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Tag: ask for help

Nathan

Nasty

Daily Post

Do you think your examiners would ask a harsh question at the viva? If you think yes, why?

If you think yes, what do you think it would be about?

And if you think yes, how likely do you really think it is?

 

I don’t think it’s common for candidates to worry about particularly nasty questions, but for candidates who do the worry is particularly nasty. If it’s on your mind, don’t wait to find out if your fears will come true at the viva.

Talk to someone. Talk to your supervisor. Review anything and everything related to the topic of the question.

Questions at the viva shouldn’t be nasty but if you’re worried, don’t wait: do something to help yourself.

Nathan

Sudden Problems

Daily Post

A week before submission you find that a section in your thesis is missing something important. What do you do?

Two weeks before your viva you learn that one of your examiners is cancelling. What do you do?

The day before your viva you find a big mistake in your thesis – you know what the correction is but you can’t change it now. What do you do?

Thirty minutes into your viva you are shaken by a question you’ve never considered before. What do you do?

 

These situations aren’t equivalent to each other. Impact and context matters. In some cases you can ask for help directly: for example, if your examiner cancelled that could be very stressful but it wouldn’t be your situation to resolve alone.

More than anything for any sudden problems the best advice I could offer is to stop: pause and breathe and get past any panic.

What can you do? Before you decide what you will do, think about what your options might be. Can you ask for help from someone? Have you faced a situation like this before? As stressful as it might immediately feel what is the real impact?

What can you do – then what will you do?

You have to do something but you don’t have to do the first thing that comes to mind when you’re experiencing the stress of a sudden problem. Pause and breathe then consider your options.

Nathan

Just In Case

Daily Post

Around submission time, if not before, look for someone who can help you if something goes wrong. You’re probably looking for someone at your doctoral college or graduate school, or possibly even your departmental or faculty director of postgraduate studies.

You want the name and contact details of who to turn to in case:

  • One of your examiners cancels;
  • You are ill and need to postpone;
  • You require accessibility accommodations that aren’t being met;
  • You need to check some point of the regulations;
  • Something truly unexpected happens!

Get the details of an emergency contact just in case. You might not need them. I hope you won’t. But you will be glad you have them if something goes wrong.

Nathan

Asking About Examiners

Daily Post

When your supervisors have decided on your examiners make sure to have a conversation about those choices, even if you’ve already asked them before. Make sure, for your own peace of mind, that you explore the following:

  • Why do your supervisors think that these two people are the right choice?
  • How can you prepare for meeting them in the viva?
  • What, in particular, do your supervisors think these two examiners might ask about?

Exploring that last question in general might be too big a problem to consider, but with two individuals, known to your supervisors – who know about your work – there might be some specific questions to unpick as part of your viva preparations.

Nathan

On Acknowledgements

Daily Post

Someone mentioned by name on your acknowledgements page can probably help you prepare for your viva in some way.

Your supervisors, your peers and colleagues, your friends and family – there’s a wealth of practical support they can give and it’s good to ask for it. You attend the viva by yourself, but you don’t have to feel alone as you prepare. Ask in advance and get the help you need.

Anyone on your acknowledgements page deserves to be thanked in-person as well. Take the time to tell them what they’ve done to help you get as far as you have.

Nathan

Notice Of Submission

Daily Post

The notice of submission is more than a form with some dates on it. You’re saying I’m almost done.

Whatever work is still needed, now you really have a deadline. Now might be the time to start thinking about viva preparation and what you need from other people. If the selection of your examiners has not been decided then now is the time to talk to your supervisors and see what they are thinking.

And now is definitely the time, if you haven’t done so already, to read the regulations for your institution. Don’t assume you have a good handle on things because your friends and colleagues have told you bits and pieces: read the regulations, be sure for yourself and identify someone you can contact if you have any questions or if any problems occur between submission and the viva.

Start making lists when you hand in your notice of submission. What do you need? Who do you need it from? When do you need it?

And what’s your next step?

 

PS: one possible next step would be to check out the details for Viva Survivor, my upcoming live webinar on Wednesday 25th June. I’m regularly invited to deliver this session with PhD candidates all around the UK, but this is only the third time I’ve opened up registration like this. A 3-hour live webinar, catch-up recording and follow-up materials all about the viva, viva prep and getting ready. Do take a look and see if it might help you!

