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Author: Nathan

Nathan

Near & Far

Daily Post

An examiner is an examiner. It doesn’t matter if they’re your internal or external, physically close or based overseas; it doesn’t matter if they’re near to your research area or far away. Treat them the same for your preparations. They may have different roles and different perspectives they bring to the viva, that’s fine. You might view them through different lenses, but make sure you cover the basics for both in your preparation:

  • What have they published recently, say in the last two years? You don’t need to become an expert, but check that you’re up to date on their most recent work in case it is relevant. In some ways it will influence their perspectives.
  • What are they most interested in? Look at their staff pages. If any of their interests are alien to you, then find out a little, enough of the basics so that you know the language of that area.
  • What are they known for? Be sure that you know the important stuff about them. What they’ve done, what they’ve achieved and what they’re expert in.

Remember that you too are justifiably an expert now. Whatever their questions and wherever they come from, you have a particular expertise that you can use to take part in the discussions of the viva.

Nathan

Time And The Viva

Daily Post

How long will the viva be? How long should it be? If it’s long – or short – is that bad?

There are norms – two to three hours is quite common – but you can’t know in advance. It could be less, it could be more. Many candidates, I think the majority, feel like their viva passes in the blink of an eye.

The length doesn’t indicate something good or bad. There’s no correlation between the length of the viva and the outcome.

A successful viva is not a function of how long it takes. The time isn’t as important as you are.

Nathan

Serious

Daily Post

How serious do you need to be about your viva?

It’s an exam. You might think of it as the exam, but it’s still a test. People prepare for tests. They don’t, if they’re serious about them, just shrug their shoulders and say, “Oh well, que sera, sera!” But if they go too far the other way, think of it as life and death, then they get in the way of their preparations and their potential enjoyment.

You can look forward to it, people do. You can get ideas from the conversation, make new connections. You can do more than pass.

Your viva could be enjoyable!

So how serious do you need to be? Enough to motivate you to ask some questions – to reflect, to prepare, to think for yourself what you need – but not so much you treat it like a sign of the coming apocalypse.

A little serious then, not Serious.

Nathan

ASAP!

Daily Post

A potent strain of viva-anxiety virus breeds in the mind and says:

Faster, faster, faster!

Question. Answer. Question. Answer! Quest-ANSWER!

What if you take too long? What if it doesn’t come quickly enough? You “should” know it, right? RIGHT?!

Your research didn’t come that quickly. Recovering a memory or a fact might be quick. Analysing and thinking might not be.

There’s time available in the viva, and you can use it well. You can do this because you have experience, knowledge and skills, developed over time. Not thrown together ASAP, but brought forth through patient, deliberate effort.

Don’t listen to the virus if it crowds your thoughts. Pay attention to your experience. Take a little time to think before you answer.

Nathan

Tagged

Daily Post

One of my two summer projects for Viva Survivors was to keep going through all of the posts so far and tag them into themes. If you look in the sidebar now you should see a tag cloud under the heading Tags & Themes. I’m going to be adding tags to posts once per month to keep things roughly up to date, but for now:

Now you can find all of these and more with ease. Take a look at the tags in the sidebar to see what else is there.

(more on the second of my summer projects by the end of September, still need to put the hours in on that to finish it off!)

Nathan

A Haiku For Your Examiners

Daily Post

Read and think, “So what?”

Ponder, “What does it all mean?”

Then ask with respect.

 

(this is becoming a recurring Sunday theme…)

Nathan

Tell Everyone

Daily Post

Call the bank. Skype your parents. Text your supervisor. Send a carrier pigeon to your school teachers. Update your local GP.

Tweet at the entire world!

It’s a really big deal when you pass your viva. Share and celebrate, and when you have time tell people what you did and what happened.

Your story can help steer someone else’s.

Nathan

Ten Questions For Better Answers In The Viva

Daily Post

You hear your examiners ask a question. You have a first thought, the shape of an answer appears. Ask yourself another question then to help that shape develop. Try one of the following:

  1. Is this the best thing that you could say?
  2. What else do you know?
  3. What do you not know about this area?
  4. What’s your best evidence to support this idea?
  5. Have you definitely understood the question?
  6. What could you point to in your thesis to support this response?
  7. When have you answered a similar question before?
  8. What’s the first sentence of your response?
  9. What objections could someone raise to what you’re about to say?
  10. Is what you’re saying an opinion, a suggestion or a fact?

Speech and thought overlap in conversation. While you’re talking, you’re thinking. You don’t need to memorise these ten questions for the viva, but do find questions to help make your answers better.

Nathan

Three Wishes

Daily Post

If you could have three wishes for your viva, what would they be?

I can imagine some possibilities…

  • …I wish that it wasn’t too long…
  • …I wish that my examiners would treat me fairly…
  • …I wish I could answer all of their questions…
  • …I wish I felt confident…
  • …I wish it was over!

Wishes don’t just manifest. Some parts of the viva you could have hope for, some things you can expect, and some things you can work towards making a reality. Rather than making wishes, find out realistic expectations for your viva – by asking people about theirs or talking to your university’s graduate school – and work on building up your confidence if you need to.

(unless you find a magic lamp, in which case wish away!)

Nathan

Six Short Summaries

Daily Post

Six viva preparation ideas. Get a piece of paper and pick one of the following to write about. You don’t need to do all of these. Each one offers a different perspective on your PhD.

  1. Answer the question, “What’s important about my research?”
  2. Write about your conclusions and where they come from.
  3. Detail the helpful steers your supervisor gave you during your PhD.
  4. Write about what you found difficult during your research.
  5. Answer the question, “Who would find my work interesting?”
  6. Write down the first ten words that come to mind about your PhD. Expand on each.

A little thinking, and a little time spent on putting those thoughts into words on a page.

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