Nathan

No Big Questions

Daily Post

Let’s forget ideas of “big” questions in the viva. There are no small questions either. Instead all questions are important. Each question is an opportunity you’re being given to demonstrate something:

  • Something you know.
  • Something you did.
  • Something you can do.

You can prepare effectively for responding to every question. Read your thesis, check what you need, rehearse. Then show up on the day, ready to listen, breathe and take your time.

Show up with the idea that all questions are important and you can respond to anything that is asked.

Nathan

Count Down, Count Up

Daily Post

It’s not wrong to hold your viva date in your mind and count down towards it.

Two weeks to go. Ten days. Seven days. Two days. Ten hours!

We do this with all sorts of events, like Christmas and the advent season. It can be a good way to focus. You have a deadline to steer your preparation.

Counting down can also bring stress and anxiety depending on the situation if you start to feel pressure.

Counting down is a tool: you can use it or not.

You could also count up.

Count up all your work. Count up all of your achievements. Count up all you have written. Count up all you’ve finished. Count up all the talent you have developed.

Counting down can focus you on the event and what you need to do.

Counting up can show you that you have what you need for the event when it arrives.

Two tools. Both can be useful. Use one or both as you see fit.

Nathan

Units of Measurement

Daily Post

It would be ridiculous to measure the table you work at in miles.

You would never tell a friend that your thesis draft is coming along nicely at 972,638 characters.

And you wouldn’t record how many cups of coffee you had had to determine if you’d been working hard.

Units of measurement have to be fit for purpose. They have to be reasonable. And yet I’ve met many PhD candidates who measure themselves against other people. They doubt their success because they compare their research with a colleague’s work. They worry about their viva because they look at what their examiners have achieved and feel small.

How long have you been working on your PhD? How much have you done? What is your contribution? Responding to these questions is an appropriate measurement. You don’t need to compare yourself to others.

Measure yourself and see that you’re good enough in your own terms.

Nathan

Dressing Your Ideas

Daily Post

I’m a huge Hercule Poirot fan.

I’ve read most of the novels by Agatha Christie. I love the many adaptations featuring David Suchet. Indeed, this isn’t the first time that I’ve exercised my little grey cells to write a post with the Belgian Detective in mind.

For our recent anniversary my wife bought me a little book of Poirot quotes. The first quote listed in the book really resonated with me:

“Words, mademoiselle, are only the outer clothing of ideas.”

I like this. Words express ideas; they’re not the ideas themselves. When one responds to a question – say, in the viva – one has to choose words to help express the idea one wants to share. Words are only the outer clothing though. It’s important then to pick them carefully when responding to a question.

Practise or rehearsal before the viva can help a lot. Time spent reflecting on fundamental concepts or the findings of your research can help you to share your ideas effectively.

Exercise your little grey cells in preparation and you’ll be rewarded when you make the same efforts in the viva.

Nathan

The Wrong Ideas

Daily Post

Candidates sometimes have the wrong idea about the viva.

They expect that they’re an inch away from failure.

They think it could be a lawless free-for-all where examiners can do and ask anything.

They sometimes believe it’s a terribly high bar to clear, that too much will be demanded from them.

Or they sometimes think that because most candidates pass that the viva itself is a trivial exercise.

There are lots of ways you could get the wrong ideas about the viva. The simplest way to find some right ideas is to learn more. Don’t build your ideas of the viva on doubts, worries and half-truths. Learn about what they are like. Ask people who have passed, rather than rely on rumours. Read the regulations. Talk with your supervisors.

The right ideas about the viva will give you a sense of what to expect, what happens in your department and institution, how people experience them – and give you right ideas for what you can do to get ready.

Nathan

Easy or Hard?

Daily Post

Questions in the viva do not fall neatly into one of two piles.

Easy and hard are relative terms that don’t help to describe the questions that prompt the kind of discussion found in the viva.

An easy question for one candidate could be very hard for another.

An easy-to-ask question could have a very hard-to-formulate response.

