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Nathan

7 Weeks

Daily Post

That’s roughly how long I had to prepare for my viva. Here are seven thoughts from those seven weeks in the dim and distant past of 2008:

  1. I took a break when I submitted. Not a big one, just a week to rest from the final busy days leading to submission. Starting viva prep rested helps.
  2. I made a lot of notes. I annotated my thesis. I wrote summaries. I did a lot of things to help my memory because I didn’t really know what to expect from my viva.
  3. My examiners asked me to prepare a presentation to start my viva when the date was set. It was helpful to have something concrete to do. Preparing a presentation also helped with other parts of prep.
  4. I didn’t have a mock viva with my supervisor. We continued to meet once per week and talked over each chapter. I wish I’d thought to ask him more about what vivas were like.
  5. My supervisor also told me to look at my external examiner’s research area. It was very different to my own. He thought it would be good to get an understanding of it and he was right!
  6. I wasn’t nervous until ten minutes before my viva. That happened because I didn’t sleep well the night before. I felt very tired as I was unpacking my bag; nervousness hit me hard but at least I had my presentation to focus on.
  7. Looking back I can see that I was confident that I had a good thesis. I can also see that I wasn’t feeling confident in my own ability at the viva. With hindsight I wonder if I had been pushing away nerves and worry for weeks leading up to my viva.

Of course, hindsight is wonderful! I was on the right track for a lot of my prep. I could have done better if I had paid attention rather than ignored how I was feeling.

How are you getting ready for your viva? What are you feeling? And what are you doing as a result of those feelings?

Nathan

Favourite Days

Daily Post

I was feeling a little wistful recently as I looked back two decades to my own PhD.

What did I remember?

  • I remember sitting on a train one day when suddenly my research problem snapped into focus. By the time I reached my destination I had made the first breakthrough of my PhD.
  • I remembered attending residential workshops, meeting researchers from other departments and realised the variety of research that happened at Liverpool.
  • I remembered endless tea breaks with friends and colleagues.
  • I remembered taking over the often unused chalkboards in my office to write something out. I got stuck, called my supervisor and then realised the solution before he arrived. I remember feeling proud as I showed him a previously unknown result.
  • I remembered writing up my thesis and how it went much more smoothly when I planned my process.

I was trying to think of my favourite things from my PhD. Most of the things that came to mind also had some other aspect to them as well: something I learned, some small success or result.

 

Two thoughts came to me afterwards.

First, it struck me that it’s probably a good idea to think about your favourite days of your PhD journey as you get ready for your viva. You’re bound to think about success and growth and that can only be good for your confidence and preparation.

Second, looking back I didn’t count my viva as one of my favourite days. I don’t think that’s because it was one of my least favourite days! It’s probably more in the middle. There were certainly harder times and definitely better times too.

So: look back to help your prep and confidence, but perhaps don’t expect that your viva will be as terrible as you worry (or as great as your greatest days).