Nathan

Wait For It

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There’s a lot of waiting in the thesis submission and viva process. Waiting to hear that your examiners have got your thesis. Waiting to find out when the viva is going to be. Feeling like you’re waiting for the day to arrive. Waiting on the day to begin – and waiting to find out what it will be like.

I don’t have any tips for the day-by-day waiting for things to come around, but one thing you can do for the day of the viva is to make a plan for the short break at the end of the viva. Your examiners will need a little time to talk and reach their conclusions before they tell you what the outcome is. Make a plan for that short period – it’s commonly between five and twenty minutes but could feel a lot longer if you don’t have something to do.

Whether you’re on campus or at home, decide in advance to take a short walk around the space you’re in. Or stretch. Or make a drink. Or read a book. Or whatever you need to do at that time.

Decide beforehand what you will do so that you are not left with just nervous thoughts, waiting to find out what the outcome will be.

Nathan

Push Yourself

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In preparation for the viva it might help to push yourself, to make that extra effort even if it’s hard. You don’t have to do a lot, push yourself, just a little.

  • Push yourself to read your thesis, even if you’re bored!
  • Push yourself to find out more about what to expect.
  • Push yourself to read your examiners’ recent papers.
  • Push yourself to practise being in the viva.
  • Push yourself to believe that you can be confident of your success.

Push yourself before the viva; then when you meet your examiners the experience won’t be a surprise or a great stretch for you.

Nathan

Important Details

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Before your viva, ask yourself what’s important about your thesis:

  • What’s important in each chapter?
  • What’s important about the references you cite?
  • What’s important about the contribution you make in your thesis?
  • What’s important for you to share with your examiners?
  • What’s important for you to remember?

Focus yourself to consider what really matters about your thesis.

Remember the most important detail: you did it.

Your thesis would not exist without your work, skill, knowledge and determination.

Nathan

Patterns

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Vivas are governed by regulations. There are over 100 universities in the UK, each with their own set of rules for thesis examination – but these rules are all very similar in purpose.

Vivas are mostly conducted by academics. While there are typically two examiners in any viva they have colleagues who they talk to. Ideas of what makes a viva “good” or “right” are passed around.

This leads to cultures of thesis examination.

Culture can be specific to individual departments. Academics can have the idea that a certain length of viva is desirable, a certain focus, a certain structure and so on.

So: there are rules for what happens, ideas for what is right and these lead to patterns of experience by candidates. Viva stories describe exams tending to be a certain length, beginning with similar questions, and so on.

Patterns of experience, if passed on, give rise to useful patterns of expectation.

You can’t know exactly what will happen at your viva. Every viva will be unique, but if you ask the right people the right questions you can get a good idea of what to expect – and then prepare accordingly.

Talk to your supervisors, friends and colleagues to find out more of what vivas are like in your department. Understand the pattern of what happens at the viva and you’ll know what you need to do to be ready.

Nathan

Unreasonable Corrections

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After the viva most candidates will be told to complete corrections. For most, corrections will be simple things: amending spelling mistakes, making ambiguous sentences clearer, breaking up long and clunky paragraphs, and so on.

While no candidate wants to get corrections – however minor for the most part, they’re still more work – it’s rare that a candidate would be asked to complete unreasonable corrections. It’s rare that an examiner would ask for rewrites of chapters over a minor point or for a style change based solely on their preferences. Requests for more research have to come with real justification.

If a suggested correction strikes you as unreasonable:

  • Ask yourself why you think that.
  • Discuss it with your supervisor.
  • Decide if you need to appeal the request.

Everyone can make a mistake. You can make mistakes in your thesis. Examiners can sometimes make a mistake with a request. Nobody wants unreasonable corrections.

It’s unlikely that you’ll be asked to complete anything unreasonable, but if something seems wrong to you then know there are options.

Nathan

Corrections & Confidence

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Consider making two lists as you read your thesis in preparation for the viva.

On one list, make a note of any typos that you find or any sentences that you think need revising. On the other, make a note of anything that you think is good, great or amazing.

After you’ve made your lists put the first one away until after the viva. You’ll find it useful then to help you complete your corrections.

Look at the second list every day on the lead up to your viva. Remind yourself that you have done good work and you can be confident that your thesis has value.

Corrections need to be done eventually. Before the viva it’s far more important to look for things that will help your confidence.

Nathan

Supervisor Presence

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There are good reasons to have your supervisor present at your viva.

They can be moral support. They can make notes on your behalf. You could feel like it’s a fitting moment in your working relationship.

There are good reasons to not have your supervisor present at your viva.

You might be distracted. You might not want an audience. Perhaps you don’t have a good relationship with them.

Either way it’s your decision; you get to choose and that’s that.

Reflect on what matters to you.

Nathan

Remember You Are Talented

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The skill set, knowledge and attributes you have as a researcher are due to your experience. You are talented because you have put the effort in consistently over a long period of time.

You work through your PhD journey and build up your talent. You pass your viva because of that talent.

Don’t forget that while you get ready. Build a strong foundation of confidence for your viva.

Nathan

Questioning Weakness

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There are many causes of doubt before the viva. One possibility is that a candidate believes some aspect of their research or thesis isn’t good enough. They find a weakness and then can do nothing but dwell on it.

If you find yourself in a similar position, reflect on one or more of the following:

  • Can you do anything about it at this point? If not, perhaps it would be better to reflect more on your research strengths – and your strengths as a researcher – than to focus on weaknesses.
  • Can someone help you explore this? Look to your supervisor or your friends and colleagues. Ask them to listen and help you find some way to move forwards.
  • How did your work come to have this weakness? It could be an accident, a mistake, a result of your research process, and so on. Knowing why it is there can help you to figure out what to do next.
  • How would you explain this in the viva? If a question or comment was about this aspect of your work, explore what you could say about it.

Finally, is it really a weakness? Are you seeing weakness when in fact there is just a small flaw that you are making into a bigger problem than it needs to be?

Nathan

Say No When You Get Ready

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Say no to distractions. Find time and space to do what you need to for your viva prep.

Say no to typos when you find them in your thesis. They don’t need to be your focus. Make a note and move on.

Say no to other tasks to free up rest time. Getting ready requires more than reading and reflecting. You need time to just rest.

Say no to your doubts, if you have them. Could you have got this far by being merely lucky? Could you have got this far while making serious mistakes?

The answer, of course, is “no”.

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