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Nathan

Viva Survivors Select 09

Update

Cover for Viva Survivors Select 09, The 2025 Issue, April 2026 - by Nathan Ryder Cover shows a red game piece/pawn looking at a wall with twelve calendar pages with various tally marks.

Viva Survivors Select is back!

You can find The 2025 Issue on my Payhip store now: a curated collection of some of my favourite pieces of writing from 2025 covering a range of topics. I’ve brought together posts about the PhD journey, viva expectations, viva prep and building confidence. You’ll find reflections, practical posts, lists and more!

Page 1 of The 2025 Issue, an introduction page that says HELLO! at the top.

The 2025 Issue contains twenty posts from the Viva Survivors archive along with two original pages of viva help. I’m particularly pleased with Keyword Prep – a helpful little game to prompt viva prep! If you’ve read previous issues of Viva Survivors Select (or even got the complete Volume 1) you’ll know that I really like making little games. I’m making more for the other seven issues of Volume 2.

If you’ve read previous issues you’ll also notice a change in the art style from this issue onwards. I relied on interesting public domain art for the first volume but from now on I’ll be creating every piece of art, including the covers. I’ve been creating digital art for the last four months – no AI, all me! – and this felt like a good way to continue learning and practising. I hope you find the illustrations a helpful part of the zines!

Page 12 of The 2025 Issue, showing a post titled The Buddy System along with an illustration of two simplified people talking.

Viva Survivors Select 09 is out now for £3. If you like the blog, want more help and want to support what I do then please take a look at and consider buying The 2025 Issue. If it helps then do please pass on details of this issue and Viva Survivors Select to anyone you know who is looking for viva help!

Thanks for reading!

Nathan

 

PS: save the date! The next Viva Survivors Select, The Submission Issue, is due out on Wednesday 13th May 2026! There’s a sneak peek of the cover on the back of The 2025 Issue 🙂

Nathan

Coming Soon: Viva Survivors Select 09

Update

Cover for Viva Survivors Select 09, The 2025 Issue, April 2026 - by Nathan Ryder Cover shows a red game piece/pawn looking at a wall with twelve calendar pages with various tally marks.

Coming Wednesday 15th April 2026!

Viva Survivors Select returns with the first issue of Volume 2, The 2025 Issue. I’ve curated twenty of my favourite Viva Survivors posts from last year, written two new pages of viva help and created original art and illustrations!

I had a lot of fun making Volume 1 last year – still available to buy as individual issues in my Payhip store or as a complete collection here – and I have all of Volume 2 planned out between now and November. I’m so excited to be sharing more of these zines soon.

If you find the Viva Survivors daily blog helpful then please take a look at Volume 1 and watch out for the upcoming issues from Volume 2. There is a lot of help in each issue, curated collections of posts from the archives plus new reflections and resources to help you get ready for the viva.

Look out for The 2025 Issue releasing on Wednesday 15th April 2026 – and please share this news with anyone who might need it!

Thanks for reading,
Nathan

Nathan

Viva Survivor, March 25th 2026

Event, Update

Let’s keep this reminder short and simple:

  • I’m running my Viva Survivor webinar on Wednesday 25th March 2026.
  • Registration is open for this three-hour live webinar. If you sign-up you will also have access to a catch-up recording for four weeks after the session and receive follow-up materials including several of my publications.
  • Viva Survivor is my original session and I’ve delivered it to more than 8300 PhD candidates in the last 15 years at universities and programmes all over the UK.
  • In that time and in over 425 sessions I’ve been continuously developing Viva Survivor to be as helpful as possible to PGRs.

There’s a lot more information at the link about what to expect from the webinar on Wednesday 25th March 2026. If you have any questions please get in touch. Viva Survivor is one of my favourite things to do and I’m really looking forward to this session.

Thanks for reading!

Nathan

Nathan

Viva Survivor Webinar, March 25th 2026

Event, Update

Let’s keep this webinar announcement short and simple:

  • I’m running my Viva Survivor webinar on Wednesday 25th March 2026.
  • Registration is open now for this three-hour live webinar. Participants will have access to a catch-up recording for four weeks after the session and receive follow-up materials including several of my publications.
  • Viva Survivor has been delivered for the last 15 years to more than 8300 PhD candidates at universities and programmes all over the UK.
  • In that time and in over 425 sessions I’ve been continuously developing Viva Survivor to be as helpful as possible to PGRs.
  • You can register now and use code VSMARCH2026 until midnight on Sunday 8th February 2026 to save £10 on registration.

