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Nathan

Vivas and Prime Numbers

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“Anything could happen!”

I’ve heard academics and PhD candidates say that about the viva, and while there’s a sort of truth to it, the statement also misses a lot. Anything could happen, but it rarely does. The vast majority of vivas are completed within three hours, most vivas have two examiners and there are common opening questions. While there’s no way you could expect a particular script of questions they might ask you, you can reasonably expect certain areas to come up.

Going back to my pure maths days, the topic of viva expectations reminds of prime numbers. There are infinite prime numbers – 2, 3, 5, 7, 11 and so on – numbers which can only be divided by themselves and 1 without leaving a remainder. There is no end to them. And yet there are many, many ways we can categorise them.

There’s one even prime, and infinitely many odd ones. There are primes that form little pairs, twin primes, which are separated by adding 2, for example, 3 and 5, 5 and 7, 11 and 13. There are primes like 23 and 37 that aren’t twin and don’t form little couples. After the number 2 we could group together all primes according to whether or not they are 1 modulo 4 or 3 modulo 4 – but really we’re getting away from the topic here!

There are infinitely many primes, they go on for ever – and yet there are many useful ways we can group them, categorise them and learn from them.

There are countless different vivas, anything could happen, but also patterns and structures that we can see and even expect.

Again: anything could happen in the viva, but “anything” very rarely does. It’s far more useful for you to find out about common expectations and learn from them than to try and prepare for infinite possibilities.

Nathan

Closing Moments

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How will your viva end?

Will your examiners simply say something like, “I think we’ve talked enough,” and then request a short break?

Will they ask you if you have any questions or anything else you want to say?

It’s hard to say how your viva will finish. It won’t hurt you to reflect on what you might say in advance.

A question about developing your work further could make for a short, interesting conversation. Asking about publications or funding opportunities might help you gain the benefit of your examiners’ experience. Or coming back to a point from your research could help you to say one more good thing about what you’ve done.

Reflect a little in advance, then see what happens on the day. The closing moments won’t make or break anything, but they could help you to feel a little bit better or gain a little more knowledge.

Nathan

Tomorrow’s Story

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Tomorrow is the best time to start building your confidence for the viva – assuming you didn’t do it yesterday and you’re busy today.

Tomorrow, take five minutes to write down a few thoughts about something that you’ve achieved in the course of your PhD. Capture a result, an idea, a paper, a chapter, a skill that you’ve developed, a knowledge-based competence – something you’ve done that has helped you get to where you are.

And keep going every day. Five minutes of reflection every day, building up a short story collection of the last few years. A collection of little story fragments that point to you being good at what you do. A story that, when combined, shows you can be confident you’re ready for your viva.

Nathan

Keep It Simple

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Thinking about how to prepare for the viva stresses some candidates. There can be lots of factors at play.

I have work, I have kids, I have so little time, I’m tired, I’m stressed, what to do, when to start, where to focus and so on.

I can’t answer every possible concern, but my advice generally comes down to four short thoughts:

  1. Keep it simple.
  2. Set regular prep times.
  3. Complete small tasks.
  4. Ask for support.

Engaging with prep doesn’t need to be much harder than that.

To date, there’s probably over 101 posts on this blog about viva prep. I’ve explored this topic a lot, but you don’t need to do 101 things to be ready for your viva.

Keep it simple. Cut through stress and worry with something as simple as a to-do list. Keep taking small steps to get to where you need to be.

Nathan

The 200 Reference Problem

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“I have 200 references in my bibliography! How can I remember all those details?! What do I do if my examiners ask me about one of them??”

The 200 reference problem is not actually a problem. It’s a not-irrational worry linked to being perfect, the desire to know everything and be ultra-competent, but isn’t something to invest attention in.

How can I remember all those details? You can’t. Don’t try. Look for the most important references and do your best with those. It’s likely you’ve highlighted them in your thesis, but creating an edited bibliography could help you too.

