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Nathan

Viva Responsibilities

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Supervisors have a responsibility to help their candidates understand what’s expected of them.

Universities have a responsibility to ensure candidates have access to regulations and support.

Independent chairs for the viva have a responsibility to set the tone, observe and help steer things if needed.

Examiners have a responsibility to do their homework, prepare well, ask relevant questions and facilitate the discussion appropriately.

And finally candidates have a responsibility to do what they can, after submitting a good thesis, to arrive in as good a place as they can for their viva. They have a responsibility to respond to questions, to think, to be clear, to engage.

 

It may seem like you, as a candidate, have a lot to do; given everything else you have already done, it doesn’t take much to live up to your responsibilities when you get to the viva.

Nathan

Doing To Feeling

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If you feel worried about your viva, what do you need to do to lessen the worry?

If you feel nervous about questions from your examiners, what do you need to do to feel better?

If you feel unsure about the process, what do you need to do to find out more?

If you feel happy thinking about the end of your PhD, what do you need to do to get there in a good state?

If you feel confident about meeting your examiners, what do you need to do to keep hold of that feeling?

 

It’s that simple when it comes to the viva and how you feel. The difficulty is that everyone is different, both as people and researchers: the next step for one person to lessen their worries might not be helpful to another.

How do you feel about your viva? What could you do to feel better? What will you do to feel better?

Nathan

Start With Reading

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There’s a lot you can do during viva prep. Some tasks and activities are essential, some are optional and some depend on how you feel about your work (or the specifics of the work itself).

Always start the period of viva prep by reading your thesis. Whatever plan you make, make reading your thesis the starting point.

Don’t rush, don’t skip or skim, but take some time to refresh your memory before you do all of the other things.

Making notes, annotating margins and reading one more paper can all wait until after you have made the solid foundations of reading your thesis.

Nathan

Pick A Number

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Pick a number between 1 and 10 to describe how happy you feel about your upcoming viva, 10 being very happy and 1 being not happy at all.

Whatever the number, whatever the reason, what can you do to make that number higher?

  • What can you do today?
  • What information do you need?
  • Who could you ask to help you?
  • What tasks can you schedule or do?

Even if you feel very happy, a 10 today, just reflect on whether or not there are gaps in your viva knowledge. Information, expectations, regulations, prep ideas and more are not hard to find if you really want to know.

However you feel about your viva, you can take steps to feel better.

Nathan

Unrushed

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While viva prep depends a lot on the person, their research and their circumstances, there is one quality I wish for every PhD candidate’s prep: I would want it to be unrushed.

No rush. Pressure can be useful as a motivator for some but I don’t think stress is ever helpful.

Plan your prep. Give yourself the luxury of time and space to do the work well.

No rush, no hurry, less stress, less fuss.

Nathan

What’s The Connection?

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It helps to read your examiners’ recent publications before your viva.

Look for connections between your work and your examiners’ research. Look for similar terminology. Check to see if they have done work like you or something a little different.

Finding connections doesn’t make the viva easier: it gives you reference points you can connect to and ideas of how you can relate your research in the discussion.

Noticing that there aren’t many or any connections doesn’t make the viva harder: you may have to explain some ideas in more depth, but also trust your examiners to do their homework to be ready to talk with you.

It’s not good or bad to find connections, it’s not good or bad to realise there are few or none. Checking, noticing and reflecting helps you to think through what you need to do next in your prep and in the viva.

Nathan

You Can’t Do Everything

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The list of things you can potentially do to prepare for your viva is very, very long. If you combed through the posts on this site for unique ideas then you’d find far too many for someone to do.

Viva prep ideas give options for how someone can do the work. For example, there are lots of useful summaries you could write to gather your thoughts but you don’t have to write all of them to be ready.

When it’s time to think about viva prep, take a moment to really consider how much time you have. Reflect on what you need to do and how you can do it best for yourself.

I don’t have a list of criteria for you but here are some helpful questions to consider:

  • When will you do the work?
  • What do you feel confident about?
  • What do you feel less sure of?
  • What tasks are necessary?

Remember to ask others about what they did and what they found helpful. That doesn’t mean you should just copy their approach, but you might find ideas you can adapt rather than start from a blank page for your own prep.

Nathan

Best of Viva Survivors 2023: Viva Prep

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It’s that time of year where I share my favourite posts from the last twelve months!

I always like to start my round-up posts with viva preparation as it’s a big part of the viva experience. The viva itself is done in a few hours, but preparation is often spread out over several weeks. Here are five helpful posts:

Look for more viva prep posts on the site, and look out for tomorrow’s post with my favourite reflections from this year.

Nathan

Fun & Games

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The PhD journey is long, often tough and regularly features setback, failure and difficulty on the path to making a significant, original contribution.

It can also be very enjoyable, and while you can’t simply put all the obstacles to one side, it might help you more as you get ready for your viva to remember the good times.

  • When did you have fun while doing your research? What made those experiences fun?
  • Have you been able to challenge yourself to get better at something?
  • Was it possible to share your growth or your research with others?

Reflecting on how you overcame something can be powerful, but it’s also helps to remember those moments where you simply shone, where you enjoyed doing something that mattered.

Nathan

SWOT Your Prep

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SWOT is an acronym for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats. It’s often used to help assess a situation where you need to come up with a plan. By exploring each area you have all the information you need to plan your next steps.

So why not apply it to viva prep?

  • Strengths: What do you have taken care of? What resources do you have? What can help you as you prepare?
  • Weaknesses: What are you currently lacking? What are you not looking forward to? What are you less sure of?
  • Opportunities: Who can help your preparation if you ask for support? Are there events in the near future that could help you get ready?
  • Threats: Are there things that might get in the way of your preparation? What obstacles do you have to avoid as you prepare?

Taken together, all of these explore the environment you have for getting ready – and can help you figure out the environment you need for viva prep.

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