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Tag: reflection

Nathan

Ask Someone Why

Daily Post

Faced with a difficult question or unexpected comment in the viva, perhaps the best thing you can do is ask why.

  • Ask your examiner(s) why that question is important.
  • Ask why a comment matters to them.
  • Ask why they think the way they think.

Or ask yourself why. Why have you gone blank? Why is something difficult? Why did you write something the way you did, or do something the way you have?

When you ask why you uncover some of the reasons beneath the surface of a question or comment. You take the first steps to being able to respond and participate in the discussion.

If a question or comment makes you pause, ask someone “Why?” and see where that leads.

Nathan

Final Form

Daily Post

A long time ago on the blog I offered some thoughts about examiners being like video game bosses:

After all of the trials and tribulations of doing research, your examiners appear through the fog, two mysterious and challenging foes! Whatever you’ve done before, the rules don’t apply to them!! They’re bigger than the other baddies, tougher, hit harder and if you’re not careful you’re doomed!!!

Which of course means you’ve made it through the game that precedes that boss battle. This stage might be trickier or tougher, but you have the skills you need because you’ve already achieved so much.

 

Another comparison with video game bosses to consider, for those who are familiar: the viva is the final form in the PhD boss level. No more battles after this. No sudden changes or power-ups for your examiners. Whatever they ask or do, whatever they think or say, you have maxed-out experience and skills, there’s nothing else you can learn or practise or do to get ready. You don’t need anything else.

This is the final challenge and you are ready for it.

Nathan

Prep & Rest

Daily Post

Viva prep is better if it is planned a little. There’s no universal “best way” to get the work done, but the following questions could help:

  • How busy are you?
  • When could be a good time to start?
  • How much time can you commit regularly?
  • What tasks seem most helpful to you?
  • Who can provide support when you need it?

Exploring these questions can help set boundaries and ideas of what to do, when to do it and so on.

Rest is a key element to getting ready for the viva too, but is often overlooked. So use the following questions, adapted from above, to help:

  • How busy are you? And how much rest do you need to help recharge yourself?
  • When could be good times for you to rest?
  • How much time will you give yourself regularly?
  • What restful activities seem most helpful to you?
  • Who can help you to rest when you need support?

Prep helps before the viva. Rest helps before the viva. Ask yourself some questions if you’re struggling with either.

Nathan

Three From Three Hundred

Daily Post

On Friday I delivered my 300th Viva Survivor session to PGRs!

300!!! Had it not been for pandemic disruption I probably would have reached this milestone sooner. But had it not been for the pandemic I wouldn’t have had the opportunity to develop the session as a webinar. Or to develop other viva sessions that I now do.

From one half-day seminar I was asked to deliver in the summer of 2010, I’ve now worked with over 6700 PhD candidates to help them get ready for their vivas. I’ve written this blog for almost five years and produced the podcast for five years before that. I’m very thankful to continue doing what I do.

I’m sure with enough time I could write a list of 300 things about vivas, prep, helping and so on. Perhaps it is kinder to everyone to limit it to three observations that really stand out to me after these 300 sessions:

  1. Vivas often make candidates nervous, but being nervous is a symptom that the viva matters. Being nervous is rarely comfortable but it doesn’t mean that something is wrong.
  2. In many cases the viva and viva prep are nowhere near as great or taxing on a candidate as they might expect. Both seem much bigger to begin with than they actually are.
  3. In all cases, a candidate can get help for the viva by asking the right person the right question. It could be a supervisor or a colleague; it could be learning about expectations or seeking guidance. The viva is not an unknown.

I don’t have a formula to help every candidate feel better, but after three hundred sessions I have a pretty good idea of what can help. I feel very privileged to be able to make spaces to help.

And I’m looking forward to the next three hundred sessions already!

Nathan

Investing In Confidence

Daily Post

The specific tasks involved in viva prep – reading your thesis, making notes, rehearsing and so on – don’t need to happen until after you’ve submitted your thesis. Until then your goal has to be getting your thesis written and finished.

Viva prep is not purely mechanical though. Being ready isn’t simply completing a list of activities. Being ready is also a matter of confidence. Do you feel capable? Do you feel like you can engage with your examiners’ questions?

You don’t need to prepare for the viva until after you have submitted but it’s a valuable investment to do things to build your confidence over a long period of time. The more that you reflect on your success and remind yourself of it, the more you will feel ready for your viva when it arrives.

Reflect on your success. Remind yourself of what you have done. Do things that help you to feel confident.

Nathan

Catastrophes

Daily Post

Last Christmas Eve just after dark, without warning, there was a power cut in our neighbourhood.

In our house our whole evening changed. Plans for a festive dinner and a movie were abandoned. We made sandwiches by torchlight and ate them nestled under blankets. We read with candles and kept busy with little jobs so that we didn’t think too much.

When I did think I could only worry and imagine the worst. What if the power didn’t come back on? Would everything in our fridge and freezer be ruined? Would we be able to celebrate Christmas the next day?

