Daily viva help for PhDs
The run-up to submission, viva prep, the day of the viva, finishing corrections…
They all feel like almost the end. But there’s always another step, or so it seems – until one day there isn’t and you’re done!
As the end of the PhD looms you really are on the cusp of something wonderful.
What’s the final step for you? The last stretch? The last things you need to do?
Make a list, then get them done.
My examiners didn’t ask me what I was going to do after my PhD, but I know candidates who were asked in theirs. Had I been asked, I probably would have been stumped by the question. No idea. The thoughts that lead me on to my current path came months later. It might have been useful to have some ideas that I could have shared in the viva, had it come up.
(the only ideas I had about future plans were related to how I might develop my thesis research, what directions or improvements could be made with more time, different resources, etc)
Being asked about plans can be scary, but remember: it doesn’t have to be final.
A plan doesn’t have to commit you. A plan is potential. A plan is a sequence that you could follow, not one that you are following or even one that you will. You don’t have to have the best plan. You don’t have to have all of the ideas worked out. You just need something.
So: what’s your something? If you don’t know, maybe a better question to think about and answer is “Post-viva, what do I want?”
I encourage candidates to reflect on their research, their examiners’ publications and think about how these things connect. It’s useful advice but at the same time a little vague. What concrete steps can candidates take? It isn’t always clear to know what to think or do, so here are eight questions to get the process of digging deeper started:
Saying “reflect” is easy; doing it can be hard. Use these questions to start the process, and if you find other questions that help then share them.
A frequent comment at my Viva Survivor sessions from candidates is that they don’t know where to find the actual examination regulations for their institution: the document(s) that specify exactly what they can expect from the process and their examiners. What’s needed for submission and by when? Who will be in the room on the day? What does minor corrections mean at their university?
I could always give some general assistance, but didn’t know where exactly where they would be able to find this information. So I decided to find out…
…for every university in the UK.
If you’re looking for your institution’s regulations then check the Viva Regulations page on this site: a list of every university in the UK with a doctoral programme and links to the regulations for most of them. There’s just under twenty at the time of writing which I couldn’t find, but I’ll keep looking. It took me a long time searching around to find many of these, and it will take some time to maintain it, but I figured it was a useful resource to make. I hope you find it helpful!
Want to know what your university expects from the viva process and from you? Click and find out!
And if there’s any other kind of resource that you think would be useful then let me know. It may be something I can work on 🙂
Don’t worry about whether or not your viva will be easy or hard. Who knows what you’ll feel like on the day, in the moment?
Prepare for a challenge. Two people have read your thesis and are ready to ask you all about it. This isn’t trivial, an elevator conversation or dinner party chit-chat. It’s there to explore what you’ve done, what you could have done and what all that means.
On the day you could find this easy or hard, but it will still be a challenge.
It’s still a challenge even if you are necessarily talented.
There is a weird disconnect for some people around submission. They imagine submission is like jumping over a ravine between here and there, between almost- and now-submitted. They take a breath and jump and hope it will all work out, hope they’ll land on the other side.
It’s really not a leap of faith though. It’s the same path to the viva they’ve been on for years.
At submission, you’re striding over a bridge, not jumping and hoping.
A recurring theme on the blog is that stories matter – and sharing stories of viva experiences will help change the culture in postgraduate researcher communities. Here are six episodes of the podcast that share some good, useful stories of the PhD and the viva:
I believe that the more we share stories about the viva, the more we will improve the expectations, the culture and the perception of the viva. New episodes of the podcast will hopefully appear in 2019, but if you know of more stories or helpful articles, then let me know. It all helps.
They matter. But the little things that evade memory or fast recall probably don’t matter as much as you think they do.
You’re primed to notice the little things you forget more than you notice all of the things that you easily remember.
If nerves about remembering everything before the viva appear, banish them by thinking about all of the things you do know, rather than the tiny fraction of details that don’t snap into focus.
Luck or random chance don’t dictate the outcome of the viva. It’s not down to the examiners’ whims. It’s not an exam about “some” book and research. That book and research didn’t just appear. You didn’t just wake up to discover it was viva day. Candidates don’t just “suddenly” fail.
Eliminate the impossible and we’re left with the truth.
You created your thesis through talent, work and time. You earned your place in your viva.
You pass because of who you are and what you’ve done.
It’s tempting to build up the viva as an epic once-in-a-lifetime event.
Make-or-break, do-or-die, all-or-nothing…
What about the 1000+ once-in-a-lifetime PhD days that lead up to the viva?