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Nathan

Disrupted & Different

Daily Post

We’re in our third year of the pandemic changing our lives. After all this time it’s reasonable to assume, at least for the next few years, that it’s a topic that might come up in the viva. Your examiners will expect that your PhD journey will have been impacted in some way; it may be useful for them to ask about this in the viva to explore and explain aspects of your research or thesis.

In preparation, perhaps consider the following three questions and make some notes to clear your head on the topic:

  • Why was your research disrupted by the pandemic?
  • How did this have an impact?
  • What changes did you need to make to your plans?

Reflecting and writing can help prepare for possible questions. It can lessen worries by helping you see that your work is not diminished, just different as a result.

Everyone’s daily life has changed over the last few years. We’ll feel the impacts for some time to come. But in preparation for the viva you can clarify things so that you can talk more easily to your examiners about how the pandemic changed your PhD.

Nathan

Alternative Routes

Daily Post

Things happen during a PhD. Deadlines slip, feedback is delayed or a promising idea reveals a sticky situation that has to be avoided. Plans change and alternatives must be found.

One way or another you get the research done. You get your thesis written and finally your viva is close at hand. While getting ready it can be useful to reflect on the paths not taken. Reflecting on alternatives can show why they were not taken, how your route was the right one or give you a fuller picture of the situation.

  • Some routes will not have worked and would never work. A poor idea or lack of time perhaps, or an idea that just wasn’t quite developed enough.
  • Some routes could have been perfect – but there were reasons why you didn’t take them. In preparation for potential questions in the viva, what were those reasons?
  • Some routes are only visible with hindsight. With the benefit of experience you know a less treacherous path or a shortcut to avoid obstacles.

Looking back at possibilities is helpful in preparation for the viva. It shows learning, it highlights your progress and helps you to demonstrate your ability as a researcher.

You’re near the end now. You can’t go back and take a different route. You can be aware of the alternatives and what they mean.

Nathan

Holding On

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At the start of a new academic year I’m reminded of how much my life has changed over the last few years; while for the most part I am very happy with where I am now, I still remember vividly how sharp and how stark things have been at times.

Survive means manage to keep going in difficult circumstances – and while it doesn’t have to be dire to be difficult it helps to reflect a little and remember how you have made it through.

If you have survived this far that means you kept going. How? What did you do through your PhD to make it so far when things have been so tough? What have you learned about yourself? How did you adapt?

As your viva comes closer, whatever else you feel, remember that you persisted. Whatever bad times you’ve had, you held on, you made it through. You were determined, often enough, to get to the end. How did you hold on? And what you can do now to keep holding on until your viva is done?

Nathan

Understandable

Daily Post

It’s understandable that the nature of the viva could make a person worry. It’s understandable, given what any PhD candidate has to do to get to the viva, that the person being examined might be concerned or worry about how to do their best.

Or better than their best!

And it’s perfectly understandable why the thought of being asked this question or that question – or any question – might make someone feel nervous, concerned or stressed.

To simplify the situation, in the viva, questions are just questions. When you hear a “?” at the end of the sentence that’s your cue to talk. Your cue to talk about what you did, how you did it, what you know or what you think. It’s your cue to say something: to ask a question, to share a response, to say you need to think or to say you’re not sure.

Your examiners have to ask questions to find out what they need. You have to respond to those questions to try to meet those needs.

There are no good or bad questions, although it’s reasonable to expect challenging questions that you have to think about. It’s understandable for you to be nervous about being asked, but also reasonable to expect you to rise to the challenge of responding.

Nathan

Presenting To Start

Daily Post

If they’ve read my thesis, why would my examiners need a presentation from me to start my viva?

This was one of the last questions I was asked at a webinar before I started my summer break.

There are many possible reasons that particular examiners would ask:

  • They want an overview to begin the viva process.
  • They want to see what the candidate really things is important – where do they put the focus?
  • They think that a presentation is a good way to begin the viva.
  • They think that a presentation could help the candidate to be less nervous at the start.

If examiners ask for a presentation it’s for a good reason. You might not know exactly what the reason is for them, but you can be certain that it’s good for you – even if it involves a little preparation on your part.

Nathan

Second Chances

Daily Post

I have heard stories of candidates that are asked to correct and resubmit their thesis after their viva. Resubmission is a formal process; it can mean that the candidate has to have a second viva. It could be that the thesis was incomplete or in some way “not right”. It could be that on that occasion the candidate needed to say something in particular – but didn’t.

It could be this or it could be that, but one thing that is certain is that the “second chance” of resubmission and a second viva is incredibly rare. It happens and it happens for specific reasons. If you’re concerned about it in advance of your viva it might help to read the regulations for your university or talk to your supervisor to see if there is anything in your work to really be concerned about.

Again, it is incredibly rare for all of this to happen. While it might help to find out more about resubmission and second vivas just in case, it’s probably better that you focus on other things instead: your research, your thesis, your preparation. These are certainties that can help you to succeed – a far better focus than a hypothetical that will only serve to distract you.

Nathan

A Collage Of Expectations

Daily Post

Viva expectations are a collage of different kinds of information: possibly dry regulations glued next to stories heard on the grapevine that then line up with the boundaries of firsthand, close-to-home experience.

Often, you simply need to realise that your viva will be unique but not an unknown. There’s a range of possible experiences but nothing outlandish that you’ll be unprepared for. The collage of expectations won’t present a clear picture of your viva, but it will show you how things are supposed to be.

Nathan

Details Matter

Daily Post

Details matter in the viva but you don’t need to have perfect recall of everything you’ve ever read, done or written.

Details matter but you can take your time to think about how to explain them.

Details matter but you have lots of time to focus in advance of the viva on the details that matter more.

Details matter but your examiners want more than the facts.

Details matter but you need to be able to talk about them, not simply know them.

Nathan

Stretches

Daily Post

When have you been stretched during your PhD? What projects or work have you done that was a challenge to your skills and knowledge?

I think it’s unhelpful to view the PhD (and the viva) as the most awesome and incredible challenge in the world ever™ – but it’s also unhelpful to not recognise the growth that happens through the challenges someone faces along the way.

Reflect on the challenges. Reflect on the stretches – when they happened, why they happened, what you learned. You couldn’t have got this far without becoming better. Whenever your viva is, remember that throughout your PhD you have become more than what you were at the start.

More talented. More skilled. More knowledgeable. More accomplished.

All the stretches along the way have helped you become who you are today. Remember that and be confident for the viva.

Nathan

Presenting Helps

Daily Post

Two words I wish someone had shared with me over my PhD journey.

Presenting helps in so many ways to build someone up – both for the challenges of doing a PhD, succeeding in the viva and being more ready for life afterwards.

Presenting helps because it makes you think of your audience. To communicate you have to think about who they are, what they want and what they need from you.

Presenting helps because it encourages you to be clear. You have to really think about your message, how you express it, how you structure it and so on. This can be a real benefit for writing, for thinking and for asking questions.

Presenting helps because it makes the presenter nervous – of course, that’s not always a comfortable thing! It helps because, if you take some time, you realise that nervousness is related to the importance of what you’re saying. You have something valuable to share.

Presenting helps because it’s an iterative learning process: there’s always something to learn, something you can take away for the next time.

Presenting throughout the PhD can help you a lot. Presenting as part of viva preparation can be really useful to help explore the words you use to explain your research – and to clarify what makes your work valuable.

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