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Category: Daily Post

Nathan

Your Greatest Challenge

Daily Post

Think back over the course of your PhD journey to date. What stands out to you as the greatest challenge you overcame? Reflect and explore what you remember.

  • Why was the situation a challenge for you?
  • How did you work to overcome it?
  • What was the result of your success?

Your examiners need to know about your research and your journey – as told by you in your thesis and your viva – so that they can confirm you have done enough.

You need to really know how you have got this far – by reflecting on the challenges you have overcome – so that you can convince yourself you are good enough.

Nathan

Business As Usual

Daily Post

The viva isn’t the same as any regular day in your PhD, but it’s not so different either. Not really.

Do you need to be prepared? Yes.

Do you need to know what to expect from the viva? Yes.

But you also need to be a capable researcher. You need to be knowledgeable about your field and your research. You need to be ready to bring your best to the day’s work.

Isn’t that business as usual for you?

You need to prepare for the viva, but you also need all of the things about you that you would ordinarily have every day of your PhD. Preparation takes a little time and a little work; being ready takes a lot more of things you already have.

Nathan

Pause, Don’t Stop

Daily Post

Pause in the viva to think about what you’ve heard.

Pause to gather yourself if you lose your train of thoughts.

Pause to check something in your thesis.

Pause to make a note.

Pause to take a sip of water.

Pause to break a question down because it’s really big and needs to be considered.

Pause, but don’t stop. Don’t stop because you are almost there. Don’t stop because whatever nerves you feel – whatever you feel – you have almost finished.

Pause whenever you need to in the viva. Ask for a break, a longer pause. Don’t stop.

Nathan

Conclusions Aren’t The End

Daily Post

Thesis conclusions invite questions in the viva. Whatever the nature of concluding remarks, they can always lead to requests that go further or dig deeper.

  • “What next?” or “What now?”
  • “Are you sure?”
  • “What else could you…?”
  • “How else could one…?”
  • “How do you know…?”
  • “But what about…?”

If thesis conclusions were truly the end then vivas would probably be much shorter. There would simply be a lot less to discuss probably!

Instead, conclusions are a resting point. A pause. A clear mark that a destination has been reached, while also showing that there’s more to know or more to do.

Nathan

More Than Good Ideas

Daily Post

Your thesis is not just facts and figures, ideas and information.

The value of your research is not simply linked to it being done.

A candidate, thesis or viva are not successful simply based on the ideas that are represented.

You are a lot more than the good ideas you have had, the ideas you have found and the knowledge you have created.

Nathan

The Little Things

Daily Post

What little things could you do regularly to help yourself on the lead up to submission and the viva?

  • Keep a little notebook to hand to capture thoughts about your research.
  • Collect small stationery items to annotate your thesis.
  • Set a short time aside to reflect on a day’s progress or a week’s successes. (and record them somehow!)
  • Mark spaces in your diary when you can stop and rest.
  • List small tasks that you can complete in spare moments.

There are big things involved in viva prep that take lots of time and focus – but remember that every action you choose to take, little or big, can help you to be ready for your viva.

Nathan

Giving A Presentation

Daily Post

I love little quirks of language. We often use the verb give in connection with a presentation. It makes me think of gifts and presents – a present-ation!

Sometimes PhD candidates are asked to prepare a presentation to start the viva. If we consider the presentation as a gift you’re giving, then perhaps it makes sense to think of it like other gifts we might give.

  • Be sure it’s wanted. Your examiners will probably have some expectations of length and content. Either ask them or ask your supervisors for what is required.
  • Spend an appropriate amount. You invest time rather than money in this gift: a little preparation and practice will help. You don’t need to spend a lot to have something right for the occasion.
  • Upcycle previous gifts! A presentation for the start of your viva will not be the first time you have presented work from your thesis. Look at past talks and notes. Draw from them to make something to share with your examiners.

Gifts give something to the giver and the receiver. The person or people receiving have something they didn’t have before – in this case, examiners have information and a sense of who the giver, the candidate, is and what they have done.

As the giver, you give yourself permission to be proud of what you’ve done; you give yourself a good starting point for the viva; you give yourself a useful element of preparation and a confidence boost.

Nathan

Midsummer

Daily Post

Today is the longest day of the year in the UK.

More hours of daylight. The shortest night. A special date in the calendar.

And just one more day.

Your viva could be the longest exam you’ve had. More concentration than any occasion in recent memory. An important date in your diary.

And like midsummer it’s just one more day.

Important – and then tomorrow rolls around.

Nathan

The Standard Viva

Daily Post

Vivas vary because every thesis and every candidate are different. Regulations create a layer of structure. Good practice for vivas creates expectations. You can’t have a script but you can reasonably expect a viva to have certain standard features.

  • You can and should expect examiners to prepare.
  • You can ask for a break at any point.
  • Vivas tend to start with a simple question.
  • Corrections are a standard request for candidates.

Success is part of the standard viva. More than anything, it’s expected you will pass.

Nathan

Worst & Best

Daily Post

It’s normal to be nervous for your viva. It’s understandable if you have worries or feel anxious about what could happen. It would be very human to think about what might go wrong – but rather than focus on the worst case scenario, think about what you could do to be at your best.

You can’t control what happens in the viva – your examiners’ questions or opinions, what it might feel like moment to moment – but you can take charge of what you do to get ready. You can take practical steps to prepare and build your confidence. Your preparations can help you present the best possible you in the viva.

The worst case viva scenario is extremely unlikely. You being at your best for the challenge is almost guaranteed.

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