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Tag: reflection

Nathan

Keeping Up

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I had a bright idea recently to show a prep idea I’d had for making a summary based on a thesis chapter.

I’m exploring video project ideas and thought this might be good as a production and editing test. I also wanted to see if the idea was valid: take a thesis chapter, pull out the important points, capture the information in a useful way, use a nice acronym maybe and so on.

Except when I sat down with my thesis to think and plan for the video I realised I didn’t really understand my research any more.

 

It’s been 18 years since I finished my PhD. It’s probably fifteen years since I thought seriously about that work.

It’s a little familiar as I read it. I know I did it. And I kind of get it.

But I can’t do it any more.

That part of my mathematical knowledge, if it’s still there, is buried beneath almost twenty years of being a researcher-developer.

I don’t write about maths any more. I write about vivas.

I don’t solve equations now: I respond to questions and emotions and problems with the viva.

 

I’m not upset. I love what I do. I am still pretty good at maths but my overall skillset is geared around a different kind of work. I’m happy but it does feel bittersweet to see that former part of my life experience reduced.

With that in mind here’s a question I hope you take in the spirit I offer it: “What do you need to hold on to from your PhD experience when you’re done? And how will you keep that knowledge or skillset alive in your life after the PhD?”

Nathan

Number Problems

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Your PhD success is not directly measured by big numbers.

It’s not in the thousands of words in your thesis. It doesn’t correlate with the number of papers you’ve read or the number you’ve cited. You don’t need a heroic number of hours invested into mastering a skill. You don’t need to do more than the last person.

The numbers that really help may sound similar but they help in different ways.

  • The number of papers you’ve read helps you know what you need to know.
  • Take confidence from knowing you have written 200 good pages not for simply having 200 pages.
  • You’ve invested thousands of hours to show your determination and express your ability – you’ve not simply done a lot.

Bigger alone isn’t better. Recognise the value of the numbers that matter to your PhD.

Nathan

The Small Help Of Prep

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I have a pocket multitool that fits in my wallet. It’s a solid rectangle of metal with a sharp edge, a ruler, various marks and divots, several holes and a screwdriver point.

I probably use it once a week to help with small tasks. I can probably use it to do a lot more than I’ve realised. I’m glad I have this small help.

My multitool makes me think of viva prep.

Viva prep is a small thing but the general process helps a lot. Viva prep is a solid approach but can be adapted to meet the needs of particular situations. And the steps that help someone get ready are also more widely applicable.

The overall help of viva prep is a small, limited thing. It doesn’t take much to make a big difference in feeling ready for the viva.

 

PS: If you want to know more about viva prep – what to do, when to start and how much to do – then check out my 1-hour 7 Reasons You’ll Pass Your Viva webinar next Wednesday 7th October 2026. Viva prep is a big component of the session and the follow-up materials – and there’s a catch-up recording if you can’t attend live. Hope to see you there!

Nathan

Your Best Work

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Naturally, it is extremely likely that your examiners will want to talk to you about your best work. The headline results and conclusions that are central to your contribution.

  • How do you define your best work?
  • What lead to you working on it?
  • What’s the impact for your thesis and for others?

There’s more to your thesis than a single topic or piece though. It’s likely that there’s more they will want to talk to you about.

  • What other aspects of your work do you think they’ll focus on?
  • How do these other areas connect with your main contribution?
  • Is there anything you don’t think they’ll ask about?

Finally, it’s likely that these two categories are not all that you want to talk about.

  • What else would you like to come up in conversation at your viva?
  • What questions do you want to introduce into the discussion?
  • What do you not want to talk about?

Your best work will feature at the viva along with lots of other topics. Take time as you prepare to reflect on what could come up, how you could engage with it and what you need to do to be ready.

Nathan

The Meaning Of “Pass”

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It means you did enough. You don’t need perfection to pass your viva and your PhD.

Do your best.

You’ll likely find typos in your thesis after submission. That’s OK.

You’ll likely find questions at the viva that you find challenging. That might be uncomfortable but it’s OK too.

Good is enough.

Minor corrections means “you’ve passed so long as you make these changes.”

