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Nathan

The Original

Daily Post

What makes your work new?

What makes your conclusions different?

How have you developed what’s been done before?

Why wasn’t your research done before now?

How do you demonstrate originality in your thesis?

How else could you or someone else do something different with your work?

 

Some of the questions above might not be relevant to you and your viva depending on your research field, your particular topic and your thesis. It might be that only a few questions resonate – or perhaps one reminds you of a more targeted question you need to consider.

Your examiners will have specific questions too; it might be impossible to predict the exact wording but within the meaning they will be giving you an opportunity to respond: what makes your work new?

 

PS: If you’re looking for more help on how to engage with questions at the viva then check out Viva Survivors Select 15, The Questions Issue, which came out yesterday.  If you like the blog, want more help and want to support what I do then please take a look. There’s twenty curated posts from the blog plus original content to help you get ready for the viva’s questions – and some nice art by me too!

Nathan

Making A Choice

Daily Post

You don’t get to simply choose your examiners. You don’t get to choose what questions they will ask at your viva. You don’t get to choose whether or not you feel nervous on your viva day.

You can choose how you get ready for your viva though. You can choose the attitude that you show up with to your prep and your viva day. You can choose to steer yourself towards confidence.

You can choose the kind of person you want to be at your viva and choose to work towards that.

Of course, it’s not a single choice: it’s a daily, repeated choice to work towards something good.

Like the rest of your PhD journey.

Nathan

Finding Problems

Daily Post

I found problems in my thesis after submission.

They weren’t so terrible.

I found typos and underlined them in red. They were mistakes, maybe a better proofread could have got them, but they would be easy to fix.

I found sentences that were clunky and could be improved. I made a note in my margins and made sure I could see them clearly and explain them well if they came up in the viva.

 

My examiners found problems in my thesis and asked about them at the viva.

That was more uncomfortable than the typos and bad sentences I found.

They showed me places I had made but not explained assumptions. They tested me on the ideas I had dropped in without exploring why they were needed.

It wasn’t awful but if I’d looked at my thesis differently (as I was writing and preparing) I might have thought more about how to explain things, rather than have to think on my feet at my viva.

 

The problems my examiners found were a little uncomfortable at my viva but they gave me space and time to respond. They didn’t make me feel bad. They didn’t make me feel small. They offered me the opportunity to explore what it was about.

I and my examiners found problems with my thesis before my viva but the problems weren’t an issue.

How will you respond to problems that you find? And what can you do to be ready for the unknown problems your examiners might ask about at your viva?

Nathan

The Prep Before Prep

Daily Post

Viva prep starts after submission. The focus for your work before then has to be on finishing your research, your thesis and thinking ahead for life after the PhD. The weeks between submission and your viva date are enough to get ready for the particular challenge of your viva.

However, while your focus has to rest elsewhere, there are several key actions you can take to make sure that you’re ready to work when it’s viva prep time. Before you get to submission:

  • Make sure you have checked the current regulations for vivas at your university. Don’t rely on tips or advice from friends when it comes to the rules.
  • Make sure you have talked with your supervisors about your potential examiners. They might ask for your suggestions or simply tell you who they’re thinking about and why.
  • Take time to think about the period between submission and the viva. You don’t need a plan at this stage but you need to be ready to plan, aware of any important dates or situations that you need to account for.

There’s a little prep before your viva prep. It is a small amount of work that helps the rest of it come together well.

Nathan

Keeping Up

Daily Post

I had a bright idea recently to show a prep idea I’d had for making a summary based on a thesis chapter.

I’m exploring video project ideas and thought this might be good as a production and editing test. I also wanted to see if the idea was valid: take a thesis chapter, pull out the important points, capture the information in a useful way, use a nice acronym maybe and so on.

Except when I sat down with my thesis to think and plan for the video I realised I didn’t really understand my research any more.

 

It’s been 18 years since I finished my PhD. It’s probably fifteen years since I thought seriously about that work.

It’s a little familiar as I read it. I know I did it. And I kind of get it.

But I can’t do it any more.

That part of my mathematical knowledge, if it’s still there, is buried beneath almost twenty years of being a researcher-developer.

I don’t write about maths any more. I write about vivas.

I don’t solve equations now: I respond to questions and emotions and problems with the viva.

 

I’m not upset. I love what I do. I am still pretty good at maths but my overall skillset is geared around a different kind of work. I’m happy but it does feel bittersweet to see that former part of my life experience reduced.

