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Nathan

Final July Webinar!

Event, Update

“Hi Nathan, Thanks for your time and for setting these up – often it helps to hear about [the viva] from someone not in the department/same uni to get a broader perspective. I felt so assured when you said you’re more likely not to submit a final thesis than you are to fail a viva – so in a way that will make me have a much better summer knowing the hard slog is actually 90% over. I liked the structure of the session as well as your willingness to answer questions and interact with us.”

– PhD Candidate, University of Leeds

These very kind words from a recent attendee at a 7 Reasons You’ll Pass Your Viva session were a big boost. It felt like they got exactly what I’m offering with these sessions. It was so nice to receive this feedback 🙂

 

My final viva help webinar before I take a summer break is this Wednesday morning. Bizarrely it will also be the 100th time that I’ve delivered the session.

I say bizarre because it had such strange beginnings: 7 Reasons You’ll Pass Your Viva was something small I did to try something new during the first COVID lockdowns in April 2020. I was only going to run it once, maybe twice, but it has grown to be one of my most-requested webinar sessions.

I really love sharing this 1-hour confidence-boost for the viva and seeing how it resonates with PhD candidates. The session is designed to be a confidence boost, concise and valuable, with plenty of time for questions too.

Tickets for my final 7 Reasons You’ll Pass Your Viva session of the summer are available now. If you’re looking for viva help then I hope you can join me on Zoom this week:

Registration for this live 7 Reasons You’ll Pass Your Viva webinar is £20 and includes a follow-up email, a pdf copy of my 101 Steps To A Great Viva guide and access to a catch-up recording of the session.

Thanks for reading! I hope to see you there – and if you think this might help a friend with their viva prep or viva nerves then please share this message with them.

All the best,

Nathan

Nathan

July 2026 Webinars

Event, Update

I have three 1-hour viva help webinars coming up in July! Today seemed like a good opportunity to send out a reminder.

7 Reasons You’ll Pass Your Viva has grown to be one of my most-requested webinar sessions since I first it delivered during COVID lockdowns in 2020. I love sharing this confidence-boost for the viva and seeing how it resonates with PhD candidates.

I’ve offered viva help for more than fifteen years to over 10,000 PGRs and shared 7 Reasons You’ll Pass Your Viva almost 100 times. The session is designed to be a confidence boost, concise and valuable, with plenty of time for questions too.

I’m offering 7 Reasons You’ll Pass Your Viva at a range of times in July – including my first weekend session this coming Saturday morning! Attendees for all sessions will have access to a catch-up recording to review for four weeks afterwards. They’ll also receive a follow-up email and resources including my pdf guide 101 Steps To A Great Viva.

Tickets for my July 7 Reasons You’ll Pass Your Viva sessions are available now. If you’re looking for viva help then I hope you can join me on Zoom on one of these dates:

One more time: registration for these live 7 Reasons You’ll Pass Your Viva webinars is £20 and includes a follow-up email, a pdf copy of my 101 Steps To A Great Viva guide and access to a catch-up recording of the session.

Thank you for reading. I hope you can join me for one of these sessions – and if this news might be helpful to a friend with their upcoming viva then please share this message.

All the best,

Nathan

Nathan

Seven Reasons

Event, Update

I posted recently that I have five independent viva help webinars happening soon so this is a little reminder post!

7 Reasons You’ll Pass Your Viva has grown to be one of my most-requested webinar sessions since I first delivered it during COVID lockdowns in 2020. I love sharing this 1-hour viva confidence-boost and seeing how it resonates with PhD candidates.

Why might this session be worth your time? Here are seven reasons to attend 7 Reasons You’ll Pass Your Viva!

  1. I’ve offered viva help for more than fifteen years to over 10,000 PGRs so I’m not new to the topic.
  2. I’ve shared 7 Reasons You’ll Pass Your Viva almost 100 times – in fact the final session in July will be number 100.
  3. The session is designed to be a confidence boost, concise and valuable, with plenty of time for questions too.
  4. “Thanks, really helpful session that’s helped me feel confident about the viva!” – one of the many pieces of feedback I’ve received about the session.
  5. I’m offering 7 Reasons You’ll Pass Your Viva at a range of times in June and July – including evening and weekend sessions.
  6. Attendees will have access to a catch-up recording to review for four weeks afterwards…
  7. …and receive a follow-up email and resources including my pdf guide 101 Steps To A Great Viva.