Nathan

Viva Survivor, June 25th 2025

Event, Update

Every day I share helpful thoughts through the Viva Survivors blog.

There’s a lot of help in the archives but it could take a long time to put together a full picture of what to expect and what to do by reading the last 2900 posts!

If you want a good idea of what to expect, what to do, how to get ready and how to build confidence then take a look at my upcoming Viva Survivor session on Wednesday 25th June 2025. For three hours I’ll be sharing what vivas are really like, what effective viva preparation can look like and how someone can engage well with their examiners.

For three hours on Zoom you’ll get direct help from me through a live session that I have shared with over 8000 PhD candidates. I have a full plan, plenty of time to take questions from attendees, great follow-up resources and a catch-up recording in case anyone can’t stay for the whole time. I love sharing this session – so much so that I’ve delivered it over 400 times for universities and doctoral training groups all over the UK!

“The session last week was so, so helpful. I really appreciated the practical guidance, which made so much sense and feels do-able and will help my confidence going into the viva. It helped that your manner in the training was calm, clear, concise, and full of empathy and understanding.” – UCLAN PhD Candidate, December 2024

I hope that you’ll take a look at the registration page if you are looking for viva help. There are more details there of what to expect from the session. If you have any questions please get in touch – and do please pass on information of the session to anyone who might be looking for viva help.

One last time: Viva Survivor session on Wednesday 25th June 2025!

Thanks for reading 🙂

Nathan

Your Supporters

Daily Post

You’re not alone as you get ready for your viva. There are many people around you who can make a practical difference to your preparations but you might need to ask them for their support.

Don’t leave it too late. A lot of viva prep is work you’ll do by yourself. You probably don’t need a lot from others, but that makes the practical support you do need all the more valuable. It’s important to get it right.

Beyond your supervisor, who are your supporters? What do you need from them? When will you ask for their help?

Nathan

72 Hours To Go

Event, Update

In three days I’m sharing my Viva Survivor webinar live on Zoom. I do this regularly for universities and doctoral training programmes around the UK, but this is only the second time that I’m offering the session with an open registration. After the first time I got some lovely feedback in the days after:

“The session last week was so, so helpful. I really appreciated the practical guidance, which made so much sense and feels do-able and will help my confidence going into the viva. It helped that your manner in the training was calm, clear, concise, and full of empathy and understanding.”

UCLAN PhD Candidate, December 2024

 

Viva Survivor is my attempt to help PhD candidates feel like they are going to be OK at the viva. Afterwards a person will know:

  • what to expect – and what to focus on;
  • what they need to do – and know that they can do it;
  • how to engage at the viva – and know they will do it!
  • how to build confidence – and how to get started on that.

A 3-hour live webinar, a full and helpful session, plenty of time for questions, follow-up resources and a catch-up recording in case you can’t stay for the full time.

Registration for Viva Survivor is open for the next few days and the session starts at 10am, this Thursday 27th March. If you’re looking for help please do take a look – and if you know someone who might be interested do please pass this news on.

Thank you for reading 🙂

Nathan

These Interesting Times

Daily Post

On March 16th 2020 I wrote Interesting Times, an extra post that marked when things started to change in the UK because of the pandemic. Things had been changing for weeks but lots of little changes became very big, very quickly.

And then things kept changing.

And changing.

And changing…

These five years have been a lot, right? That’s not to say that life is all doom and gloom. There’s good news everywhere. It can be hard to see sometimes, but there are people who want to help.

 

As I think back, I think about how my life was changing then and how it has changed since. At the time I thought, I’ll be doing webinars for a few months probably, and that became five years and forevermore by the looks of it!

Outside of my own situation I think about the people I meet at webinars now and the people I imagine who are reading these words.

I think of them and you, dear reader, because you have lived through interesting, difficult and upsetting times. You have been challenged not only by the work you do but by the conditions you do that work in. You have managed to keep going on your PhD journey in very difficult circumstances.

When your viva comes you’ll have to prepare but you can be sure that the challenge you’ll find there will be smaller than the challenge of what you’ve been through in the 2020s so far.

Dear reader, in short, keep going. Help others. Work to make things better if you’re able.

And thank you for reading.

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