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Nathan

Competent, Capable, Confident

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If you can demonstrate competence in the various skills and processes that are expected of a researcher like you then you’ll be more capable overall.

If you can recognise in yourself that you are a capable researcher – because of what you can do, what you know and how you think – then you’ll feel more confident for your viva.

Feeling competent is only part of feeling capable; feeling capable is only part of feeling confident. Cover the basics but also think about what else you can do to build up all of these feelings as you finish your PhD and get ready for your viva – and the future beyond your doctorate.

Nathan

Whose Fault Is It?

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It’s not uncommon to ask who is responsible if something goes wrong. After all, things don’t just happen, someone has to do (or not do) something. In your PhD journey there could be lots of people involved when something is wrong: the person who wrote a paper missed something, your supervisor wasn’t available to help or maybe you made a mistake.

Asking “Who?” is typical human behaviour but it might be less helpful than asking “Why?”

When we ask “Who?” we have a name. When we ask “Why?” we’re working towards a reason.

If something went wrong and you ask “Why?” then you can start to unpick the reasons, the impacts and the resolutions. You see more and can explain more (whether you’re doing this kind of exploration at the viva or in advance).

 

Don’t forget you could also ask “Why?” things worked out well during your PhD too. Why did you arrive at submission with a good thesis? Why was the contribution in that thesis sound? Why was the work that you did ultimately of a good standard?

Although, at the root of all of these questions what we’re really asking is “Who did this?”

 

PS: There are lots of reflections and more viva help in the latest issue of Viva Survivors Select, which I released earlier this week. The 2025 Issue collects twenty of my favourite blog posts from last year and adds two new pages of viva help. Want a helpful viva prep game? You’ll find it in the latest issue here 🙂 And please spread the word if you can!

Nathan

Cut

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What did you leave out of your thesis?

You can’t have included everything you did over the last few years. You read papers that aren’t listed, had ideas you didn’t follow, worked on projects that ultimately aren’t written about and probably even developed results that you’re not sharing.

Part of the work of writing a thesis is curation: you did a lot but only present the material you think is necessary. For your viva do a little work to remember why. Reflect on what you cut and remember why you didn’t include it.

More importantly, remember what you left in and why. All of the references you’ve included and their impact, all of the ideas and their value, all off the projects and their outcomes – and all of the results and their meaning.

You made a contribution by deciding what really matters.

 

PS: you’ll find more helpful reflections in Viva Survivors Select Volume 1 – my complete collection of helpful viva zines that I made in 2025. Volume 1 is eight issues containing 165 curated posts from the archives along with a lot of new resources to help with viva prep. Check out the introductory offer price available until 31st January 2026.

Nathan

Perfectly Impossible

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You can’t be perfect for your viva.

You can be prepared.

You can be polished.

You can be practised.

 

Also: you don’t need to be perfect.

You have invested years of work into practical research in your field, into reading and building your knowledge and into writing your thesis. You’re not perfect but you are very good.

Your examiners expect good, not perfect. You can clearly demonstrate by this stage that you are good.

 

PS: if you’re looking for more ideas of what to expect from your examiners and the viva then do take a look at Viva Survivors Select Volume 1, which I released yesterday. This is my complete collection of helpful viva zines from last year: eight issues, 165 posts from the archives and lots of new resources – and with an introductory offer price until 31st January 2026!

Nathan

Days Of Work

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Between 700 and 800 days probably, if you’re a full time PhD candidate.

Seven to eight hundred days where you show up to do the work. Maybe some were really light on work but others were full dawn to dusk efforts.

Between seven and eight hundred days. Seven or eight hundred days of opportunities.

Probably not all of those 700 to 800 days were good. I’m sure they weren’t all bad either.

700-800 days of learning. 700-800 days of trying things. 700-800 days of moving your research forwards. 700-800 days of becoming a capable researcher.

Between 700 and 800 days of work. That’s what helps you be ready to succeed at your viva.

Nathan

Greater Than

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Years of work and learning won’t make you infallible.

It’s entirely possible to get to your viva and be faced with a question you’ve never considered before. You can forget or go blank. And you can always be asked a question that – through lack of understanding, lack of knowledge or a glitch in the moment – it feels like the only thing you can say is “I don’t know.”

Taking all of this into account, how much more likely is it that you know something?

It’s not wrong to worry about what if’s, brain freezes or feeling uncertain as you respond to an important event like the viva. You can do something about all of these through preparation and through recognising that you don’t need to know everything.

Years of work and learning won’t make you infallible – but, for your viva, what you know is greater than what you don’t.

Nathan

So Far, So Good

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People often say this in an almost resigned way.

Well, we got here somehow…

At the viva it’s better to remember that you have got so far because you are so good.

 

Not perfect: good enough.

Luck didn’t lead you to this point.

You got this far, learned so much and made a difference because you are good.

Nathan

The Firsts

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There are a lot of firsts on your PhD journey.

What was the first day of your PhD like? How far have you come since then?

What was the first paper you read? How did it help?

When did you find an answer to the first question you raised? How many more have you found since then?

What was the first step towards the first big result you got? And what was the first big result?

When did you finish your first draft? How did you improve upon it?

After submission you’ll find your first typo, take your first step to being ready, have your first moment of nervousness at the thought of your viva and eventually face the first question at your viva.

There are a lot of firsts on your PhD journey. Don’t forget them – and don’t forget how much more you have done.

Nathan

Slow Progress

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Progress in a PhD takes time and comes slowly.

Every sudden breakthrough moment has a long sequence of moments (and hours and days) before it that lead to the breakthrough.

It can be hard in a PhD to find confidence in your work or in your self because of the slow progress. You either don’t notice it creep up or, more likely, notice things like long hours, hard work, false starts and being busy.

Take time to notice what matters. Regularly reflect and review to notice the difference in your work, your progress and yourself. At the end of a day just take a moment to reflect, “What have I accomplished?” Each week ask, “What have I achieved?” Each month consider, “How am I getting better?”

Find confidence by looking for it.

Find confidence by noticing the progress as it happens.

Nathan

Compounding Confidence

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The sooner you start recognising your progress, growth, achievement and talent as you work through your PhD, the sooner you can start to feel confident for your viva.

Confidence compounds over time like interest. Regularly reflecting and reviewing on your PhD journey will help your confidence grow even more.

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