Over the course of a few hours the power kept coming back on and then shutting off abruptly. Then it stayed off again for a long time.

What now? What should we do?

For half an hour I just panicked. Then by torchlight I got out my notebook and wrote:

We’re fortunate enough to have torches. The power will get fixed at some point. We’re fortunate enough that we could buy more food if needed. We can still find a way to celebrate. We can find other options. It’s not ideal but we can figure it out. We will still have Christmas.

I felt better. I didn’t know what was going to happen, but I knew that whatever did happen we could do something.

Moments later the power came back on and stayed on. I felt a little anxious for the next few hours that it would go off suddenly, but the problem was resolved. We went to bed and the next day was Christmas, just as we’d planned.

 

On Christmas Eve I was catastrophising the situation. Something went wrong, suddenly, and all I could do was imagine the situation getting worse and worse.

The power cut hit me out of the blue, completely unexpected, but for the viva some potential situations can be anticipated. And depending on how you view things, you could believe that you have a future catastrophe. What would you do?

You could forget something.

Your examiners could ask a tough question.

You could doubt yourself.

There could be a delay.

And so on. Lots of things could happen. They could happen. They might not. And even if they do they’re not totally beyond your power to resolve or do something about.

A delay could be uncomfortable, but you could find a way to use the time. If you doubt yourself at any point then you can find a way to remember the contribution you’ve made in your thesis and the talent you’ve developed as a researcher. A tough question or a forgotten detail will not disqualify you from achieving your PhD; taking a moment to think is probably all you need.

Expected and unexpected “catastrophes” are not always as terrible as they first appear. A problem or situation may not be as dire as it seems. Even when confronted with a tricky situation you have the talent and knowledge to do something.

Nathan

Questioning Weakness

Daily Post

There are many causes of doubt before the viva. One possibility is that a candidate believes some aspect of their research or thesis isn’t good enough. They find a weakness and then can do nothing but dwell on it.

If you find yourself in a similar position, reflect on one or more of the following:

  • Can you do anything about it at this point? If not, perhaps it would be better to reflect more on your research strengths – and your strengths as a researcher – than to focus on weaknesses.
  • Can someone help you explore this? Look to your supervisor or your friends and colleagues. Ask them to listen and help you find some way to move forwards.
  • How did your work come to have this weakness? It could be an accident, a mistake, a result of your research process, and so on. Knowing why it is there can help you to figure out what to do next.
  • How would you explain this in the viva? If a question or comment was about this aspect of your work, explore what you could say about it.

Finally, is it really a weakness? Are you seeing weakness when in fact there is just a small flaw that you are making into a bigger problem than it needs to be?

Nathan

How Can I Know?

Daily Post

If you have doubts that you’ve done enough, that your thesis is good enough or that you are good enough then take a little time to reflect on what you’ve done.

  • How many days did you do the work?
  • How many papers did you read?
  • How many things did you try?
  • How many times did you present your work in some way?
  • How many times did something not work – but you tried again?
  • How many days did you sit down and write something for your thesis?
  • How many times did you have a breakthrough?

For questions like these you won’t always have an exact number. You can know the scale of your past efforts and determination.

You can know that you’ve come this far because you did the work. You can know that whatever mistakes you’ve made along the way that you have done enough. You can know that whatever doubts you have that you are good.

Nathan

Useful Questions

Daily Post

The two most useful questions for a PhD candidate to reflect on, particularly after submission, are:

“When is my viva?” and “How do I feel?”

The first is often a useful prompt to realise that there is still time. There’s always time to do something to get ready. If you have ten minutes to go you can still breathe, try to relax, check your notes and remind yourself that you’re almost done. If you have ten days then you have lots of time to prepare and build your confidence. If you have just submitted your thesis you have time to take a break. If you’ve not submitted yet then you know your time is best invested in getting your thesis finished.

The second question has a partner: “So what can I do?” If you feel relaxed, what can you do to build on that? If you feel nervous, what can you do to calm yourself? If you feel unprepared then what can you do to get ready? If you feel afraid who could you talk to so you can get help? If you feel confident, how can you maintain that for the viva? It’s good to reflect on how you feel; it’s better to take the time after that to think about what you need to do next.

“When is my viva?” and “How do I feel?” are good questions to reflect on for a candidate.

“When is your viva?” and “How do you feel?” are fair questions to ask a friend after they’ve submitted their thesis, provided you have time to really listen and then ask one more question:

“Do you need help?”

Nathan

Verbs For The Viva

Daily Post

You will survive – manage to keep going in difficult circumstances – because you’ve done that throughout your PhD. You will most likely thrive too – grow, develop and be successful.

Prepare rather than perfect. You can get ready for the conversation you’ll have but you can’t be a paragon.

You can expect certain things will happen but you can’t assume that everything will play out that way.

You can respond to every question. You might not be able to answer every question.

Words matter. Verbs matter. Check that yours are right for how you think about the viva and how you engage with it when it’s your turn.

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