Daily viva help for PhDs
A to do list could be a good way to tackle viva prep or start framing what you need to do. How about:
The third and fourth items are, of course, simplified – but that doesn’t mean that doing them has to be very complicated.
I’m always happy to get to this time of year when I can share some of my favourite posts from the last twelve months!
Today we begin with viva prep. It’s a key thing for any candidate to reflect on how they will get ready. The following five posts can help:
And of course there are many more posts about viva prep on Viva Survivors if you’re looking for ideas of what you can do to get ready for your viva!
Don’t wait and start your viva prep in the week of your viva.
Don’t wait to ask your supervisor about something important until a few days beforehand.
And don’t wait until the last minute before your viva to think about how you feel about it all!
Sooner, rather than later, think about how you’ll get ready.
Sketch plans. Ask questions. Reflect on your PhD and how you’ve developed both yourself and your research.
Viva prep is manageable. Compared to the massive scale of a PhD it’s a speck of effort.
A candidate might take weeks to get ready, but only in bits and pieces of time.
Half an hour of reading. Ten minutes of looking something up. An hour to bring some notes together.
You can run these sorts of tasks together into longer prep sessions but that’s not an essential part of the process.
Even a mock viva, if you have one, is manageable.
Viva prep is a series of manageable tasks that make the viva itself manageable.
Possible answers to a candidate’s question of “When should I stop getting ready for my viva?”
One of the above might satisfy a candidate. It might be that one of the above satisfies you!
But we need to go a little deeper. First of all, there’s no should when trying to figure out viva prep and getting ready. Knowing when to stop is probably helped by knowing what you need to know and what you need to do. Knowing when to stop is helped by not overloading your schedule with too much to do in too little time.
And maybe you’re simply ready when it’s time to stop.
PS: I’ll be sharing a lot more about viva prep and getting ready at Viva Survivor, my live webinar on Thursday 5th December 2024 – one week today! For full details on the session and to register to attend take a look at the link. Thanks for reading.
Make a plan that suits you.
Make a plan in a format that meets your needs.
Ask for specific help from the people best placed to help you.
Read your thesis in a time, place and way that helps you.
Annotate your thesis to make it useful for you.
Have a mock viva – or don’t!
Reflect on your journey.
Take steps to build your confidence.
Given that your research, your thesis and your circumstances are unique to you, it shouldn’t be any surprise that your viva prep has to be personal too.
There are a lot of generally good ideas about how to get ready. You have to decide what you will do with them.
PS: looking for more good ideas to adapt to your own viva prep needs? Check out Viva Survivor, my live webinar on Thursday 5th December 2024. If you need more ideas or just some general advice on what to expect then this might be for you 🙂
You intend to pass your viva! So what will you do?
You intend to submit the best thesis you can! So what will you do?
You intend to respond as well as you can in the viva! So what will you do?
Intention helps. Actions follow intentions. You can set a goal and hope or you can decide what steps you will take. The latter is probably more effective!
If you intend to prepare well then perhaps make a plan for your viva prep. Leave room for the unexpected. Make good time for you to do it when you won’t be stressed or tired.
If you intend to engage well in the viva then rehearse. Have a mock viva. Talk with friends. Read your thesis. Do a lot of thinking.
If you intend to pass your viva then don’t just hope that it all goes well. Make it certain.
If we focus on effective viva prep it might be tempting to steer towards questions like:
These questions aren’t wrong, but they could lead someone down a difficult path to getting the work done.
When thinking about how to organise your prep, perhaps consider the following questions:
Effective viva prep flows from creating a good process and a good environment to do the work. It’s less effective to just focus on tasks and timetables.
I live by the coast. On certain days with a fair breeze it feels like I don’t have to do anything to walk in the direction I’m going. With the wind at my back I feel lighter, freer and able to go further and faster.
When I think about viva prep and viva confidence I wonder what someone could do to find the same feeling. Everyone is different, but the questions that naturally come to my mind include:
Create a good environment to get ready for your viva. I can’t promise the work will be easier – but I do think it will be more valuable, more beneficial and ultimately more rewarding for your viva.
The time between when you submit your thesis and have your viva is your viva prep period.
Is it possible to wing it? To go with the flow and do things as and when you feel like it? Probably! It might not be very comfortable though.
Everyone is different – in themselves, their research and their situation – so I’m sure some people could do what comes to them as they go through the weeks leading up to their viva.
If that doesn’t feel like a comfortable situation for you though, or even if it does and you want to make sure your prep is as good as it could be, consider doing some of the following:
Finally, take time to remind yourself of the work you’re doing now and all the work you’ve done before. Viva prep is for the particular challenge of your viva. In the years before you have done a lot of work that helps you.