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Nathan

New Webinar Dates!

Update

The short version: I have five upcoming webinar times for my 7 Reasons You’ll Pass Your Viva session!

7 Reasons has been a super-popular session in the last year since I started it during the first UK lockdown. I’ve developed as part of my offering to UK universities, but also continued to offer it independently with booking via Eventbrite. I’m thrilled that it has been so well-received in the past, and in the last twelve months I’ve shared it with over 650 participants.

I’m next running it on Monday 17th May 2021, 11am UK time, and registration is open now. If you’re looking for support, if you’re looking to find out more about the viva, if you’re looking for a confidence boost and some encouragement, this 1-hour session is for you. Places are limited for each session, and there’s a little earlybird booking discount if you book soon.

I’m so glad that people have found my webinars helpful in the last year – and very excited that I can continue to offer them now. If May 17th doesn’t work for you, but you’re still looking for help, check out this page for dates of all of my upcoming independent webinars – including sessions running on three consecutive days in June at different times. You can ask for reminders there too, as registration opens two weeks before each session.

But if you are free on Monday 17th May, do take a look at 7 Reasons You’ll Pass Your Viva – I hope to see you there! 🙂

Thanks for reading!

Nathan

Webinar: 7 Reasons @ 7pm

Update

A little webinar update!

I’m running my 7 Reasons You’ll Pass Your Viva session next Tuesday, 2nd March 2021. 7 Reasons is my 1-hour webinar all about why you can feel confident for your viva, exploring some of the things you can do to be ready, as well as giving space for you to ask any questions you have about the process.

I’ve run the session many times since I developed it last year but this will be the first time I’ve delivered it in the evening, rather than the middle of the day. I’ve heard previously from several people who were interested in the session, but couldn’t attend at 11am.

So I started looked for a date in my diary for 7 Reasons @ 7pm! 🙂

I’ve heard from past participants of the session just how valuable it’s been for them as they come to the conclusion of their PhD journey. I’m happy I have the space to continue to offer this support. 7 Reasons You’ll Pass Your Viva is one of the things I’m glad I’ve been able to make out of the last year.

Registration is open now, and there’s an earlybird discount for anyone who books soon. If your viva is sometime this year then I think this session will really help you. Take a look at the session details here and if you have any questions, simply get in touch via email or Twitter.

I hope to see you at 7 Reasons You’ll Pass Your Viva next week! 🙂

 

PS: I have more sessions coming up in the next few months! Check out what’s coming soon at this my Eventbrite page.

Nathan

Webinar: 7 Reasons You’ll Pass Your Viva

Update

A little webinar update!

I’m running my 7 Reasons You’ll Pass Your Viva session next Monday, 8th February 2021. It’s a 1-hour webinar all about why you can feel confident for your viva, exploring some of the things you can do to be ready, as well as giving space for you to ask any questions you have about the process.

I’ve run it many times since I developed it last spring, during the first UK lockdown, and it’s a real thrill to be able to offer it again. I’ve heard from people how valuable it’s been for them as they come to the conclusion of their PhD journey and am so happy I have the space to continue to offer this support. In a strange, weird and sometimes-awful time, 7 Reasons You’ll Pass Your Viva is one of the things I’m happiest I’ve been able to do in the last year.

Registration is open now, and there’s an earlybird discount for anyone who books before midnight tomorrow. If your viva is sometime this year then I think this session will really help you. Take a look at the session details here – if you have any questions, simply get in touch via email or Twitter.

I hope to see you at 7 Reasons You’ll Pass Your Viva next week! 🙂

 

PS: I have more sessions coming up in the next few months! Check out what’s coming soon at this hub page.

Nathan

7 Reasons Webinar, 10th September 2020

Update

A bonus post for today! The short version: I’m running my 7 Reasons You’ll Pass Your Viva webinar this Thursday morning.

I love helping PhD candidates get ready for their viva. Earlier this year, during lockdown, I explored a few ways to reach out and help as much as I could. 7 Reasons You’ll Pass Your Viva resonated strongly with participants, and I’m delighted to be offering it again now.

A lot of candidates are told not to worry about their viva. They’re told that it will be fine. They don’t need to stress. And that isn’t helpful. It’s true, but it’s not helpful! Candidates need to know why they don’t need to worry. Candidates need to know what to do to help their concerns.

And that’s what 7 Reasons You’ll Pass Your Viva is all about.

If your viva is coming soon, or you’re curious about what you can do to help yourself, the webinar this Thursday, 10th September 2020, will probably help you. You’ll get a sense of what the viva is about, what you can do to prepare, realise what you’ve already done that helps you and more – plus have space to ask any questions that are particularly troubling you.

