Nathan

Building On Difficult Circumstances

Daily Post

Every PhD contains difficult circumstances. Reflecting on how you get through them – how you keep going – is a useful way to explore how you have you grown and how you can approach future challenges.

(because you will definitely face challenges in the future)

Writing about the challenges you’ve faced can be a good way to think through your PhD journey and what it means. Bring to mind one of the difficult circumstances you’ve overcome. Then reflect and respond to these questions in sequence:

  • Why did you face difficult circumstances?
  • When did this happen during your PhD?
  • What was the impact of the situation?
  • Who did you turn to for support?
  • How did you overcome the circumstances?

Thinking about the whys and hows of a situation – particularly how you overcame it – can be helpful for the future. Thinking about why something happened and what you can do differently can prevent similar circumstances from occurring again. Thinking about what you have learned as a result can help you to feel more capable when dealing with problems.

Recognising that you overcame a significant challenge can help you to feel confident when you find yourself confronting challenges in the future.

(because, again, you will definitely face challenges in the future!)

Every PhD candidate encounters difficult circumstances. It’s a part of the journey towards completing a doctorate.

Difficult circumstances don’t have to define who you are and how you go about your research but reflecting on them can be helpful as you work towards completing your PhD.

Nathan

Prep Matters

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People succeed at their viva, for the most part, because of who they became during their PhD journey. The amount of work, the amount of knowledge, the scale of results and the personal growth – that’s what helps them create a thesis and it’s what leads them to success at the viva…

…but prep matters.

Viva prep is learning what to expect and working towards meeting that challenge. By the time you submit your thesis you are well experienced at overcoming challenges. Viva prep is a little bit of necessary work to help you feel ready for and succeed at the particular challenge of your viva.

Prep matters for how it helps you to focus. Prep matters because you can see what really matters when you slow down and take a little time for yourself. Your prep will matter to you because you are doing it to meet your needs.

Nathan

Every Question

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The viva is a facilitated discussion. Your examiners have a plan with notes and prompts. They’ve prepared. They come to the viva with questions, comments and ideas to invite you into conversation.

There are many possible questions they could have for you:

  • Easy questions;
  • Difficult questions;
  • Closed questions;
  • Open questions;
  • Questions you’ve heard many times before;
  • Questions you’ve never considered;
  • Questions you know the answer to;
  • Questions you’ll need to consider your opinion on;
  • A question that sounds simple but when you think about it, it really isn’t;
  • A question that seems complex but has subtle ideas at the heart;
  • Questions you want;
  • Questions you don’t want;
  • The one question you love to talk about;
  • And the one question you hope never to get.

With all of that said, you don’t need to write a big list of possible questions ahead of the viva and make notes on them all so that you’re ready.

You can prepare for every question simply by rehearsing for the viva. Get experience by finding opportunities to practise responding to questions. Mock vivas, conversations with friends and seminars can vary in how close they will be to your actual viva but all can give support.

Have a plan (which you can practise in advance too!). Whatever the question, take your time to think. Maybe make a note in some way. Pause, take a sip of water. Then take your time to carefully respond. There’s no rush to get the viva done quickly.

Treat every question as important and you’ll give your examiners what they need at your viva.

Nathan

The Long Way

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There are little tasks that help you get ready for your viva. You can add sticky notes to the start of thesis chapters, read the regulations or list questions that occur to you as possible viva starters.

 

For the most part, like the rest of your PhD, you have to see viva prep as a journey with no shortcuts.

It’s the long way for you.

You have to do the work.

There are no AI quick fixes, no top tips or hacks that get you past reading your thesis, thinking, rehearsing and everything else involved.

 

The long way is the sure way. While your journey will be different from every other there are so many viva and viva prep experiences that you’re bound to find some help if you ask for ideas.

You don’t need shortcuts but knowing the routes that others have taken can help a lot.

Nathan

Coming Soon!

