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Nathan

Uncertainty & The Viva

Daily Post

There’s a tension between the structure of regulations and expectations versus the unique circumstances of your thesis and situation.

Your viva will be unique but not a total unknown. You can have confidence that the process is set up well and also be aware of what you won’t know until the day.

Uncertainty is the tension you feel. Uncertainty is probably the discomfort you feel.

You can’t get rid of it completely but you can ask questions, check things out, ask for help and get yourself ready.

Don’t let uncertainty drive you to worry. Acknowledge the tension and do anything you can to get certainty for the things you can be certain about. Then prepare for the things that will remain uncertain until viva time.

 

PS: you, your research, your thesis and your viva are all unique. Your upcoming viva experience is a deeply personal thing in how you feel, how you approach getting ready and how you engage on the day. There’s a lot to think about and if you’re looking for some help then please take a look at the latest issue of my viva help zine, Viva Survivors Select 13, The Personal Issue. I hope it helps.

Nathan

Viva Care Package

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Imagine that you were to receive a care package in the month before your viva. What would you hope to find inside?

  • Would you like some cool stationery to make your prep a little more fun?
  • Would a selection of calming teabags or focussing coffees be helpful?
  • How about a lovely notebook to help your thesis reflections and summaries?
  • Or would you like a book all about how to prepare well?
  • Would you want a happy pin badge to wear to your viva?

Maybe you’d even like some vouchers you could trade with your friends: an hour of viva rehearsal over coffee perhaps?

 

Now, much as I would like to, I am not setting up a viva care package side hustle!

(not yet anyway!)

Before your viva think about what you need to help you get ready. What could you provide for yourself to help boost your preparations? What could you ask other people to help you with?

And, if you’re in a position to do so, what could you offer to others to help with their viva preparations?

 

PS: What else do you need to help you be ready for your viva? Maybe you need to check out Viva Survivors Select 13, The Personal Issue. The latest issue of my viva help zine explores all the ways in which the viva is a really personal thing for a candidate. Please take a look and pass on the news if you know someone who might need some help.

Nathan

Top Of The Page

Daily Post

Annotating your thesis is a useful way to make a more valuable resource for your viva and spend some productive time thinking about your work in preparation.

There are lots of things you could do – add bookmarks, underline words, highlight sections – but here are five possibilities for the top of a page:

  • Write a ten-word-or-less summary of the page’s contents.
  • Use keywords to give a quick overview of the page’s highlights.
  • List one key reference for the page.
  • Add a possible question that could be asked about the contents.
  • Write “You can do it” as a reminder that you’re going to succeed.

What else could you add to the top of each page in your thesis to help you out? And what other annotations are you considering for your thesis?

 

PS: if you are looking for more viva help then you have to check out Viva Survivors Select 13, The Personal Issue. The latest issue of my viva help zine came out yesterday and is packed with advice and help on all the ways the viva is personal to the candidate – just like making your annotation right for you!

Nathan

Curated Confidence

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Confidence follows from honestly reflecting on your work and achievements. You have to explore and remind yourself that you have done well. To build confidence for your viva you can look back over your PhD and see the effort you’ve invested and the progress you’ve made and hopefully feel good.

It won’t help to hold on to everything though.

You learn from your mistakes and setbacks, but don’t bring those in to the gallery of recollections. Like a curator, pick and choose which things to focus on. You can find confidence by focussing on what has helped you the most or the work where you notice the most growth.

You don’t need to try to remember everything to find confidence for your viva. Explore your PhD journey, then arrange a gallery of the best bits. Curate your confidence for your viva.

Nathan

Non-PhD Vivas

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A PhD isn’t the only research degree that has a viva.

The vast majority of PGRs I meet at webinars are PhD candidates but in the last six months I’ve also shared viva help with MPhil candidates, MScR candidates – and a couple of MRes researchers too.

Over the years I’ve also had professional doctorate candidates reach out to me, EngD researchers and more. There are many flavours of PGR that have a viva!

 

A natural question for non-PhD PGRs is “how will my viva be different?”

Let’s start with how they’re the same:

  • Vivas for research degrees have the same purpose. Your examiners are exploring the contribution you’ve made and how capable you are as a researcher.
  • Vivas for research degrees require the same kind of preparation. You need to take time to read, to think and to rehearse – and you need a plan that works well for you.
  • Vivas for research degrees follow regulations. There are ways of doing things and you can learn all about it in advance.
  • Vivas for research degrees always have a little of the unknown about them. There are expectations but you can’t know everything until you’re in your viva.