I think that every PhD candidate could benefit from this session. I’m really proud of what I’ve developed – of course, I would say that, wouldn’t I?! 🙂 Don’t just take my word for it:

7 Reasons You’ll Pass Your Viva is running this Thursday, 10th September 2020 at 11am. It’s 1-hour, live, and there are only 40 places. Registration is £10, but until midnight today (Monday 7th) there is an earlybird registration of £5. If you’re reading this, I hope you’ll sign-up or tell someone you know who could get some help from this session.

Thanks for your attention 🙂

(and if you have any questions about the session, or about anything really, do get in touch!)

Nathan

7 Reasons Webinar, May 20th 2020

Update

Hi!

This is an extra post for today to announce that I’m running my 7 Reasons You’ll Pass Your Viva webinar again on Wednesday 20th May. I’ve enjoyed the challenge and delight of sharing new short webinars with PhD candidates recently. I asked on Twitter which session I should re-run and 7 Reasons was the clear favourite.

Here‘s what I said the last time I delivered 7 Reasons You’ll Pass Your Viva – I can’t find better words to explain why I’m offering this session:

This is for PhD candidates who have their viva coming up and want to know why it’s going to be fine. Lots of people tell PhD candidates not to worry about the viva – relax, don’t stress, it’ll all be fine – sentiments which don’t always help because they often miss an important Why.

For some candidates, one thing – the right thing – can be enough to make the difference and help them feel certain about their viva. I have seven reasons to share…and my aim is to convince anyone coming that they will be fine for their viva. They may have work to do, things to check or prep to complete, but when the time comes, they can be ready. They will pass.

I was blown away by the response that the session got; it was great to see that something I’d done had really connected:

I hope you can join me next Wednesday. If you’re uncertain about what to do for your viva, how you should feel about it, or just need help then this 1-hour session is for you. There are full details at the Eventbrite registration link. 7 Reasons is free to attend, but if you can make a donation to help support the work that I do and the time that goes into providing it that would be really appreciated. If you can’t, please still come – I want this session to help anyone who needs it.

Thanks for your attention, I hope you can join 7 Reasons You’ll Pass Your Viva next week!

Wishing you the very best 🙂

Nathan

Nathan

Viva Survivors: Your Questions Answered

Update

I’ve had a lot of fun delivering Getting Creative and 7 Reasons You’ll Pass Your Viva in the last month, and been floored by the support people have given them and how valuable they’ve said they were. So I decided to keep going with new ideas and a new session!

Viva Survivors: Your Questions Answered is a 1-hour webinar on Wednesday 13th May 2020, and is for anyone who has questions about the viva.

Maybe you want to know… How long are vivas? What are they like? What if I feel nervous? How do they start? What if I forget something?

These questions are really common, and it’s OK to ask them at the session. It’s OK to ask uncommon questions. It’s OK to ask general questions, vague questions, hypothetical questions; questions that come from not knowing something, questions that come from worrying about something, questions that come from being uncertain and being concerned. All questions are welcome, but the session is probably most valuable to PhD candidates who have either submitted and have their viva soon, or who have a few months to go before submission.

Tickets cost £3, £5 or £7 – you choose the price based on what you think is fair – places are limited to 75 participants and at registration you’ll be asked to share any questions you need answers for, so that I can create a structure for the session.

If you have questions about the viva, then please explore this site for help. Ask your supervisor, ask your friends, ask your institution – there are lots of people around you who will be able to help you with your questions.

Please also take a look at Viva Survivors: Your Questions Answered too, running on May 13th, to see if it might be useful 🙂

Nathan

Viva Survivors: 7 Reasons You’ll Pass Your Viva

Update

I had a great time last week sharing Viva Survivors: Getting Creative with PhD candidates dotted all around the UK (and the world!). It was really fun to take my creative prep ideas and see them connect: it was just lovely, as was the opportunity to respond to questions in real time. Bar the odd Zoom-related technical hitch it all worked wonderfully.

I’ll be sharing Viva Survivors: Getting Creative again in the future, but next I’ll be sharing another new free 1-hour session, Viva Survivors: 7 Reasons You’ll Pass Your Viva on April 22nd 2020. This is for PhD candidates who have their viva coming up and want to know why it’s going to be fine. Lots of people tell PhD candidates not to worry about the viva – relax, don’t stress, it’ll all be fine – sentiments which don’t always help because they often miss an important Why.

For some candidates, one thing – the right thing – can be enough to make the difference and help them feel certain about their viva. I have seven reasons to share next Wednesday, and my aim is to convince anyone coming that they will be fine for their viva. They may have work to do, things to check or prep to complete, but when the time comes, they can be ready. They will pass.

Like last week’s session, I want to run this again, but don’t have firm plans for now. If you want to come to Viva Survivors: 7 Reasons You’ll Pass Your Viva then book now! Full details are at the link: the session is free, but you have to register to attend. It’s open to 60 participants like the last session – which was fully booked – and at the time of writing 40% of places have gone. Simply click through to sign-up; all of the joining instructions will follow on after that.