Tickets for all 7 Reasons You’ll Pass Your Viva sessions are available now. If you’re looking for viva help then I hope you can join me on Zoom on one of these dates:

One more time: registration for these live 7 Reasons You’ll Pass Your Viva webinars is £20 and includes a follow-up email, a pdf copy of my 101 Steps To A Great Viva guide and access to a catch-up recording of the session.

Thank you for reading. I hope you can join me for one of these sessions – and if this news might help a friend with their upcoming viva then please share this message.

All the best,

Nathan

Nathan

Coming Soon!

Event, Update

Today I’m sharing a few upcoming events and resources – a few save the dates if you like! 🙂

 

Viva Survivors Select

First, the next few issues of my curated zine series, Viva Survivors Select, will be released on the following dates:

  • Wednesday 13th May 2026, The Submission Issue – next week!
  • Wednesday 10th June 2026, The Examiners Issue
  • Wednesday 15th July 2026, The Contribution Issue

If you’ve not seen it, The 2025 Issue is already out and there will be more issues from August through to November. I’ll share more about The Submission Issue when it releases next week. For now, here’s the cover:

Cover image for Viva Survivors Select 10, The Submission Issue, May 2026. Image shows a red game-piece looking down a dark hallway to light at the end of the tunnel

I’m really pleased with how the cover worked out. I’m still finding my way as an artist and love having this opportunity to make so much art regularly.

 

7 Reasons You’ll Pass Your Viva

I have five independent viva help webinars happening in the not-too-distant future!

I regularly deliver Viva Survivor and 7 Reasons You’ll Pass Your Viva sessions for universities and programmes around the UK. However, not every university engages me to deliver sessions – and sometimes even when they do there’s limited availability.

To create opportunities for PhD candidates to access viva help sessions I’m offering a range of dates and times for my 1-hour 7 Reasons You’ll Pass Your Viva live webinar in June and July:

I’ve run an evening session before but for the first time ever I’m also offering a Saturday morning session for people who might struggle to attend during weekdays. Registration for a 7 Reasons You’ll Pass Your Viva live webinar is £20 and includes follow-up resources and access to a catch-up recording of the session.

Booking for all of these sessions will open on Tuesday 26th May 2026. I’ll share reminders when registration opens for 7 Reasons You’ll Pass Your Viva but if you follow my profile on Eventbrite then that should alert you when registration opens for all. You can also use a “remind me” button on a registration page if there’s a particular date you want a reminder for.

Thank you for reading this post and I hope that these announcements are of some help. More details and help to follow! 🙂

Nathan

Viva Survivor, March 25th 2026

Event, Update

Let’s keep this reminder short and simple:

  • I’m running my Viva Survivor webinar on Wednesday 25th March 2026.
  • Registration is open for this three-hour live webinar. If you sign-up you will also have access to a catch-up recording for four weeks after the session and receive follow-up materials including several of my publications.
  • Viva Survivor is my original session and I’ve delivered it to more than 8300 PhD candidates in the last 15 years at universities and programmes all over the UK.
  • In that time and in over 425 sessions I’ve been continuously developing Viva Survivor to be as helpful as possible to PGRs.

There’s a lot more information at the link about what to expect from the webinar on Wednesday 25th March 2026. If you have any questions please get in touch. Viva Survivor is one of my favourite things to do and I’m really looking forward to this session.

Thanks for reading!

Nathan

Nathan

Viva Survivor Webinar, March 25th 2026

Event, Update

Let’s keep this webinar announcement short and simple:

  • I’m running my Viva Survivor webinar on Wednesday 25th March 2026.
  • Registration is open now for this three-hour live webinar. Participants will have access to a catch-up recording for four weeks after the session and receive follow-up materials including several of my publications.
  • Viva Survivor has been delivered for the last 15 years to more than 8300 PhD candidates at universities and programmes all over the UK.
  • In that time and in over 425 sessions I’ve been continuously developing Viva Survivor to be as helpful as possible to PGRs.
  • You can register now and use code VSMARCH2026 until midnight on Sunday 8th February 2026 to save £10 on registration.