There’s a lot more information at the link about what to expect from the webinar on Wednesday 25th March 2026. If you have any questions please get in touch. Viva Survivor is one of my favourite things to do and I’m really looking forward to this session.

Please take a look if you’re interested and don’t forget that the code VSMARCH2026 will save £10 on your ticket if you register before midnight on Sunday 8th February 2026.

Thanks for reading!

Nathan

Nathan

Viva Survivors Select Volume 1

Daily Post, Update

It’s my birthday! Happy Birthday to me, Happy Birthday to me and so on and so forth!

I like to do something fun on my birthday and as I’m in charge of this little kingdom on the internet I can do that 🙂

 

Last year I released eight issues of Viva Survivors Select: my curated collections of writing from the Viva Survivors blog archives on expectations, viva prep, building confidence and more. Each issue also contains several pages of new resources: reflections on the viva, my experiences and original games to help with getting ready for the viva.

Viva Survivors Select was a lot of fun to make and share and I’m looking forward to making more issues in the coming months. Today for my birthday I’m doing two fun things:

First, I’m happy to announce the release of Viva Survivors Select Volume 1, a complete collection of 2025’s eight issues in one helpful bundle. This bundle has a reduced price of £15 instead of the combined £24 for the eight individual issues of viva prep, thoughts on examiners, reflections on the PhD journey and helpful resources.

Cover image for Viva Survivors Select Volume 1: a cairn next to a river, a stack of stones carefully arranged

Second, as it’s my birthday I’m reducing the price even more until the end of January. Viva Survivors Select Volume 1 will be £12 until 31st January 2026. That makes each issue in the bundle half price. If you’re looking for viva help, thoughts about the process or ideas for what you can do to be ready for your viva this is a great bundle of help.

…oh go on, one more thing! If you buy the Viva Survivors Select Volume 1 bundle before 31st January then a little popup will offer you my Kickstarted publication 101 Steps To A Great Viva for free!

 

Anyway, it’s my birthday and I want to do something fun 🙂 If you think Viva Survivors Select Volume 1 might be helpful then take a look. If you think it might help someone you know then please share this news. And if you have questions then please get in touch.

Thanks for reading – I’m off to celebrate being halfway to 90!

Nathan

Nathan

Viva Survivors Select 08

Update

This month’s issue of Viva Survivors Select is the last of Volume 1. I’m taking a break from the zine for a few months and aim to return in April 2026 with the start of a new monthly run. It seemed appropriate that this final issue (for now!) should be The Survival Issue.

Cover of Viva Survivors Select 08, The Survival Issue. Dated November 2025 by Nathan Ryder Foreground text boxes show details of the issue title etc. Background image shows a mountain path with rails, more mountains in the distance and a blue sky with a few clouds

We tend to think of survival as life and death. This is why so many PhD candidates who hear the phrase “surviving the viva” think that it must be a terrible ordeal that they’ll barely make it through. To survive means to manage to keep going in difficult circumstances. To survive your PhD means to work and make it through the challenges you face. To survive the viva means to rise to the particular challenges after the journey you have been on.

The Survival Issue contains twenty posts from the Viva Survivors archive exploring many aspects of survival. The issue is reflective, proactive and looking ahead for a candidate’s future. Surviving the viva is a topic I’ve been exploring for fifteen years in seminars, books, blog posts, discussions and pretty much every working day. It really did feel like this had to be the final issue of this volume!

I also share memories of how I survived my viva and what still stands out to me seventeen years later. Finally, I offer a simple reflective series of questions to help unpick the difficult circumstances of a PhD journey – a helpful activity for viva prep.

Viva Survivors Select 08 is out now for £3 and joins the previous seven issues in this volume. If you like the blog, want more help and want to support what I do then please take a look at and consider buying The Survival Issue.

Please do pass on details of this issue and Viva Survivors Select to anyone you know who is looking for viva help – and look out for the first issue of Volume 2, coming in April 2026!

Thanks for reading!

Nathan

Nathan

Viva Survivor, 3rd December 2025

Event, Update

Do you need to know more about the viva? Do you want to know what to do to get ready? Do you want space to ask whatever questions you have and find help for whatever worries you’re feeling?

There are many ways to find all of the above – talking with your supervisor, asking friends, consulting with your Graduate School and even looking around on this website.

One other place to get help would be at one of my webinars. You can find out about the next opportunity by checking out the details of my Viva Survivor session on Wednesday 3rd December 2025.

What can you expect from Viva Survivor?

I’ve delivered Viva Survivor for the last 15 years. I’ve shared it with more than 8000 PhD candidates at universities and for programmes all over the UK. In that time and in over 400 sessions I’ve been continuously developing the session to be as helpful as possible to PGRs.

