Nathan

Whose Fault Is It?

Daily Post

It’s not uncommon to ask who is responsible if something goes wrong. After all, things don’t just happen, someone has to do (or not do) something. In your PhD journey there could be lots of people involved when something is wrong: the person who wrote a paper missed something, your supervisor wasn’t available to help or maybe you made a mistake.

Asking “Who?” is typical human behaviour but it might be less helpful than asking “Why?”

When we ask “Who?” we have a name. When we ask “Why?” we’re working towards a reason.

If something went wrong and you ask “Why?” then you can start to unpick the reasons, the impacts and the resolutions. You see more and can explain more (whether you’re doing this kind of exploration at the viva or in advance).

 

Don’t forget you could also ask “Why?” things worked out well during your PhD too. Why did you arrive at submission with a good thesis? Why was the contribution in that thesis sound? Why was the work that you did ultimately of a good standard?

Although, at the root of all of these questions what we’re really asking is “Who did this?”

 

PS: There are lots of reflections and more viva help in the latest issue of Viva Survivors Select, which I released earlier this week. The 2025 Issue collects twenty of my favourite blog posts from last year and adds two new pages of viva help. Want a helpful viva prep game? You’ll find it in the latest issue here 🙂 And please spread the word if you can!

Nathan

Prep Feelings

Daily Post

Work past worry.

This is one of my most commonly shared pieces of advice about the viva. If something worries you, do something. If you have a problem that’s troubling you then work past it.

What do you do if you feel happy? Or tired? Or uncertain? Or nervous? Or confident?

You work.

If you’re happy then work to hold on to that feeling.

If you’re tired then work to find suitable rest.

If you’re uncertain then work to remove that uncertainty (ask questions or read regulations).

If you’re nervous then work to build confidence and if you feel confident then find a way to maintain it.

Work past worry might be a special case of more general viva advice: work to help your feelings.

Nathan

Secret Prep

Daily Post

My friend Shaine didn’t tell any of us about his viva.

We didn’t even know he was actively preparing for it. We found out about his viva as it was happening! There was a hurried series of text messages around our group when we learned on the day. It was a shock but he had his reasons. And we still celebrated with him when it was over and done.

My typical viva prep advice would be to tell friends about your viva, ask for their help with your prep and so on. This is overridden by the greater need to make sure that your viva prep process meets your needs, preferences and circumstances.

If it’s important to you that your viva and prep time be secret then do that. And, more importantly, if you realise that something else is really important for your prep then follow that instinct too.

Prep is personal. Do what you need to do to get ready.

 

PS: You’ll find a lot more help with viva prep in the latest issue of Viva Survivors Select! The 2025 Issue collects twenty of my favourite blog posts from last year and adds two new pages of viva help – including a game that’s all about viva prep. You can find the zine here along with a few of the pages to get a sense of what the issue is like. Do pick it up if it seems helpful and you value what I share on the Viva Survivors blog 🙂 And please spread the word if you can!

Nathan

By The Ends

Daily Post

By the end of your first year you probably have a direction or goal in mind for your research.

By the end of your final year you’ve realised enough of your aims to create a thesis.

By the end of your thesis someone can appreciate the contribution that you’re making.

By the end of your viva prep you’ll feel ready for the challenge of your viva.

By the end of your viva you’ll know that you did it.

By the end of all of this hopefully you’ll have a smile on your face as you think, “What now?”

 

PS: Take a look at the latest issue of Viva Survivors Select for more reflections, practical viva help and more. The 2025 Issue collects twenty of my favourite blog posts from last year and adds two new pages of viva help. You can see a few of the pages here to get a sense of what this little curated zine is all about. Please spread the word if you can!

Nathan

Regulations & Exceptions

Daily Post

If you have a viva soon then your university has regulations for it. These are updated every few years so make sure you have read the most recent version. Pay attention to what they say about the viva process – don’t simply rely on advice and information from a well-meaning friend or supervisor.

The regulations will paint a general picture of a typical viva. They might also describe some exceptions and what those processes could be like:

  • Having more examiners;
  • Ensuring accessibility requirements;
  • When independent chairpersons are needed;
  • How to have vivas over video or hybrid vivas.

Some of these exceptions are not as exceptional as they once were. For example, video vivas might be uncommon compared to 2020 and 2021 but they are far less rare now than before the pandemic.

You might expect your viva to be different from others for many reasons. Maybe your research is explored and explained differently in your thesis. Maybe your own lived experience is not like other people you know. Maybe one of your examiners is not an academic.

Still the regulations will help. Your viva will still happen. Check the regulations, decide on if and how your viva might be exceptional and ask to get the support that you need.

Every viva is unique – and some are a little more different than others!

 

PS: I released the latest issue of Viva Survivors Select yesterday! The 2025 Issue collects twenty of my favourite blog posts from last year and adds two new pages of viva help. Please take a look at the zine and some pages here and pick it up if it seems helpful 🙂 And please spread the word if you can!

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

Beginning & End

Daily Post

Expect your viva to begin with questions that help you start well.

Expect your examiners to have a plan (but don’t expect them to share it).

As you start the viva you can expect to feel nervous but the opening questions should help you move past that feeling.

And as you begin you could try to have a rhythm for engaging with questions: take a sip of water, make a note or take a breath – do something to help you pause.

 

As your viva ends, expect your examiners to ask you to leave for a little while so they can talk privately.

Expect to feel nervous then too.

Expect that when they bring you back in they’ll be telling you that you’ve succeeded!

And expect they’ll tell you that you have corrections to complete as well!

Nathan

Limited Times

Daily Post

You had limited time to research. You had limited time to write your thesis.

You’ll have limited time after submission to get ready for your viva. You’ll have limited time to take advantage of support from others and limited time to do the prep work you need to do.

At the viva you’ll have limited time to share your contribution and demonstrate your capability.

Another way to look at all this is “enough”.

For the work you needed to do you had enough time to get it done and enough time to write a thesis that was good. You have enough time to prepare and enough time to get help. At your viva you’ll have enough time to think carefully and enough time to respond to the discussion as it happens.

Time is limited at all stages of a PhD but there’s enough to succeed.

Nathan

What You Know

Daily Post

For your viva you can know what you did.

You can know what you thought about doing.

You can know why you didn’t do those things.

You can know what support your supervisor and others provided.

You can know what you decided was worth knowing.

You can know about the references that make a difference to your work.

You can know about your plans, how they changed and how you achieved your goals.

You can know why you did the work.

You can know what you wrote.

You can know what to expect at the viva.

You can know who your examiners are and what they do.

You can know what you need to do to be ready for your viva.

 

You can’t know everything. You’re not expected to anticipate every question. You can’t have read every paper. You can’t have photographic recall and you don’t need to. You don’t need to have thought about everything ahead of the viva.

What you know is enough.

Nathan

Hope & Belief

Daily Post

It’s wrong to hope for confidence at your viva but right to believe you’ll succeed.

Confidence is cultivated: you don’t just cross your fingers and hope for it. You have to do something to change how you feel.

Believing you’ll pass is sensible: the statistics show that the overwhelming majority of PhD candidates who submit a thesis succeed at the viva. It’s reasonable to believe you’ll pass too.

Don’t hope for confidence – build it up. Don’t worry about passing – work towards it.

1 … 9 10 11 12 13 … 351