“Pass” means you did it – but like the rest of your PhD journey you have to figure out what that really means for you.

 

PS: Rehearsing for your viva helps you feel more like you’re going to pass. If you’re looking for helpful thoughts on rehearsal then Viva Survivors Select 14, The Rehearsal Issue, is out now. If you like the blog, want more help and want to support what I do then please check it out. It’s the latest issue in my series of curated collections of viva help: twenty posts from the blog’s archive and new help to help you get ready!

Nathan

Can’t & Can

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You can’t memorise every paper you’ve read for your research but you can be sure of the ones that matter.

You can’t know every question you’ll be asked at your viva but you can be ready to respond to any question you’re asked at your viva.

You probably can’t remove all trace of nervousness but you can build your confidence for the viva.

You can’t be perfect but you can be enough.

Nathan

The Scale Of Prep

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A full-time PhD might involve five or six thousand hours of work.

A viva will most likely be done in three or four hours at most.

Between these vastly different scales sits viva prep: twenty to thirty hours of work for most candidates.

Viva prep is much bigger than your viva and much, much smaller than the rest of your PhD.

Viva prep can feel like a lot when you have to do it but try to get the scale right in your mind. It’s particular work to help you prepare for the particular challenge of your viva.

 

PS: if you’re looking for more viva prep help then I have two suggestions for you. First, take a look at my Payhip store where I have a range of small publications to help with any viva worries you might have. Second, take a look at my 7 Reasons You’ll Pass Your Viva webinar I have coming up on Wednesday 7th October (and more sessions in November and December).

PPS: Third suggestion! I have a new Viva Survivors Select zine coming out this Wednesday! Look out for the announcement.

Nathan

The Negatives

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I spent a few months in the second year of my PhD trying to solve one calculation.

I stopped after seven weeks.

I had written and rewritten tortured sequences of symbols. I had found simpler ways to write things. I had noticed helpful formulations that made things easier to see. And I had an idea of what might actually be going on with my mathematical puzzle even if I couldn’t prove it.

Maybe I sound upbeat now but I was not thinking positively about it at the time.

In the summer of 2006 I was frustrated, tired, stuck and only seeing the seven weeks as wasted:

  • I had hundreds of sheets of handwritten notes that didn’t show an answer.
  • I had disappointed myself and I was sure that I had disappointed my supervisor.
  • I didn’t even know at that point if I was on track to finish my PhD.

I could only see the negatives.

 

It took time for me to find a different way of looking at things:

  • I didn’t have an answer but I had progress.
  • I hadn’t solved this problem but I had found new methods.
  • I had shown that some ideas weren’t good ones.
  • And I had a new hypothesis even if I couldn’t show it.

If you find yourself, like me, in a situation where you can only find the negatives in your research then you need to take a step back and really reflect.

It won’t all be bad.

Limitations and setbacks can still lead to progress. Failure can become success. It might not be the success you were expecting, it might be smaller or different, but it still counts for something.

If you’re struggling to frame your work in a positive way then take some time to reflect, particularly as you get ready for your viva.

You have to convince yourself that you’ve made a contribution before you can convince your examiners.

Nathan

What It’s For

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The viva is a facilitated discussion to confirm that you did a good piece of work over a long period of time – and in doing so you became a good researcher.

The viva follows a long academic tradition in the UK and is seen as a good mechanism for assessing the progress that someone makes as they pursue their research goals. It’s a custom exam every time, following rules, traditions and experience, unique but not unknowable.

The viva is there to check you and your work out:

  • Is it enough?
  • Have you done enough?
  • Have you developed enough?

(and enough is enough: your examiners aren’t looking for perfection)

Your viva is for you: it’s your viva, your exam, your work, your journey.

That’s what your viva is for.

Nathan

Three Whats For Viva Prep

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Whenever you finish a period of viva preparation ask yourself three whats:

  • What did I just do? (review your work)
  • So what does that mean for my preparation? (reflect on progress)
  • Now what will my next viva prep task be? (refresh your plan)

Viva prep is better with a plan and better still with being mindful as you get it done.

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