To explore the differences it’s good to start with regulations for your university. See what they say about your institutional expectations and requirements. Then talk with other people who have been in your situation to get a sense of what that was like.

Viva prep is the same kind of work whether you have done a PhD or, say, an MPhil. You’ll probably do less prep work for an MPhil viva because there is typically less material to read and prepare for. The kind of work is the same and the importance is the same but it might not take as long. The same could be true for your viva too.

 

Whatever your research degree, know that your examiners are prepared. Know that the purpose is the same. Know that you can be prepared and remember that you did the work.

It helps to explore expectations for your viva, whatever your degree, but it helps more to know that you are ready for it whatever happens.

Nathan

Stop The Research!

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At some point you have to say no more.

You’ve got what you’ve got. You need to write it up in your thesis in a way that makes sense for your examiners and others.

You have to believe that it’s enough.

You have to stop at some point but make sure that when you do you leave things in a good place. Make notes in case there’s anything you have to come back to or you want to return to at some point.

At some point you have to stop the research. Make sure you stop well.

Nathan

In The Mix

Daily Post

I often ask webinar participants how they’re feeling about their viva. I use a poll which allows people to pick one option or write in how they’re feeling.

  • Some say they’re excited. They’re quite rare!
  • A lot of people say they feel uncertain or unprepared.
  • The majority of people say they feel nervous, anxious or worried about their viva – and most of those people say nervous.
  • Also: nervous is really common whether someone is days, weeks or months away from their viva.

I’ve been thinking lately that I need to update the poll to allow people to give more than one response. Candidates can feel a mix of things all at once: they feel excited and nervous. They might feel like they’re unprepared right now but confident they’ll be OK in the end.

What’s your mix of emotions like? If you feel a little negative then maybe you have to consider how to change that state. If you feel something positive then think about how to hold on to it and maybe build on it. And if you are feeling a mix then think about how the positive can offset the negative.

What steps could help you to feel better about your mix of viva feelings?

Nathan

Problems & Situations

Daily Post

This is another post inspired by Seth Godin. He’s inspired me a lot over the years; it was his example of publishing a daily blog that encouraged me to do the same with Viva Survivors.

 

If you have a Problem then you can find a Solution. A Problem is a thing that can be resolved in some way. There might already be a Solution or several of them. It might be that you have to find a Solution.

However you come to it, a Problem has a Solution.

If there’s no Solution then you have a Situation: that doesn’t make it less real but rather than resolve it like a Problem you have to find a way to endure it. Otherwise you’ll just obsess and stress.

 

A viva-related Problem is something like your supervisor not being available to give you a mock viva. That’s a Problem: you could maybe arrange it at a different time, you could ask your second supervisor instead or you could have some other kind of practice. There are Solutions.

A viva-related Situation could be not having your first choice for your external examiner. That’s not a Problem because you can’t change it. It’s a Situation and you have to find a way to feel better about it. You could talk more with your supervisor, read up on your external examiner or maybe do some special prep – it won’t solve things but you’ll be better for your efforts.

There are lots of viva-related feelings and circumstances that give rise to Problems and Situations. Whatever the circumstances make sure you correctly identify what you’re dealing with and then work towards resolving it however you can.

Whether you have a viva-related Problem or a viva-related Situation you have work to do.

Nathan

If You Must Know

Daily Post

There are lots of tools and processes you can use to help your memory at the viva:

  • You can add bookmarks or sticky notes to your thesis;
  • You can annotate the margins;
  • You can create summaries to help you think ahead of time;
  • You can read your thesis beforehand to refresh your memory;
  • You can read your thesis in the viva to check details;
  • You can rehearse for your viva to give you more confidence.

There are many practical things you can do to help your memory – but don’t forget that you don’t need to remember everything. The viva is not a test of photographic recall of thousands of hours of work, hundreds of papers and the many, many pages of your thesis.

You need to know your stuff but you don’t need to know everything. You can take care of small worries with simple viva prep.

Nathan

A New Opportunity

Daily Post

The viva is a new opportunity to talk about your research and your thesis. It’s similar to other times during your PhD but also unlike anything else you will have faced so far.

  • It’s similar to past discussions, meetings and presentations – and on a topic that you know a lot about – so your past experiences can really help you rise to the challenge.
  • It’s different to other challenges you’ve overcome so a little preparation will be necessary to be ready for the challenge you’ll face.

The viva is a new opportunity so it’s to be expected that you’ll feel a mix of nervous and confident about what might happen. Draw on your past experience and take time to make yourself ready for the challenge.

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