There’s a lot more information at the link about the webinar on Wednesday 3rd December 2025 and if you have any questions please get in touch. Viva Survivor is one of my favourite things to do and I’m really looking forward to this session, my only remaining independent Viva Survivor of 2025.

Thanks for reading!

Nathan

Nathan

Viva Survivors Select 07

Update

It was a few years after my PhD before I started to feel confident. It took me time to find a way to build it up for myself. I didn’t find it during my PhD or ahead of my viva: I thought my thesis was pretty good but didn’t think I was a good candidate. I knew something was missing on my viva day but didn’t know what it was.

After my PhD I started to listen to podcasts, read blog posts and found books that helped me assemble a jigsaw of confidence from myself, borrowing ideas from many different places and finding what worked for me.

I’ve had the good fortune to spend my post-PhD life exploring confidence for myself and how to help other people find it for themselves. I’m glad to have the chance to share some help, encouragement and ideas in this month’s issue of Viva Survivors Select.

Cover of Viva Survivors Select 07/The Confidence Issue/Nathan Ryder. Background image shows a pair of hands holding a small plant growing in soil.

The Confidence Issue contains twenty posts from the Viva Survivors archive exploring confidence in the PhD, helpful practices to try during viva prep and how to respond to questions in the viva. This is a topic I’ve explored a lot over the last fifteen years and it’s great to share a curated resource like this zine.

Every issue of Viva Survivors Select also contains new help too. This month I share my thoughts on making a playlist to help promote confidence. I love using music to prompt a shift of feelings and know I’m not alone in thinking it’s a useful nudge – and nudging confidence is the theme of my other new piece, a short game to help people getting ready for their viva.

Viva Survivors Select 07 is out now for £3 and joins six other issues in this ongoing series. If you like the blog, want more help and want to support what I do then please take a look at and consider buying The Confidence Issue.

The final issue of this volume, The Survival Issue, will be released on Wednesday 12th November. I’m also considering releasing a bundle of all eight issues of Volume 1 for a special price. Let me know if you think that’s a good idea!

Please do pass on details of this issue and Viva Survivors Select to anyone you know who is looking for viva help.

Thanks for reading!

Nathan

Nathan

Viva Survivor Webinar, December 3rd 2025

Update

Let’s keep this announcement short and simple:

  • I’m running my Viva Survivor webinar on Wednesday 3rd December 2025.
  • Registration is open now for this three-hour live webinar and participants will have access to a four-week catch-up recording and other follow-up materials.
  • Viva Survivor has been delivered for the last 15 years to more than 8000 PhD candidates at universities and programmes all over the UK.
  • In that time and in over 400 sessions I’ve been continuously developing Viva Survivor to be as helpful as possible to PGRs.
  • You can register now and use code VIVASURVIVORS until midnight on Sunday 5th October 2025 to save £10 on registration.

There’s a lot more information at the link about the webinar on Wednesday 3rd December 2025 and if you have any questions please get in touch. Viva Survivor is one of my favourite things to do and I’m really looking forward to this session, my only remaining independent Viva Survivor of 2025.

Please take a look if you’re interested and don’t forget that the code VIVASURVIVORS will save £10 on your ticket if you register before midnight on Sunday 5th October 2025.

Thanks for reading!

Nathan

Nathan

Webinar Reminder

Update

In brief: I have an upcoming date for my 7 Reasons You’ll Pass Your Viva session on Wednesday 24th September 2025 and registration is open.

 

7 Reasons You’ll Pass Your Viva is a 1-hour confidence boost for the viva. I explore why candidates can know what to expect, how that helps them and what they can do to help themselves.

When you register to attend you also get access to a four-week catch-up recording after the session and will receive a pdf copy of my 101 Steps To A Great Viva guide.

Here’s what past attendees say about 7 Reasons You’ll Pass Your Viva:

  • “Thanks, really helpful session that’s helped me feel confident about the viva!” – University of Edinburgh PhD candidate
  • “Thank you so much this was very helpful – I have my viva on Monday and feeling a bit more confident now :)” – Liverpool John Moores University PhD candidate
  • “Thank you for such an engaging and helpful session!” – University of Liverpool PhD candidate

I’m running 7 Reasons You’ll Pass Your Viva live on Wednesday 24th September 2025 and registration is open now.

 

And save the date: my 3-hour comprehensive Viva Survivor session will run live on the morning of 3rd December 2025. Registration will open on Wednesday 1st October.

Thank you for reading!

Nathan

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