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Nathan

A Reason To Clockwatch

Daily Post

Standard Viva Advice Number 62: don’t check the time during the viva because doing so will only be a distraction.

A clear exception is to do this because you need to: maybe you need to take breaks for specific medical reasons or to help you have a fair viva process.

That would be a good reason to keep an eye on the time. If you’re concerned about losing focus by clockwatching then perhaps make sure your examiners know about your need and ask them to be responsible for encouraging those breaks.

More broadly: there’s a lot of really good, well-meaning and often-helpful viva advice that might not apply to you. Listen to advice, take what you need and find your own way to get ready and pass your viva.

Nathan

Needing Help

Daily Post

Academic culture can create barriers. If you don’t know something then you can feel like you are supposed to figure it out by yourself without knowing where to look. Somehow, you are just supposed to know…

Sometimes PhD candidates do need to take a first step or take some responsibility. In most cases though, if you feel like you need help to understand what the viva is all about or to help you get ready for your viva then please reach out to someone:

  • Ask your institution for resources or for guidance on regulations.
  • Ask your supervisor for their perspective on your examiners.
  • Speak to friends and colleagues about their experiences to help guide your understanding.
  • Talk to family and friends about what you’re going through and what they can do to help.

Ask if you need help or support. Be clear, give people time to respond but do ask.

And if you need something from Viva Survivors or me then please get in touch!

 

PS: One potential source of help is my live 3-hour Viva Survivor webinar on Wednesday 25th March 2026. I’ll cover everything you need to know about the viva and getting ready, as well as take questions throughout the session. Attendees get four-week access to a recording of the session and follow-up materials too. There’s more information at the link but please get in touch if you have any questions or want to know more. Thanks for reading!

Nathan

Share What You Need

Daily Post

There are institutional regulations and general expectations that underpin what might happen at a viva – and yet so much of what happens in every viva is unique.

One aspect of this is simply a person’s situation and needs. Nevermind that every thesis and the research is unique – every candidate has their own preferences, requirements and situation. You might like to do things a certain way or want things to happen in a certain way at your viva.

 

In some cases you might need particular support to help you get ready or to help your viva be a fair and accessible experience for you. Your institution’s regulations will show you what you need to do if that’s the case; universities have got a lot better at listening to their PhD candidates who need support in the last decade but none are perfect at following processes. If you have needs for your viva then you might have to follow up and make sure that the right people know the right information.

For more general needs talk to your allies. Ask for practical support from your supervisors, friends and family. Reach out to your graduate school or doctoral college to see what help they offer people getting ready for their viva.

Support isn’t just for the viva itself. Think about what you need from others to help you get ready.

Nathan

Asking For Help

Daily Post

Viva prep is mostly solitary work but it can benefit from targeted help from the people around you. You might want a mock viva from your supervisor or a casual chat from friends. You might need your family to give you space. Depending on your situation you might need a lot more from others.

So how do you ask for help with your post-submission viva prep?

  • Ask early. Talk to people before submission so they know your general plans.
  • Express your need. Say what you need help with and why.
  • Ask for specific help to meet the need. Be clear when you describe what you have in mind.
  • Say please!
  • Give opportunities. Allow space to arrange when, give them a chance to offer a compromise if they can’t do the thing you were thinking of and make sure they know that they can say no.

Helpfully, when you leave space for a compromise you also start thinking about how else you might meet your needs. A mock viva is a great solution to meet the need for rehearsal but if your supervisor is not available there are other options.

Ask early. Express your need. Be specific. Say please! Give opportunities.

And, of course, say thank you 🙂

Nathan

Do It Yourself

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My wife and I painted our daughter’s bedroom in the autumn.

We had to move furniture, in some cases taking it apart to move it; we had to box up and make space for books and toys; my wife sourced the paint and painting supplies; I carried the ladders and between us we gave four wall sections what felt like countless coats of paint.

We did it ourselves. We could have asked someone else to do it. They might have been quicker or more professional or both! As hard as the work was at times we took some satisfaction that we had done it.

(although my right arm still feels the strain from some of the stretching and carrying!)

 

Some jobs you can do yourself or get someone else to do it in your stead.

Viva prep is not one of those jobs.

You have to do it yourself: you have to do the work to feel the benefit of viva prep, although thankfully there is still a lot of support you can get from other people.

  • Only you can read your thesis to refresh your memory – but you can ask others for their opinions on where to focus.
  • Only you can annotate your thesis well – but you can look for plenty of ideas of what might help.
  • Only can you feel the benefit of a mock viva – but you have to turn to your supervisor to make it happen.

