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Author: Nathan

Nathan

Unfinished Projects

Daily Post

Your PhD thesis and your success at the viva don’t rest on you doing “all the things”. You need enough of the right outputs and outcomes for your research to demonstrate that you’ve achieved PhD status.

If you have unfinished projects and they worry you or occupy your thoughts, consider:

  • Unfinished now doesn’t mean unfinished forever. As you complete your PhD it could help to make sure your work is left in a state where you can pick it up again some day.
  • Unfinished doesn’t mean that you didn’t learn something. What ideas grew out of that effort? Did any of it make a difference to your thesis?
  • Unfinished could invite questions. If the pandemic or something else stopped your progress that could be a topic for discussion in the viva. Or if you made a choice to focus in another way that’s also interesting and worth talking about.

Remember that a project that’s unfinished now could remain unfinished forever. As you finish your PhD you could be leaving something behind. That could also lead to mixed feelings for you.

Take time to resolve your emotions either way, so you don’t carry them with you longer than you need to.

Nathan

Forever

Daily Post

That’s how long your thesis will be finished.

Once it’s done, it’s done.

Maybe it will be a physical book on a shelf in the library or a file downloaded by researchers. It could be appreciated for many years to come.

Perhaps it will only be looked at by a few – and perhaps, like me, you wonder who else your thesis is for…

 

Whatever the case, if it’s going to be finished forever, make it as good as you can.

Do your best when writing it and then listen to the suggestions and requests of your examiners. Corrections are the most likely outcome for the viva because writing is hard. After the viva you have one final chance to make any sensible, realistic changes to your thesis.

Because then it will be done. Forever.

Nathan

It Takes Time

Daily Post

The PhD, the viva, your prep, the discussion, the decision, coming to terms with what it means to have achieved after you pass…

”It takes time” is a phrase that can be applied to every aspect of everything to do with the viva.

It could be years, minutes or seconds, but there is time involved and a necessary passage of it. There might be pressure at different stages of your PhD journey, but no rush unless you make it that way.

Take your time to do whatever stage you’re at as well as you can.

Nathan

Remember The Right Things

Daily Post

You don’t need to recall all the details of every day of your PhD to pass your viva. You don’t need to have memorised every page of every paper you have read when you talk to your examiners – or remember every page that you have written for that matter.

Of course, you need to read your thesis to prepare for your viva. It help to review what you’ve done and consider likely areas you’ll discuss. It helps to have a way to remember what’s really important.

But, more importantly, you need to remember that you did the work.

You need to remember what the viva is really for.

You need to remember what your viva and what success means to you.

And you need to remember that there are lots of things you could do to help you remember the things that matter the most.

Nathan

On Worry Tummy

Daily Post

Worry Tummy – that’s what we call nerves and apprehension in our house.

That’s what my daughter called it. Over time my wife and I took it on as part of the “secret language” of our family – the in-jokes, portmanteaus and phrases that probably don’t make sense outside of our little context.

But worry tummy is hopefully clear enough.

 

Worry tummy is the general feeling of apprehension that bubbles up when an event is imminent and you’re not really sure you feel ready for it.

Perhaps you don’t have a good enough sense of what it will be like and consequently don’t know if you can meet the challenge. Perhaps you know a little but can’t feel sure that you are ready or that you’ll enjoy it.

Often, worry tummy occurs when there is almost no chance of avoiding the situation at all, making it doubly difficult to deal with.

 

I imagine that worry tummy is more common in the very young than people working towards a PhD! If there was one educational event that could cause worry tummy in people past their teens it’s the viva.

The last exam of the final degree. Talked about in hushed tones and rumours. The viva isn’t clear most of the time so how could you know if you are up to the challenge?

By finding out more. By reflecting on your journey. By realising just how good you must be to get this far.

 

It’s not wrong to experience worry tummy at any age – or to feel nervous about your viva.

Whatever you call it, whatever you feel, there’s a reason for that feeling.

And if you don’t like it, you can do something about it.

Nathan

Expectations & Responsibilities

Daily Post

Viva expectations invite responsibilities.

  • If vivas are generally expected to take hours then you and your examiners have a responsibility to be ready for that situation.
  • If vivas typically begin with certain types of starter question then you have a responsibility to prepare for that line of discussion.
  • If vivas are discussion-based then you have a responsibility to be ready to respond to questions – and willing to share your research, your thesis and yourself.
  • If you’re expected to succeed then you have a responsibility to prepare as well as you can – while examiners work towards making the viva the right environment for that outcome.

And most generally, if vivas have expectations then you have a responsibility first to learn about them. Knowing what to expect, even if that covers a range of possible experiences, gives you an opportunity to be as well-prepared as you can.

Nathan

Trusted Perspectives

Daily Post

When you’re getting ready for your viva ask people who know about vivas. Get specific help rather than general impressions.

When you’re getting ready ask people who know you for help. Ask friends about their experiences and for a little of their time. Ask your supervisors to give you their considered thoughts about your work and about the viva itself.

When getting ready ask your institution for support. Ask them for the regulations, check what things mean and learn who to talk to in case anything goes wrong.

Above all, ask the right questions of the right people. Look around widely for support, but ask people you can trust first: you can trust them either because they know you or they know what you need to know.

Nathan

A Manifesto On Good Viva Prep

Daily Post

This isn’t finished, but here are some thoughts that I’ve been knitting together for a long time…

Good viva prep is personal. It responds to the needs of a candidate.

Good viva prep is effective. It takes only the time needed and meets the needs of a candidate.

Good viva prep is planned in advance. A candidate’s time is valuable and stress and rush can only hinder readiness.

Good viva prep creates greater certainty. It improves understanding of the general experience of the viva and gives greater confidence in being ready for the viva.

Good viva prep is supported by others. This happens in big and small ways, because while getting ready is the candidate’s responsibility it will be better with help.

And good viva prep is only as good as a candidate makes it – so make yours good!

Nathan

The Cornerstone

Daily Post

The foundation of viva expectations is hearing the stories of others. Statistics and generalisations only exist because people share their experiences.

So ask around before your viva and tell others afterwards.

 

The questions and structure of your viva are built on what you have done and what your examiners need to dig into during the examination process.

So if you reflect and review what you did and learn more about what examiners do then you can be ready.

 

Viva preparation is founded simply on you continuing to do the work. A particular focus and perhaps a particular urgency, but more good work that you are capable of.

So do the work!

 

Your success has you at the cornerstone. Your past achievements and progress are the basis for doing well and passing your viva.

So remember that.

Nathan

Make A Choice

Daily Post

You can’t press a button and feel ready for your viva, but you can decide that that’s your destination.

You can’t just arrive there, like a science-fiction teleporter, but you can know where you want to be and act to move in that direction.

If you want to be ready for your viva, what could you do?

Without diving into a blog with over 2000 entries or asking your friends or listening to a podcast or picking up an ebook or two, what could you do? What small (or big) steps could you take to being ready?

What will you do?

Make the choice to be ready for your viva. Then start getting ready. There’s work to do, but it doesn’t have to be more complicated than saying, “I’m going to do this.”

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