Event, Update

Today I’m sharing a few upcoming events and resources – a few save the dates if you like! 🙂

 

Viva Survivors Select

First, the next few issues of my curated zine series, Viva Survivors Select, will be released on the following dates:

  • Wednesday 13th May 2026, The Submission Issue – next week!
  • Wednesday 10th June 2026, The Examiners Issue
  • Wednesday 15th July 2026, The Contribution Issue

If you’ve not seen it, The 2025 Issue is already out and there will be more issues from August through to November. I’ll share more about The Submission Issue when it releases next week. For now, here’s the cover:

Cover image for Viva Survivors Select 10, The Submission Issue, May 2026. Image shows a red game-piece looking down a dark hallway to light at the end of the tunnel

I’m really pleased with how the cover worked out. I’m still finding my way as an artist and love having this opportunity to make so much art regularly.

 

7 Reasons You’ll Pass Your Viva

I have five independent viva help webinars happening in the not-too-distant future!

I regularly deliver Viva Survivor and 7 Reasons You’ll Pass Your Viva sessions for universities and programmes around the UK. However, not every university engages me to deliver sessions – and sometimes even when they do there’s limited availability.

To create opportunities for PhD candidates to access viva help sessions I’m offering a range of dates and times for my 1-hour 7 Reasons You’ll Pass Your Viva live webinar in June and July:

I’ve run an evening session before but for the first time ever I’m also offering a Saturday morning session for people who might struggle to attend during weekdays. Registration for a 7 Reasons You’ll Pass Your Viva live webinar is £20 and includes follow-up resources and access to a catch-up recording of the session.

Booking for all of these sessions will open on Tuesday 26th May 2026. I’ll share reminders when registration opens for 7 Reasons You’ll Pass Your Viva but if you follow my profile on Eventbrite then that should alert you when registration opens for all. You can also use a “remind me” button on a registration page if there’s a particular date you want a reminder for.

Thank you for reading this post and I hope that these announcements are of some help. More details and help to follow! 🙂

Nathan

Useful Tensions

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Knowing what you know and knowing what you don’t know about your research creates a tension that can help you feel like you know enough.

Needing to be ready for the viva pulls you in the direction of preparation

The tension you feel about your examiners – balancing your experience and theirs – could be uncomfortable. But feeling that can pull you in the direction of a little more work, targeted prep, and drag you towards feeling better.

When you notice the various tensions connected with the viva and getting ready you might feel uneasy or worried. Look closer though and you can realise that these tensions help you figure out where you are, where you’re going and what you might still need to do to get there well.

Nathan

Room To Rest

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It’s another public holiday in the UK.

I have the day off and I hope you do as well – and if you don’t I hope you can take a day off soon!

 

Remember that when it’s time to get ready for your viva too.

There’s work to do when you’re preparing for your viva but you can control the flow. Don’t make it too intense. Don’t leave yourself no room to rest. You can’t be at your best for the viva if you put yourself under enormous pressure while you’re preparing.

Make a plan. Take your time. Give yourself room to rest after the achievement of submission. Give yourself space to breathe while you get ready for your viva.

Nathan

Not At The Viva

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Expect the unexpected at your viva but don’t expect:

  • Tiebreaks, lightning rounds and top tens.
  • Sudden death, all-or-nothing questions!
  • Written responses, trial by combat and surprise guests.
  • Irrelevant questions, impossible tasks and cunning riddles.

Expect an unexpected question. Expect an unexpected opinion. Expect that your examiners might have less understanding or require helpful explanation. Don’t expect them to change the rules or broader structure of the viva.

Expect the unexpected but expect that the unexpected will still be reasonable and relevant for your work.

Nathan

The Last Questions

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What’s the last feedback question you want to ask your supervisor?

What’s the last question you’ll have for your supervisor as you prepare for your viva?

What’s the last thing you need to check as you approach viva day?

What’s the last task on your viva prep list?

What’s the last question you might ask your examiners at the end of the viva?

What’s the last thing you want to be asked by your examiners?

What’s the last thing you’ll do as you finish your PhD and leave your university?

Nathan

Less Than 100%

Daily Post

Looking back over your PhD you have to accept that you can’t have given it your all.

You can’t have answered every question.

You can’t have achieved everything.

You can’t have written a perfect thesis.

You can’t be perfect.

And that’s OK.

Look at what you did. Step away from the trap of perfection and the distractions of what ifs. Then you can see that you have done something amazing.

You’ve done something that no-one else has ever done. You’ve become someone that no-one else has ever been.

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