Daily viva help for PhDs
If the perfect thesis exists, it’s not yours. No corrections is not a reasonable goal. If you’re not asked to do any corrections that doesn’t mean your thesis was perfect. It doesn’t mean that there’s anything “wrong” either.
Do some work, get some feedback, talk about it in useful ways, repeat a lot and do something that amounts to a significant, original contribution.
Chasing perfect is a way to drive yourself crazy. Make something that matters.
The PhD versus the Viva: if you can get it done* for 1000+ other days, why would this day be any different**?
*show up, learn, develop, grow, make, read, think, synthesise, propose, share, write, play, do and keep on doing…
**you’re at a challenging point, but you’ve shown yourself to be capable of meeting these challenges.
I don’t know that it’s universal, but the lightbulb is a powerful symbol for making a connection. One second you don’t know something important, the next you do.
I remember being sat on a train in early 2005, less than six months into my PhD. I was waiting to go and visit a friend. Just as the train doors were closing something CLICKED in my head and I could see the answer to a problem. It was just a little one but one at the root of a bigger problem in my thesis. Just like that, it came to me. And while there was a lot more work to do, this one little insight allowed me to write three chapters of my thesis. There were harder problems in my PhD, but this is the time I remember when something just came to me. Weeks of reading, of doodling and noodling, and then CLICK.
When you have a real lightbulb moment, be grateful.
What else are you grateful for in your PhD?
My wife and I really enjoyed the Daredevil show on Netflix. For those who don’t know the character, Daredevil is a superhero who is blind but has super-senses. His hearing, sense of touch, smell and so on are so powerful that he has an advantage over people who can see. Of course, there are some things he can’t do, because despite his super-senses he still can’t see.
Nathan, this is a blog about a vivas and PhDs and stuff!
Oh yeah!
The character of Daredevil got me thinking about the viva. If you’re on your way to the viva you have a similar situation: you’re blind to what’s coming your way. You don’t know how long it will be, you don’t know what questions are coming, you don’t know what opinions your examiners have formed. There’s a lot you don’t and can’t know.
But like Daredevil you have an advantage: you have the experience of doing your PhD. You have 3+ years of work and thinking about your research, not just the thesis. You can’t see the question coming, but when it comes you know how to tackle it. Why? Because you have superpowers.
(Again, it’s no accident that you’re at the viva)
Throughout my PhD I thought that I was particularly attracted to what I did because I loved the challenge of maths. Maths can feel like there is a secret language at work. If you know it, or know enough, then you can feel powerful. It’s hard to get to know enough, and then to build up enough intuition about how to apply this magic to solve problems.
After my PhD I realised that I loved having interesting challenges to work on, and for a long time maths had been filling that space for me. So I started looking for interesting projects. This blog is an interesting challenge to work on. I have to write a lot (and edit a lot). I have to do a lot of planning and scheduling. Interesting challenges are worth it. They stretch you. They develop you. They’re worth finding or making.
At the end of your PhD, spend some time thinking about the interesting challenges you had. What did you learn from them? How did you encounter them? What happened as a result? Your examiners will not necessarily launch into asking you about the interesting challenges of your PhD, but if you spend time reviewing them you’ll find rich ideas to reflect on.
The day comes, you click print, and you’ve finished your PhD! Except for the viva.
You have your viva, it goes well, and you’ve finished your PhD! Except for corrections.
You take the time, do the work, finish your corrections and now you’ve finished your PhD!
But you have to wait until graduation.
Finally the day comes, you cross the stage, shake a hand and NOW you’ve finished your PhD! You’re done!
What now?
Which is better, treating the viva as a Special, One Of A Kind, Big, Important, This-Is-It Event Day – or going to university like it’s a regular day? Is it better go in thinking that it’s make or break, or acting as if the outcome is certain? Hard questions to answer.
Better questions to answer: What is the story that you tell yourself about the viva? Is it a helpful narrative? Would it be better to change the story?
Get ready, because after the PhD you have to do something better. It can’t be the peak of your life. Take some time to reflect when you approach the end. Even if you have a job or plans for what comes next, think about what else the New And Improved You can now tackle.
Episode 50! In some ways it has come around really quickly, and in others it feels like it has been a long time coming. This is a very different sort-of episode: just me talking for a little while. The Viva Survivors Podcast has been around for nearly three and a half years, and it feels like a good time to say a lot of thank yous, as well as reflect on where the podcast has come from, the opportunities that have come my way and talk about my plans for the future.
As another thank you, I’m offering 50% off all of my ebooks available at Payhip. Simply use the code FIFTY when prompted to get any of the following for half price:
The code is valid until the end of November 2015: share it on to anyone who you think would be interested. This is just one little way I can say thank you for all of the shares, RTs, emails, messages and other things that so many people have done for me and for the podcast over the last few years.
If you want to get in touch please email me, or find me on Twitter as @DrRyder or @VivaSurvivors. I love hearing from people who want to come on the podcast to share their PhD and viva experiences.
Here’s to the next fifty episodes! Thanks for reading 🙂
Nathan (@DrRyder and @VivaSurvivors)
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