A hard question could have been considered many times before by a candidate, while an easy question has no certain response.

Best to get away from labels of easy and hard completely.

Questions in the viva can be challenging or not. In either case, they are there to drive the discussion. They’re asked with an expectation of a response from the candidate. You can’t predict what questions you will be asked before your viva, but you can prepare yourself to respond to whatever question your examiners bring to you.

Nathan

Examiner Maybes

Daily Post

Maybe they’re nice. Maybe they’re a bit unknown to you. Maybe they have a special interest in your research area.

Your examiners might be experts. They could be among the many people you’ve cited in your thesis. Maybe they know your supervisors; they’re friends, more than professional colleagues.

There are lots of possibilities for examiners – and lots of certainties too.

They will have prepared. They will be ready. They will have questions. They will have expectations for you, the viva and themselves.

They will not have been randomly selected – supervisor friends or not, experts or otherwise – they will have been asked for a reason. They will have been selected as a good choice.

Best choice? Perhaps. Capable? Certainly.

Find out who they are and you can help yourself as you prepare for your viva.

Nathan

On Thanksgiving

Daily Post

I don’t have much to add to the post I shared about a year ago on Thanksgiving.

Simply: Being thankful really helps.

Like last year, being thankful has really helped me and my family throughout 2021. The special occasion of Thanksgiving isn’t celebrated in the UK, but the act of giving thanks is a valuable one.

What are you thankful for about your PhD journey?

If you’re getting ready for your viva what are you thankful for in your prep?

Being thankful for things that have gone well or worked out, for the resources and means to do well, for supporters big and small – all of these can help with feeling good for the viva. Being thankful helps to put things into perspective and can help remind you that things do go well – when things are hard, there are still good things happening.

Nathan

Bibliography Focus

Daily Post

Your thesis’ bibliography might contain hundreds of references. While you will have used all of these to shape and inform your research, it’s impossible for you to remember every detail. Your examiners won’t expect that from you either. They’re not unreasonable, but they will want to see evidence that you know your stuff.

What could you do in preparation?

  • You could take another look at the references that have helped build up your methods.
  • You could be sure of how sources containing important information have helped your research.
  • You could look again at any references you disagree with – to be sure you’re certain why you disagree with them.
  • You could create an edited bibliography: a top twenty list of the most useful papers that you’ve cited.

You don’t need to do all of these. You might need to do something else. But you need to do something to bring your bibliography into focus before your viva.

Nathan

Time For Confidence

Daily Post

Here and there throughout the many Viva Survivors daily blog posts you’ll find clear hints that I’m a fan of science fiction. 58 years ago today was the broadcast of the first episode of Doctor Who.

In their fantastic TARDIS timeship, the Doctor and their companions travel through all time and space – but they don’t always get where they mean to. They often get close, but the TARDIS is tricky to control. The console is presented as having hundreds of buttons, levers, switches, bells, bits and bobs that make it do what it needs to. Even if you’re 1000 years old (or more) and exceptionally talented it would take a lot to make it work right every time.

Controlling the TARDIS makes me think of confidence.

A person can be really talented, but feeling good and capable – feeling self confident – could be a difficult thing. It’s not one button to press but many switches to manage. What you do, what you don’t do, what you think about or don’t think about, even what you wear – so many things can influence confidence. But you can get there; you can land close to where you need to be.

And for your viva you really need to. You’re talented, you’ve done the work, you’ve proven already that you’re a capable researcher. Now you need to do what you can to feel confident and show your examiners your best self.

Don’t start thinking about this the day before your viva. Confidence needs action over a long period of time – thankfully not 1000+ years – but you can steer yourself to how you want to feel.

Find confidence for your viva and pretty soon there’ll be one more person with the title “Doctor”…

 

Postscript: If you’re looking for more Timelord-inspired help, one of my favourite episodes of the old Viva Survivors Podcast was with Dr Tatiana Porto – who talked about how Doctor Who helped with her PhD journey!

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