see what’s behind you. Check with someone on the other end that they can hear you well enough.

For your actual viva, everyone will be understanding if the signal drops out. Everyone will be understanding if you don’t have a perfect study or bookcase behind you.

Take a few occasions before your viva, if it will be a remote viva, to test the situation. Get a feel for what it will be like. A bit strange, but fine.

Something you can survive.

Nathan

One More

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Before submission, you could always…

  • …read one more paper.
  • …do one more test.
  • …ask one more question.
  • …check one more thing
  • …have one more meeting.

It won’t take much to prepare for the viva, but however much you do, you could always…

  • …read your thesis one more time.
  • …check one more paper by your external.
  • …have one more conversation with a friend.
  • …write one more summary.
  • …worry one more time about what you might be asked.

There’s always more you could do, at every stage of the PhD. You don’t necessarily need to do that though. Instead, think about where you are, and think about what enough means for that stage.

The viva is one more day you get to show up and show what you can do before you’re finished.

Make the most of it.

Nathan

You Made A Difference

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Part of the viva process is your examiners exploring your significant, original contribution. They will want to discuss your work with you, to find out more about it, to see what it means, to see how it applies, maybe find the edges or exceptions. Whatever their questions though, it’s all about what you did.

And what you did was make a difference.

You’ve changed what was before and made something new.

There’s a time and a place for summaries and defining what you did. Start with appreciating first that you did it. You made a difference. Through your effort, your learning, you skill and your time. You made a difference. You did it. Something exists because of you. Remember that before you do anything else for your viva.

You made a difference.

Nathan

What You Can Do

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You can write a good thesis.

You can make yourself prepared for your viva.

You can know what to expect from your examiners.

You can know what to expect from the viva.

You can learn about remote vivas, if that’s likely to be the scenario for your viva.

You can build your confidence to balance out your worries.

You can’t be perfect, but you can do your best.

You can be good enough for your viva.

Nathan

Who Do You Need To Convince In Your Viva?

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I think it’s you.

Your examiners have your thesis already. It’s possible they have questions about this or that, but if you’ve got to submission and the viva your work must be good enough. Perhaps a detail isn’t quite right, or a paragraph could be made clearer, but you don’t get to submission by accident.

But do you believe that? Where are your doubts when it comes to the viva? What do you need to convince yourself of? How could you do it?

You need to discuss your research with your examiners. You need to explain your thesis and your decisions to them. You might have to defend those decisions in some cases, adding additional support to your arguments and ideas.

But you need to convince yourself: you are the right person for this. You are talented. You are good enough.

You are.

Nathan

Remote Vivas

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Virtual vivas, Skype vivas, Zoom vivas – I see lots of names being used for the same thing. The current situation in the world means some vivas will be delayed, and others will necessarily happen online. Remote vivas are needed, a sudden change in procedure, and so naturally that creates a space for worry and concern.

Thankfully, while previously rare, remote vivas aren’t new. There are people who can help you understand what might be ahead if your viva is in the near future.

Find academics and ask them about what doing a remote viva is like, what they might have to take into account. Ask PhD graduates who have had their viva over video, and see what that felt like. Set your expectations, and check if there is anything special you might need to prepare for. See if there was anything that surprised them – that perhaps now doesn’t have to surprise you!

A few weeks ago, when universities started closing their doors, I asked for help on Twitter. I knew a little about remote vivas, but it was more on the technical help side – check the software beforehand, check regulations, and so on. Thanks to the generous contributions of many Twitter users I was able to curate a thread of help starting here:

There are lots of valuable points here! If your viva is likely to be sometime in 2020, it’s probably worth taking a look.

By the end of the year, perhaps, universities will be opening their doors again. But it won’t hurt you to find out a little more. It’s always been useful for candidates to check expectations; it’s hard to prepare and feel confident if you don’t have a handle on what’s ahead.

Now particularly, when the backdrop of the world is a little more scary and uncertain, it’s important to bring your viva into focus. See what it might be like, as clearly as you can, and you can make your viva a little less scary and uncertain.

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