New Beginnings

The viva is an ending but also sparks questions about where your research could go next.

  • What could someone do with your work, now that your thesis is finished?
  • What would be the next steps for your research if you had the option to continue?
  • What new ideas did you not have the space to explore during your PhD?

At the viva there’s no expectation that you will continue in research after your PhD, but it’s reasonable for your examiners to ask you what those next steps might be. It’s important for you to take a little time to consider them before your viva.

Responding To A Problem

As you prepare for your viva you might come across a problem in your thesis.

I don’t mean a typo or a simple bit of editing that you’ve missed: typos and clunky sentences can still be understood, even if they’re undesirable. You could underline them and correct them later after your viva.

problem is different.

Maybe it’s not immediately obvious what’s wrong, but you can just tell that something isn’t right. Maybe you understand what’s wrong but it will be tricky to correct. And on top of that, maybe you’re concerned because this is a problem in something that you’ve submitted and you’re going to have a conversation about this very soon!

Deep breath.

And another.

OK. Now move forward.

If you find a problem, first of all pause, reflect and review.

What’s the situation? What do you understand or not? Can you do something about this?

If you can understand it all, then make a plan. Do you need to do something practically or just make notes? Is this going to be a big piece of work or something small? And how could you approach this in the viva? Can you wait to see if your examiners bring it up, or do you need to raise the topic?

Do the work, whatever it is, depending on the situation.

problem found during your viva prep is not the end. It’s the start of a series of actions to resolve the situation. And though a problem might stand out there’s a lot more of your thesis that is absolutely what it should be and a lot you can do to resolve anything that needs your attention now.

Terrifying Tales Of Vivas Past!

How many scary movies have come to cinemas in the last few weeks? How many horror shows have just been released on various streaming services?

Around viva time you’ll notice something about the stories people tell too.

They remember a friend of a friend had a rough time. Maybe it was the wrong examiner for them.

Or that person – what’s-their-name? – whose viva was all day!

And who can forget the story of So-and-so… The year before you started your PhD they failed theirs!

 

Some vivas are tough or especially difficult: there are real tales of bad viva experiences out there, but the vast majority are positive.

Most vivas result in success and most of those successes are vivas that are two or three hours in length, involving deep discussion and resulting in minor corrections.

Around viva time rumours and half-truths swirl about, like ghosts on a Halloween fog conjured from a spooky cauldron – but inspect them just a little, ask some specific questions from people you can trust and you’ll see that that’s not what all vivas are like.

In fact, terrifying tales are the rare exception rather than the typical situation.

What Matters To You?

Your examiners have to ask you about the significant, original contribution that you put forward in your thesis. They have to do this. They have to ask questions about what it adds to your field, how it’s different and why it’s valuable.

In effect they are asking you, “Why does this matter?” – although they probably won’t say it as simply as this.

Every thesis has a logic to it; you have reasons that bring your ideas together. To start exploring yours just ask yourself why your work matters to you.

What is it about your work that made you want to do it? What did you find and what carried you through long hours and hard work?

It’s a starting point – there are more questions to reflect on that will help you find words to explain what you’ve done to your examiners – but as a starting point it gives you a powerful motivation to say more and explore more.

Traffic Lights

Traffic intersections use simple colour-coding to indicate what actions should be taken. They’re used to prompt very specific behaviour and action. Perhaps we can borrow the terminology to consider the kinds of questions that might come up at a viva…

Green light questions are anticipated; you are entirely comfortable with them. Whether it’s about something in your thesis, your research or your general field, if you were to hear a green light question you would be happy to just go (and start talking)!

Yellow light questions force you to slow down. You might have to change pace. There’s no problem but you need to think and focus more. There’s nothing wrong with doing that. You’re not expected to know everything or remember everything in your viva; pausing for a moment to get your thoughts together is good.

Red light questions make you stop. A question could be unexpected. It could be something you struggle with. And it might make you feel uncomfortable.

 

In the real world, red lights make people stop – but then they go again, and that’s also like the viva.

If a question is hard, unfamiliar or unexpected at the viva you still need to respond to it. You still have to engage in order to meet the expectations of the viva.

If you know of a red light topic for you, what could you do to improve how you feel about it? If it’s a yellow can you make it a green?

Before You Finish

Before you submit your thesis check and double-check that it says everything you want it to say.

Before your viva day take time to get ready: practical preparations and confidence building!

Before your viva begins spend a couple of moments breathing, reminding yourself that you have done everything you can to get ready and that you have done enough to pass your viva.

Before the end of your viva take a moment to see if there are any questions you want to ask your examiners.

And before you finish your PhD journey take a little time to really reflect on what the journey has meant to you.

It’s more than a book you’ve written or a piece of paper you get from your institution.

Writing Size Comparison

There are many scales of writing that help you prepare for your viva.

Book: your thesis. You wrote it and can read it in advance of your viva to refresh your memory. You can also take it with you to the viva to refer to (and annotate it before then to make it even better).

Page: a long summary, a cheat sheet, a list of points or typos, a to-do list and more. Your thesis has lots of pages too; annotating it could be helpful to mark some out with sticky notes or page tabs.

Paragraph: a short summary. A couple of sentences that captures an overview of your contribution. A few lines on the skills you’ve developed. An outline of a specific argument that you want to remember.

Sentence: write out individual helpful points. What do you need to remember? How else can you phrase a key idea? How could you neatly summarise a page?

There’s a lot written to get you to submission and more that you can write afterwards to help as you prepare – and perhaps we can get even smaller…

Words: Success. Prepare. Confidence. Achievement. Passed.

Prep To Succeed

Viva prep gives space to review and reflect, highlights important information and allows you to rehearse the kind of work you’ll do in the viva.

Viva preparation is a series of actions leading to success.

Do the work and you’ll be prepared, not perfect. You don’t succeed by getting all the right answers, but by being ready to respond to the questions and comments of your examiners.

Key Papers

Here’s a little viva prep activity that will probably take less than an hour.

With your thesis to hand write a list of ten key papers that have helped your research. Don’t overthink: just list whichever papers come to mind or which stand out when you glance through your thesis.

Once you have your list, take a few minutes to reflect on each paper and write a sentence or two to respond to each of these questions:

  1. Why is this a key paper in developing my thesis research?
  2. How did it help my work directly?
  3. What was the result or impact of using this paper?

In less than an hour you’ll have written clear, concise notes about what matters most in the best of your bibliography.

Viva Day Confidence

Feeling confident on the day of your viva isn’t a magic shield against difficult questions. It doesn’t mean that you won’t or can’t feel nervous about the prospect of meeting your examiners.

Feeling confident for your viva means you’re as certain as you can be you’ve done as much as you can to get ready. You’re certain your work has value. You’re certain that you are capable. And you feel certain that whatever questions your examiners ask you will be able to engage with them and respond to them.

Viva day confidence is built up through work and reflection – and thankfully you have plenty of opportunities over the course of your PhD and in your viva preparation to build up your confidence.

Remember the work you’ve done. Remember what it means. Remember what a difference your learning and research and effort have made to you. Reflect on the work and all the impacts and you have the firm foundations for feeling confident on your viva day.

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