There’s a lot more information at the link about what to expect from the webinar on Wednesday 25th March 2026. If you have any questions please get in touch. Viva Survivor is one of my favourite things to do and I’m really looking forward to this session.

Please take a look if you’re interested and don’t forget that the code VSMARCH2026 will save £10 on your ticket if you register before midnight on Sunday 8th February 2026.

Thanks for reading!

Nathan

Nathan

Webinar Reminder

Update

In brief: I have an upcoming date for my 7 Reasons You’ll Pass Your Viva session on Wednesday 24th September 2025 and registration is open.

 

7 Reasons You’ll Pass Your Viva is a 1-hour confidence boost for the viva. I explore why candidates can know what to expect, how that helps them and what they can do to help themselves.

When you register to attend you also get access to a four-week catch-up recording after the session and will receive a pdf copy of my 101 Steps To A Great Viva guide.

Here’s what past attendees say about 7 Reasons You’ll Pass Your Viva:

  • “Thanks, really helpful session that’s helped me feel confident about the viva!” – University of Edinburgh PhD candidate
  • “Thank you so much this was very helpful – I have my viva on Monday and feeling a bit more confident now :)” – Liverpool John Moores University PhD candidate
  • “Thank you for such an engaging and helpful session!” – University of Liverpool PhD candidate

I’m running 7 Reasons You’ll Pass Your Viva live on Wednesday 24th September 2025 and registration is open now.

 

And save the date: my 3-hour comprehensive Viva Survivor session will run live on the morning of 3rd December 2025. Registration will open on Wednesday 1st October.

Thank you for reading!

Nathan

Nathan

Viva Survivor this Wednesday

Event, Update

In brief: Registration closes tomorrow at 5pm for my Viva Survivor session this Wednesday morning, 25th June 2025. Take a look now if you’re looking for help getting ready for your viva!

 

Slightly more details: If you want to know what to expect, what to do, how to get ready and how to build confidence for your viva then take a look at my upcoming Viva Survivor session this Wednesday 25th June 2025.

For three hours on Zoom you’ll get direct help from me in a live session I have shared with over 8000 PhD candidates. We have a packed schedule, plenty of time to take questions and I’ll be sending you great follow-up resources including some of my publications afterwards. All this and access to a catch-up recording for four weeks!

I love sharing Viva Survivor. I’ve spent more time sharing this session than anything else in my work since my PhD. I’ve now delivered it more than 400 times for universities and doctoral training groups all over the UK.

There are lots of free resources on this site that can help you get a sense of what to expect and what to do for your viva. Start there, but if you’re looking for more then please take a look at the registration page for Viva Survivor this Wednesday. If you have any questions about the session please get in touch and do pass this on to anyone who might be looking for viva help.

One last time: Viva Survivor session this Wednesday 25th June 2025! Registration closes tomorrow, Tuesday 24th June, at 5pm.

Thank you for reading 🙂

Nathan

Viva Survivor webinar, June 25th 2025

Event, Update

If you want to know about the viva then you could ask friends and colleagues. You could talk to your supervisor about examiner expectations. You could explore the support that your institution provides.

You can also look through the 2900+ posts on this daily blog about the viva, all freely accessible, or explore the different publications I’ve produced. There is a lot of support around you to get an idea of what the viva is about and what you might do to get ready.

 

And if you want to go deeper then register for my upcoming Viva Survivor session on Wednesday 25th June 2025. Three weeks from today I’ll be sharing what vivas are really like, what effective viva preparation means and how someone can engage well with their examiners. We’ll be exploring the practical steps to take before and after submission, building confidence and a lot more.

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. We have plenty of time to explore questions from the group, I have great follow-up resources including some of my publications and a catch-up recording in case you can’t stay for the whole time.

I love sharing my Viva Survivor 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

Please take a look at the registration page if you are looking for viva help. There are full details there but please get in touch if you have any questions. 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

Viva Survivor, Thursday 27th March 2025

Event, Update

Every day I share at least one helpful thought through the Viva Survivors blog. There’s a lot 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 2800 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 Thursday 27th March 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 and developed with thousands of PhD candidates over the last fifteen years. 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 doing this session (I’ve delivered it almost 400 times!) and I hope that you’ll take a look at the registration page if you are looking for viva help. 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 Thursday 27th March 2025!

Thanks for reading 🙂

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