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Nathan

Structured

Daily Post

A viva is not a random collection of questions and comments from your examiners, strung together by whatever you say in response.

Your university has regulations that govern the viva. Your department has expectations for what a good viva “should” be like. By reading regulations and talking to graduates you can build a sense of the pattern – the structure – that underpins your viva.

Your research and thesis are the basis for many areas of discussion in the viva. Your thesis is set out chapter by chapter and it’s natural that your examiners would follow that flow in your viva.

Your examiners will have prepared for your viva too: reading, thinking, writing and discussing what needs to happen. They have their own research and while you cannot predict every question they might ask, you can appreciate from where their questions might come.

The structure of a viva is not a big topic to dig into and digest. Perhaps the most important point to remember is simply this: there is a structure.

The viva doesn’t just happen.

Nathan

The Red Button

Daily Post

There’s a knock at your door.

A courier leaves a package in your arms. It’s not heavy, but it has a strange heft to it. You don’t remember ordering anything. You’re not expecting something. But here it is, addressed to you.

Unwrapping the package reveals a small brown paper parcel and an envelope. The stationery and packaging are both of a good stock, clearly not from a supermarket shelf or high street stationer’s. The handwriting on the envelope is familiar, but you can’t place it.

For your viva, it reads.

You open the parcel first, cutting the string when the knot proves too tricky. Beneath several layers of paper you uncover a polished wooden box. It’s old, you can tell, but you’re not sure where in the world it might come from. You hold it in your cupped palms, the sides are smooth to the touch. There seems to be no lid or opening. It is a box though, not solid wood: the contents don’t shift much as you carefully move it in your hands, but you can tell that the weight is not uniform.

Resting in the curved top surface is a small recess and a red button.

Perplexed by the box you open the envelope. The note inside has a scrawl for a signature, but the contents are clear enough.

Friend. In case this helps with your preparations. What do you not want to be asked in your viva? Think carefully and press the red button, and you won’t be asked. But think carefully. Yours [illegible]

A hoax. A weird joke from a friend who knows your viva is weeks away. And yet…

What if?

No. It couldn’t be. This is a strange sort of gift. You wrap the parcel up and put it in a cupboard.

Two weeks later you take it out and stare at the box and the red button for an hour.

You make a decision.

 

If the box was real, and you could press the red button, what would you not want to be asked in your viva?

The box is not real! But if there’s a question you don’t want to be asked in your viva then you probably need to do something to rehearse for that situation.

Not wanting to be asked a question won’t remove the possibility. Practice and preparation will help just in case you should encounter that one question you really don’t want to be asked.

Nathan

A Long Viva

Daily Post

Candidates are always concerned about viva length, worried that theirs will be long – or too long, however that might be defined.

Remember: the longest viva will be shorter than the longest work day of your PhD. It has to be.

As challenging as your viva could be, it can’t be a greater challenge or require more of you than you have already given on your PhD journey.

Nathan

The Demonstration

Daily Post

The verb that could most clearly summarise what you have to do at the viva is demonstrate. Your examiners have read your thesis. Now they need you to give them more in the viva.

  • You have to share what you know and what you can do.
  • You have to clearly describe and explain what you did for the last few years.
  • You have to show just how good you are as a researcher.

In the viva you’re giving a demonstration of how much you’ve done and how good you are. Your thesis counts towards your success, but you have to be ready on viva day to demonstrate just how capable you are.

Nathan

The Ugh Factor

Daily Post

Ugh.

The most common response to thinking about thesis corrections.

Of course, any kind of corrections – minor or major – are unwanted, but they’re not bad in themselves. Examiners require corrections for lots of reasons: typos, clarity or because they’re just needed to help the thesis. Corrections are required for good reasons and to help a thesis be the best it can be.

And still: ugh.

You don’t want them, but you’re probably going to get them as a result of your viva. When you have a list from your examiners, break it down; figure out a plan of action and get them done.

Receiving thesis corrections? Ugh.

Passing your viva? Yay!

Nathan

Focus On The Good Stuff

Daily Post

There are tricky things to explain in your viva. There will be times when you struggled. There are probably questions still to answer and problems to solve. But you don’t have to exclusively reflect on all of that during your preparation.

  • What is your strongest contribution in your thesis?
  • What were your most rewarding times working on your research?
  • What do you think is the most valuable aspect of your work?
  • Where have you seen yourself grow the most in your own personal development?

Make time before your viva to focus on the good stuff.

Nathan

The Final Checks

Daily Post

It helps to check a few final things before your viva.

Do you have your thesis?

Do you have a notebook and pen?

Do you have something to drink?

Do you have a few weeks of prep in your recent history?

Do you have everything else you need for the venue for your viva, whether that’s a seminar room or your home?

Do you have years of effort, experience and success bound up in your PhD journey?

If you can answer yes to all of these then you’re in good shape for meeting your examiners!

Nathan

Down Time

Daily Post

You can afford a little break at submission. In most instances, even if a candidate has an idea of their viva date, it won’t be confirmed at the time they submit their thesis.

When you submit you have time. Plenty of time to get ready, but also plenty of time to relax. Rest. Take time away from the work you’ve been doing to get your research finished and your thesis ready.

Pause, for your own sake. You have to look after yourself so that you can get ready.

A little down time will help in the final days and weeks leading to your viva.

Nathan

Staring At The Clock

Daily Post

I was in full flow in my viva. The questions were challenging but fair. I was working hard to explain and explore my work, but that was, I suppose, to be expected.

Then I happened to notice the time. The clock on the wall informing me that we had been discussing things now for almost two-and-a-half hours.

I didn’t know if this was good or bad. I had no real expectations or understanding of what happened at a viva. But two-and-a-half hours seemed like a long time. I was surprised that was how long it had been so far.

I started to wonder how much longer it might be.

It seemed like a good idea to look up every now and then to “keep an eye on the time”. This quickly became a distraction, the first two-and-a-half hours of my viva had seemed to pass in no time at all. Now it felt as if time had slowed to a crawl…

 

Staring at the clock didn’t help.

Staring at the clock never helps.

Staring at the clock does nothing but distract.

For the most part the venue for your viva doesn’t make a great difference on your experience. It’s a seminar room or it’s over Zoom, that’s all. However, in either situation, do what you can to avoid staring at the clock.

If you have a video viva, place a little Post-it Note in the corner of your screen to obscure the clock once you get started. If you’re in-person for your viva, arrange to sit with your back to the clock in the meeting room.

Knowing the time does nothing to help you. You will only wonder when you’ll be finished, or whether you’re progressing well. It’s far better to reserve all your focus for simply engaging with the discussion in your viva.

Nathan

Knowing Enough

Daily Post

You can’t know what the first question in your viva be will be until it’s asked.

You can’t know how long your viva will be until your examiners say, “OK, we’re done!”

You can’t know how you will respond to a tricky question until you experience it.

You can’t know in advance just what you’ll need to correct after the viva.

There’s a lot you can’t know before you get to the viva and experience it. That’s just the way it is.

But you can know that you’ve done enough to get you there. You know you’ve done enough to succeed. You know who your examiners are in advance, and can know all about their research, if that helps. You can know what to expect from the viva by reading regulations and listening to stories of viva experiences.

When you stop and think, there’s a lot you can know before you get to your viva.

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