Thanks for reading this. If it sounds like it might help you, then please register for a spot on the session. Hope to see you there.

Nathan

Nathan

Viva Survivors: Getting Creative

Update

The last two weeks have been almost the definition of interesting times. Lots of changes in a short period. I feel some days like my head is swimming with the adjustment. I hope wherever you are, you’re keeping well.

I’ve seen some lovely, generous offerings from the global academic community on Twitter, and while I was frantically changing my work patterns and materials for online delivery, I was wondering what I could share to help…

I’m starting with Viva Survivors: Getting Creative – a free 1-hour session on creative and fun viva prep that I’ll be running over Zoom on Wednesday 8th April 2020. If you’re looking to kickstart your viva prep with a smile, or you don’t know how to start, or you feel blocked because of everything going on, this session is for you. In 1 hour we’ll cover the basics of viva prep, what it’s really for, and five creative responses. If you have questions about the viva or prep, this is a chance to get some answers too.

Full details are at the link and places are limited to sixty attendees. The session is free, but if you want to attend I’d encourage you to register soon. I hope to offer this or something like it again, but don’t have firm plans for future sessions at the moment. Ping me on Twitter or drop me an email if you have a question.

Stay well and safe, and take a look at Viva Survivors: Getting Creative!

Keep going.

Nathan

Nathan

Evolving Viva Survivors

Update

From next Tuesday, the site is changing.

The podcasts will be here, the other resources page will still be here, and the overall aim will stay the same: I want to help PhD candidates feel ready and confident for their viva. The Viva Survivors Podcast has helped do that for almost five years. From next week, the podcast will be an irregular part of the site.
 
From 18th April there will be a daily post of viva prep help. Every day at around 9am there will be something new on the site. The posts will cover a wide range of themes – practical help, inspiration, questions, ideas, tips, humour – all aimed at helping you be ready for the viva. I’ve been fortunate to produce the podcast for almost five years. I’ve delivered over 100 “Viva Survivor” workshops since 2010. I have a lot of concrete ideas for how to help people that I want to share.
 
I also have ideas which I’m working out. The new daily blog will, for me, be a way to test these ideas. My hope is that over time it will help me to help more and more PhDs prepare for the viva. The podcast isn’t going away! My goal at the moment is to have a new episode up around once a month or so. For some time though my heart has wanted to do more writing. I’ve looked for opportunities to experiment with new ideas. This change will help me do that and, I hope, help a lot of people too.
 
The site design will change over the next few weeks to reflect the new nature of things. I hope that I don’t break any links, but if you spot any then do let me know over email.
 
I’ll be tweeting new posts every day, but the best way to ensure you see them is to subscribe using the box on every page. That way you will get an email when a new post goes up. If you already subscribe but don’t want daily emails with viva-related thoughts then you can unsubscribe too.
 
My hope though is that you and others will join me on this next stage of Viva Survivors. If you’ve got any questions about it then email me or tweet at me. I hope that this site becomes even more valuable.
 
Thanks for reading.
 
Nathan (@DrRyder and @VivaSurvivors)
Nathan

Coming Soon: a new Q&A episode!

Update

Hello!

I’m recording two new episodes of the podcast this week. I plan to record several more interviews in the next few weeks too. I like that the bulk of the podcast’s archive is about sharing stories and experiences, but I’m also happy that there’s been space now and then to do things which are a bit different – like the Academic Jobs Specials, the chances to reconnect with past guests, and the Ask An Examiner special. Last year I tried a Q&A episode, and while only a few questions came in, it ended up being one of the most downloaded and listened to episodes that I released last year.

Everyone loves a sequel

Since we’re at the start of a new year, it seemed like a good time to return to this and do another episode which is all about answering your questions about the viva. So:

  • Got questions about effective viva preparation? Ask!
  • Want to know about viva expectations in the UK? Ask!
  • Thought about doing a podcast but unsure of where to start? I’m happy to help!
  • Got ideas for future episodes you want to throw past me? Please do!
  • Curious about how a shy pure mathematician ended up interested in the viva? I’m happy to talk about it!

Whatever you want to know, please ask, either in the comments on this post, or by tweeting at me. Or you could email me, but in any case you’ve got until February 8th 2017 to get questions in to me. I plan to record the podcast soon after that, with an eye to publish on Monday 13th February.

Ask away

Really: this episode won’t work without your questions. Just let me know what you’d like me to cover. If you don’t have a specific question, but rather a general theme, that’s fine too – just let me know. Thanks for reading this post, please share it with others who might have questions!

Nathan (@DrRyder and @VivaSurvivors)

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