You have to do viva prep yourself. You can’t outsource it but you can get help to make it happen.

Nathan

Questions For Friends

Daily Post

Before submission check in with your academic friends and colleagues. Ask those who’ve had a viva what it was like. Look for detail and common threads in the stories that you hear. Ask anyone who might be willing if they can practically help you with viva preparation when the time comes.

After submission ask your friends to listen. Will they be a sounding board for rehearsal? Will they be happy and able to help you rehearse over tea or coffee? (this resource might help!) Do they have any other insights into viva prep that might help you? And do they have any insight into your examiners’ work that might help you prepare well?

After the viva ask your friends to celebrate!

And in the future ask any friends or colleagues who are approaching submission if they need any help or advice. Help make a better community for getting ready for the viva.

Nathan

Viva Prep: Need, No & Nice

Daily Post

A helpful tool I use to wade through work on my to do list is to remember need, no, nice.

  • Need describes all the things that I have to do. This could be time-critical tasks or long-term slow progress work.
  • No is for all of the things on my work radar that are not going to be done, at least for now. It could be an idea I have that isn’t right yet (and might not be right ever).
  • Nice is for the things that sit somewhere in-between. Not essential or needed but also with value to be done if I have time.

These three words help me categorise all the tasks and projects I have on my mind.

 

There are lots of ideas of what good viva prep could include and also lots of thoughts of things that would help. How do you work through what you have to do?

  • Start your prep by identifying the things you need: not just what someone tells you, but what you really feel you have to get done.
  • Figure out the things that are a no for you: maybe you don’t need to read up on your examiners because you know about them already.
  • Decide if anything would be nice: a cool idea for viva prep is to give a seminar to friends and take questions, but it’s not essential prep.

When you set out to plan your prep and have a lot of options you can use these three words to cut your work down and into an appropriate shape for the weeks ahead.

 

PS: I’ll explore how to plan viva prep at my Viva Survivor webinar on Wednesday 3rd December 2025. I’ve shared Viva Survivor more than 420 times: it is my comprehensive live session on getting ready for the viva, attendees get access to a catch-up recording and some of my publications too! Check the link for full details of what to expect from the live webinar.

Nathan

You Can Take Action

Daily Post

I feel like I’ve written this a lot in recent posts – and over the years of writing Viva Survivors! – but it’s worth repeating: when you encounter a worry or a problem as you get ready for your viva there is no situation where you can’t take action to improve things.

Your action might be:

  • To stop and think;
  • To come up with a plan;
  • To ask a friend for help;
  • To read the regulations for thesis examination at your institution;
  • To talk to your supervisor;
  • To read something and think.

Or more generally to just do something. You could feel worried, stressed or unsure – but you can still do something.

Remember that you always have the option to try something to make your viva prep situation better. If you’re worried or stressed a good first step might be to ask for help, particularly if you’re feeling unsure what to do.

Work past worry.

 

PS: for more encouragement take a look at the eighth issue of Viva Survivors Select. I released The Survival Issue yesterday which contains twenty posts from the Viva Survivors archive plus new writing to help with making it to the end and through the PhD journey. Take a look!

Nathan

Assumptions

Daily Post

Whatever you assume about your viva will have an impact on how you prepare for it, how you feel as you get ready and what you do as you start talking to your examiners.

Before you get to that point it makes sense to check regulations, viva stories and general expectations: do your assumptions line up with what the rules and other people say about the viva?

 

If you assume that your viva is going to be hard questions and unfair criticism then you’re going to make a tough time for yourself.

If you assume that your examiners are there to talk and listen and prompt a discussion then you might still be nervous but you’ll be able to prepare yourself.

And if, after all the work you’ve invested, you assume that you’re ready then you will approach the viva with a more positive outlook than if you assume you are somehow lucky or just getting by.

 

PS:  very quick announcement that The Survival Issue of Viva Survivors Select is out tomorrow! This is the final issue of this volume and joins seven other collections I’ve curated and released over the last seven months or so. Do look out for an announcement email tomorrow 🙂

Nathan

Crossing A Line

Daily Post

Some PhD candidates worry about getting something wrong at the viva because they don’t know what they need to do to get it right.

Does that resonate? If it does you don’t have to do a lot to get rid of the worry.

  • Read the regulations for your institution;
  • Talk with friends and colleagues about their viva experiences;
  • Ask your supervisors if your department has any particular viva practices.

These three sources are enough to figure out a useful sense of what to expect. You’ll see that there are no hidden red lines, no secrets and no terrible traps waiting ahead.

You’re unlikely to cross a line. Get things right at your viva by learning that there’s nothing really you can get wrong.

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