What if my examiners ask me about one of these references? If your examiners ask you about one you can’t remember off-hand, you can check your thesis. It’s there with you in the viva to support your discussion. So check it. But it’s far more likely that your examiners will ask you about something important, something you know, than a random paper buried deep in the seventeenth page of your bibliography.

The 200 reference problem isn’t a problem. It’s a nudge to look again at your references and figure out how to use them as part of getting ready.

Nathan

X-Ray Your Thesis

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You need to read your thesis to get ready for the viva. Then look deeply. Really look. What do you see?

  • What are the structures of your chapters like?
  • How do your chapters connect?
  • What are the key points in your work? (and why?)
  • Where are the safe parts you are absolutely sure of?
  • Where are the tricky parts you need to read again?

Scanning your work isn’t sufficient to be ready for your viva, but it helps you get there. Looking at and analysing the larger “bones” of your thesis is better than trying to commit hundreds of pages of words to memory.

Nathan

Play Time

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I’ve shared a few posts for being playful in getting ready for the viva before, but nothing so comprehensive as Professor Pat Thomson’s post from March on “ten playful viva preparation activities“.

I love all of her suggestions, but the first particularly resonates given my general philosophy on getting ready for the viva – and my recent reflections on the end of my PhD:

Write a love letter to your Doctor self, listing all of the expert doctoral qualities and competencies they have. Write a break up letter to your student self, saying why you lived with them for so long, and explaining why it’s now time to leave them behind.

It would have been really helpful if Past-Nathan had taken some time to write a few letters to myself. I think I’d have felt better about how I was finishing. Working through that transition as I was coming to the end might have felt a little smoother.

There’s lots of great ideas in Pat’s list, so do go and check it out. Consider: how else could you play your way to prepared?

Nathan

Level Up

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In some video games you defeat monsters or complete tasks and gain quantifiable experience that helps you to level up: over time you gain points to invest in making your character better. Stronger abilities, new equipment and perhaps completely new skillsets.

A webinar participant suggested to me that this was like the viva:

After much toil and many obstacles you have reached the hallowed halls of your destiny. You are the mighty wielder of the legendary Sword of Thesis! Only you can overcome the Terrifying Twin Dragons of Examination!!

For obvious reasons, I like the idea, but also I think the reality of the PhD presents something different to this fantasy viva micro-world. By the time you reach the viva, you – the brave hero – have levelled up so many times, and overcome so many great challenges, that the difficulties you face in the viva are not so terrible.

The Twin Dragons really aren’t so scary at all actually.

Questions can be managed. Fears can be resolved. You’re no longer a mere mortal.

There’s challenge for you in the viva, but your experience helps you overcome it.

Nathan

Almost There

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You’re so close at submission. It may not feel it, but the vast, vast majority of the work you need for your doctorate is done. Months upon months of hard work and you’re almost there…

…but you’re not yet. Yet. You will be soon.

Hold on.

Rest, ready yourself, read your thesis, rehearse for the viva, do whatever you need to so you feel good for this big, important day. You’re almost there, and it won’t take much to get there, or take much while you’re there.

Your viva isn’t the most important thing that you’ll ever do. Your viva isn’t the peak of your PhD.

Nathan

Clearing Up The Vague

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You have to read your thesis to get ready for your viva, even if you don’t want to. You thought about it, you wrote it, you rewrote it and now you’re done-

-except you read it and you think you could still do some more.

A paragraph that meanders. A section that is too long, or perhaps too awkward. The odd typo or twenty is fine, but what about the places that proofreading forgot? What about the vague sections that sort-of-but-don’t-quite make the point you wanted?

You grin and bear them in the viva, if they’re brought up. You explain what you meant, and what you would do to make it better – not perfect, never perfect – but better in your corrected thesis.

And when you see them during your prep you think, you write and maybe rewrite again, leaving a note in your margins or on a Post-it, clearing up the vague that you left in. They don’t disqualify you or your thesis at all.

There’s just that little bit more to do, then you really will be done.

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