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Nathan

Viva Varieties

Daily Post

When you hear lots of different stories about the viva it’s natural to group them together.

Short vivas. Long vivas.

Tough vivas. Easy vivas.

A presentation to start or an opening question to get things going.

Lots of questions. Hardly any.

Lots of corrections. No corrections.

Two examiners, a chair, a supervisor, a third examiner.

Expected questions and unexpected remarks.

Previously found typos and unknown errors.

And there’s more. There’s a huge range of viva experiences. Some are much more common than others. Many aspects of what “variety” your viva will be won’t be clear until you have yours.

You can’t prepare for everything, but you can be prepared. You can know the goals and expectations of your examiners, you can know what you need to demonstrate in your viva and then rise to meet that.

Long or short, easy or tough, whoever is in attendance, you can succeed.

Nathan

Ask For A Break

Daily Post

The viva is not a test of endurance, a space where you have to simply work through everything until it is done.

You can take a break. You could be offered a break after an hour or two. You could need one and ask. You can ask for a comfort break, a medically-related break, a break to think or check something in your thesis. You can have a break to compose yourself.

There are many reasons to take a break in the viva and no wrong times to ask for one, if you need one.

Nathan

Making It Look Easy

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Have you ever watched someone do something amazing AND make it look easy at the same time? How do they do it?

A comedian doesn’t make a whole theatre laugh at the same time because they have a magical ability that no-one else can have. They may have a talent or skillset – but they have deep practice as well.

A chef demonstrating how to make a superb meal can do so with ease because of years of work, repetition, knowledge and understanding.

A good speaker or presenter at the front of a room can stay on track for thirty minutes, engage an audience and help them to learn or think because of the many hours they did before they got to the room.

If you ever doubt the value of what you’ve done before your viva – “it can’t be that good because now it seems easy!” – remember that it only seems easy thanks to all of your hard work.

How did you do it? Talent, work and time.

Nathan

All Your Way?

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It’s not in the nature and setup of the viva that things will simply go exactly how you want. There is so much about the viva that is beyond your control:

  • You don’t choose your examiners. You can make suggestions, but you might not get who you really want.
  • You don’t know what the questions will be in advance.
  • You can hope, but not know what your examiners will think about your thesis and research.
  • You can learn about the viva’s general expectations, but there’s no way of knowing until you’re in there how close your viva will skew towards the general experience.

All of which is to say, you can write well, prepare well and do well, but not know what will happen or what the outcome will be until it arrives.

And yet the majority of candidates pass – and pass with minor corrections. A viva could be long or difficult, but it’s done on the day. Your examiners could be kind or questioning (or both!) and still you can respond to everything.

Expectations help to frame the viva situation. Preparation, hard work and the PhD journey help to succeed in your viva reality.

Nathan

Recognise Your Research

Daily Post

To get ready for your viva you, in part, have to recognise and accept that you’ve done good work over a long period of time. You have to look at your research and be able to say, “This is good – and this is why it’s good.” Many parts of viva preparation can help you get ready for this:

  • Read your thesis and add a Post-it Note every time you find a good piece of research.
  • Check your notes and make a list of everything that stands out.
  • Take time to share with others what’s valuable from the last few years of work.
  • Write a summary for yourself outlining what you’re most proud of in your research.

In preparation for your viva, invest time in recognising your research for what it is: a significant, original contribution to knowledge. Take some time to prepare and be confident that you can say what you’ve done – and why it matters.

Nathan

The Formality

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There’s a general expectation that a candidate will pass their viva if they’ve submitted their thesis. The pass rate is so high that reaching that stage is a really good sign that success will follow in due course.

But the viva is not simply like ticking a box on some paperwork, nor is it a simple process in general. Perhaps compared to the scale of the rest of the PhD journey we could say it was “a formality” but only with reference to that great scale!

Expect to succeed – but also expect your examiners to be prepared, to do their jobs, to ask questions and expect you to respond. Do the work that’s needed, following a pattern of work and dedication that you have demonstrated over the course of your PhD and perhaps the viva will feel – with hindsight – like a formality.

Nathan

Can You Park It?

Daily Post

If you find a problem during your viva prep, big or small, do you need to solve it immediately?

A typo might just need a note making for later correction.

A clunky sentence could need underlining to revise, so long as it is clear enough.

An old idea could be left alone.

Not everything needs to be addressed when you find it. Maybe some things never need resolving. If you find a problem on the way to getting ready for your viva, ask yourself if you can park it: can you put it to one side and leave it for another time?

It may be that you can’t! But perhaps you can focus first on the bigger work of getting ready rather than every little (or big) issue that you find as you prepare for your viva.

Nathan

A Few Weeks

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Viva preparation doesn’t have to take a long time. It isn’t a huge amount of work, not compared to the scope and scale of a PhD.

It doesn’t take long, generally, to read a thesis, make some notes, capture thoughts and rehearse for the viva. A few weeks can be enough to space the work out. A few weeks of reflection and preparation.

A few weeks to remind yourself of what you’ve done, how you did it and why you’re capable of succeeding in the viva.

Nathan

Better Than Anyone Else

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Remember you know your work better than anyone else!

I have read and heard these words so many times from people trying to reassure viva candidates. They’re not wrong but I’ve had a growing feeling for some time that they brush over a lot of points.

The viva isn’t solely about knowing things – it’s a test of what you can do as well, a test of how you think.

You did the work, but your examiners must have done lots of work too to be able to examine you.

I worry too that the phrasing implies that the viva is simple, straightforward, easy. While the majority of candidates pass and many describe it as positive I don’t think – in nearly thirteen years – I’ve ever heard anyone describe their viva as easy!

“You know your work better than anyone else” is too simple. It leaves too much out.

How about: You did the work, so you have the skills and knowledge to do this too. How does that sound?

It might not roll off the tongue as easily, but it gets closer to the truth of the situation.

Nathan

Well Known

Daily Post

Read your examiners’ recent publications to check that you know how or if their work connects to yours. Find out what they are interested in and what you know about those topics.

Read your thesis and be certain of what you’ve presented: the details, the numbers, the quotes and how it all fits together.

Reflect on your journey and know what that means for you: who you are, what you know and what you can do.

Knowing all of this well help for the viva – and doing all of this is not a hard set of tasks to complete.

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