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Nathan

Rubbish

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But what if my examiner says something I’ve done is rubbish?

Imagine you’re in that position. What exactly did they say? It’s unlikely that they just used the word rubbish, but that’s what your brain has just made of their statement or question or opinion. You’ve interpreted that as “rubbish”.

Don’t panic. Take a breath. Ask them why.

Sit back. Listen. Put your feelings to one side and make notes.

When you know exactly what your examiner doesn’t like you can respond. When you have all of the details you will know what you need to discuss with them.

They might have misunderstood something: that doesn’t mean that what you did is rubbish, it just means that you didn’t communicate it as well as you hoped.

They might think something is missing: that doesn’t mean that what you did is rubbish, it just means that it’s not quite as complete as you hoped.

It’s unlikely your examiners will call something in your work rubbish. It’s certain that you have not produced a perfect thesis from perfect research – which means they might have questions or comments about the imperfections. This is natural.

If they say something is rubbish or that’s what you hear, you still get to engage with them – and you should. Ask why. Listen. Think. Respond.

And keep doing it.

Your examiners are not your biggest critics; it’s likely that you have taken on that role.

Nathan

Sometimes “I Don’t Know” Is The Only Answer

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You might not want to say it.

You might be able to think and discuss to get somewhere.

Or you might engage with a question and say something but realise you can’t say everything.

Perhaps there is something you don’t know or can’t know. Maybe it is something no-one knows.

Sometimes it’s the only thing you can say.

Pause and think before you say it. Be certain. Say why you don’t know if you can.

Nathan

Three Simple Hows For Viva Prep

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On this blog and in my workshops I share a lot of viva prep ideas. No-one needs to follow all of my suggestions: my hope is that the ideas I share spark a path forward. The danger, sometimes, on being presented with lots of options, is that someone might think “I want to do it all!” or “I need to do it all!” or “Oh my gosh, how will I do it all?!”

I spend a lot of time talking and writing about all of the ideas for viva prep; today let me shift gears to give three questions I think can help anyone break down what they will do to prepare for their viva.

Three simple “how” questions:

  1. How much do you need to do?
  2. How much time do you have?
  3. How will you arrange it all?

Focus on you. It doesn’t have to be more complicated than that. There are lots of options but only a few core areas to pay attention to.

Don’t make your viva prep complicated. Just ask three questions to get started.

Nathan

Eight Questions About Contribution

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Having trouble putting your research contribution into words? Or want to reflect on it in new ways? Try the following questions to take a fresh look at what you’ve done for your PhD. (and if you’re writing up, these questions might help you to unpick some new thoughts about your work)

  1. What’s the most interesting part of your research?
  2. What do you think will influence other people’s work?
  3. Why had no-one else explored this topic in this way before?
  4. What feedback have you had about your research and its merit?
  5. What do you see the defining contribution of your thesis as being?
  6. What else did you find along the way?
  7. How can your work be best explained?
  8. How could you take your work further?

Spend some time in your viva prep thinking, writing and talking about what your contribution means.

Bonus Question! What kind of difference does your research make to your field now that it is done?

Nathan

What Is An Answer?

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It can be lots of things, depending on the question. In the viva an answer could be…

  • …an explanation you’re presenting as fact. You believe with certainty that what you’re saying is “true”.
  • …an opinion. You have an idea, some reasons and an argument that feels plausible to you.
  • …a simple fact. Information pulled from your memory.
  • …a guess. An idea plus hope.

Questions in the viva could lead to all of these kinds of answers, and more. For a lot of questions you might face, the only answer you can give would be an opinion. You may face a question which has no definite answer, and your examiners know that too. They want to see how you think about your subject.

For all the questions you face, best to be honest with yourself (and your examiners) about which kind of answer you’re giving.

Nathan

Dreaded Questions

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What do you not want to talk about in the viva? What topics or questions do you dread?

Hoping they won’t come up won’t help. You have to engage with them somehow in your prep, otherwise you’re walking towards the viva with a big worry strapped to your back.

Consider the opposite: what do you want to talk about in the viva? What are you hoping your examiners will ask?

Reflect a little on the topics you want to talk about. What makes them that way? Work to make the topics you dread more like that. How can you improve your understanding of something? Can you get a friend or your supervisor to ask you questions? Can you write something that will help you unpick an idea?

It’s not enough to know what you hope won’t come up in the viva. You have to then figure out what you’re going to do as a result.

Nathan

Butterfly Wings

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Look back over your PhD. It may seem like a straight-line journey has brought you to the finish line. But that’s only one path. There may be lots of ways you could have gone, and lots of times things might not have worked out. What would you have done then?

It can be fruitful to explore this area by using questions. Some of these kinds of questions line up neatly with general areas your examiners might want to explore; others simply lead you to reflect on what you’ve done:

  • How else could you have started your project?
  • How could you have used different methods in your research?
  • How could you have made use of more resources?
  • How would you have managed with fewer resources?
  • How would you have coped if you’d not got the results you’d needed?
  • How else could someone interpret your results?
  • How would you do things differently knowing what you know now?

These kinds of questions help to explore your contribution and how you got it. They also help to strengthen your competence as a researcher.

Butterfly wings flap and the world changes. What then? How else could you have got through your PhD?

Nathan

More Why-How-What

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About six months ago I shared Why-How-What as a simple framework for talking about your research. There is a value in using interesting opportunities to think more and talk more about your work. It boosts your confidence for when the moment comes that you have to talk about your research: you will find the words. I’ve had a few more ideas about how Why-How-What can help frame stories about what you’ve done and how you’ve done it:

  • Why did you start a PhD? How did you feel at the start? What did you think you would do?
  • Why was it worth exploring the area you did? How did you initially approach your research? What did you hope you would find?
  • Why were you up to the challenge of doing a PhD? How have you developed along the way? What can you now do that you couldn’t before?
  • Why had your topic not been covered in this way already? How did you spot that you could do something about it? What are some ways that it can be explored more in the future?

There are many, many more setups like this that could help get your thoughts in order. There are thousands of questions that could come up in the viva. You can’t prepare for them all, but you can take opportunities to think more and talk more about your work. It will help. You’ll find yourself in a better place when your viva day comes around.

Nathan

Two Questions About Your Examiners

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There may be other academics who could do just as good a job as your examiners, but they won’t come with the same background, experience and knowledge as yours. When they ask questions about your work and how it relates to the wider field, they’ll do so through the prism of their own research. You can’t anticipate every question like this they might ask, but you can ask yourself two questions to help you prepare better.

  • First: how much do you know about them and their work? Think about which papers you’ve read of theirs, and areas they’re interested in (if you don’t know much about either then check their staff pages).
  • Second: how much do you think you need to know in order to boost your confidence? Think about how many papers you have time to read, what else you have to do and so on.

Answering these two questions can help shape how you look into your examiners’ work. You don’t need to know everything – you can’t know everything – but you can do enough once you set some parameters. You can be ready for the interesting questions your examiners have ready for you.

Nathan

The Happy Viva

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What do you need the viva to be like for you to be happy?

Does it need to be short?

Do you need to know all of the answers?

Do you need your examiners to tell you what they think right away?

Do you need it to be at a certain time of day?

Do you need to set yourself up well on the day?

Do you need a particular kind of atmosphere in the room?

You can do something about some of these things, and nothing about others.

A better question might be: what can you do to be happy in your viva?

Answer the question, get some ideas, start some meaningful actions.

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