With that in mind here’s a question I hope you take in the spirit I offer it: “What do you need to hold on to from your PhD experience when you’re done? And how will you keep that knowledge or skillset alive in your life after the PhD?”

Nathan

Crunch

Daily Post

I don’t like work crunch. I avoid it if I can help it. Planning helps me:

  • I have a work diary.
  • I have a handwritten page in my notebook that shows me three months ahead.
  • And I make weekly task sheets that show me what I’m doing when.
  • And I have a spreadsheet on my computer.

And we have a big flipchart-sized calendar on our living room wall to help me keep track!

I’m not forgetful per se – this all helps me to remember. It helps me to see ahead and avoid periods when I have to do more than I’m comfortable with.

I don’t like work stress. I don’t like crunch periods.

But sometimes it comes anyway. It could be the forgotten task. The advanced deadline. The family thing I need to do that dominoes into a time I thought I could write.

Then crunch crunch crunch…

 

It’s possible that my general viva advice about sketching out a plan (or two) for viva prep comes from some of my biases about avoiding crunch and stress!

I don’t think that makes it bad advice though.

When you’re planning your viva prep it is a good idea to do what you can to avoid stress while you work. There will be enough viva feelings floating about that it’s good to keep stress out of the mix. It’s good to make a plan so that when other things come along – and they will! – you can do what you can to minimise feeling that you have to crunch through your viva prep.

How can you organise yourself to make sure you are on top of all of your viva prep tasks?

How will you make a plan that keeps you on track but is flexible enough to adapt to changing circumstances?

And, maybe the first question to think about, how do you deal with crunch periods when they come?

Nathan

One Task Per Day

Daily Post

Working at this scale could be enough to get ready for your viva.

I don’t mean “one small thing per day”! A task could be reading your thesis for an hour. A task could be making notes on three or four important papers. A mock viva is a task!

But if you did one thing every day after submission then you would be in good shape for your viva. If you show up as you’ve done for the rest of your PhD, on good days and bad, still determined to get things done then you’d be working well.

You need to rest too. I’m not advocating working for hours on end every day. But if you made a choice to show up and do a little work each day think about how ready you could be by your viva date.

Nathan

Archive Dive

Daily Post

I’m coming to the end of my Viva Survivors Select zine series. There’s two more to go, this month and next, and then I’ll be working on something new.

I’ve enjoyed curating posts from the archives. There’s a lot of viva help on this site and even I forget sometimes what I’ve written over the last nine-and-a-bit years.

One idea I have is to share semi-regular link posts looking back at past writing, surfacing interesting thoughts and giving older ideas of mine a new day in the sun.

I’m not quite sure how to go about making that idea a reality. For today here are five posts selected from the random post link on the site:

  • Internal & External – what your examiners have in common might be more important than what makes them different.
  • Critics & Cheerleaders – the value of being critical and of boosting oneself.
  • Nurture, Cultivate – thinking about helpful verbs for viva prep.
  • Crisis – being real about the potential for disruption or difference with viva prep or the viva.
  • Breathe – a few thoughts on why it helps to breathe and take it slow.

If you think a regular or semi-regular “archive dive” would be helpful then let me know! Drop me a line and I’ll see if I can find a good way to make it work.

 

PS: Viva Survivors Select is almost finished but there are still two more issues to come! Look out for the announcement for Issue 15 next Wednesday 14th October 2026!

Nathan

Number Problems

Daily Post

Your PhD success is not directly measured by big numbers.

It’s not in the thousands of words in your thesis. It doesn’t correlate with the number of papers you’ve read or the number you’ve cited. You don’t need a heroic number of hours invested into mastering a skill. You don’t need to do more than the last person.

The numbers that really help may sound similar but they help in different ways.

  • The number of papers you’ve read helps you know what you need to know.
  • Take confidence from knowing you have written 200 good pages not for simply having 200 pages.
  • You’ve invested thousands of hours to show your determination and express your ability – you’ve not simply done a lot.

Bigger alone isn’t better. Recognise the value of the numbers that matter to your PhD.

Nathan

Clear Questions Get Better Responses

Daily Post

This sentiment applies in life, work and the viva!

Clear requests for prep help from friends and supervisors are more likely to get a helpful response.

Clear questions from your examiners (and you) will help drive good discussion at your viva.

Clear follow-up questions will allow you to dig deeper – and questions for clarity from you, if you need to ask, will only make the viva conversation better.

Take your time, choose your words carefully and be as clear as possible at your viva and during prep.

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