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Nathan

Final Form

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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

On Banishing Impostors

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Impostor syndrome is a commonly discussed topic in academia. It’s not unusual for a postgraduate researcher to feel they’re somehow not good enough as they get closer to their viva.

I don’t know that anyone has a 100% solution to getting rid of these sorts of feelings, but I have some ideas of what you could do if they feel particularly difficult around your viva.

  • Check in with friends. Talk to trusted friends and colleagues who have already passed their viva. Ask about how they felt. While it’s not comfortable to feel like an impostor, knowing you’re not alone can be the start of helping yourself.
  • Be honest with your record. Look at your progress, the real progress you’ve made. Look at what now exists that did not before. Reflect on how and why that has come to be: you did this work.
  • Imagine what an impostor would really do. How would they act or behave? What would they know? Now compare that to yourself. Do you act or behave like a fake?

I think most thoughtful PhD candidates and academics would admit that they are not perfect. They’re always learning and always will be. Sometimes knowing you don’t know everything or can’t do everything can make you compare yourself falsely to others. Sometimes being around other talented people means that you feel smaller by comparison.

Start by being honest with yourself. Not only about how you feel – because then you can act to change that feeling – but also with the reality of the situation. You don’t feel good, but you couldn’t have got as far as you have if you hadn’t done the work and found success.

Nathan

Expect Good

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What could your viva be like? It could be lots of things!

It could be four hours long but feel like it’s over in half that, like mine felt to me. It could begin with a chance for you to summarise what you’ve done or with an open question from one of your examiners. It could be that you are sat around a seminar room table with your examiners or that you’re talking to each other over video and at a great distance.

There’s a lot of variety to the viva. When you account for all of the weird one-in-a-million cases, like someone (me) standing for their four hour viva, the chief expectation for vivas is that they are good.

Expect your viva to be good. Expect your thesis to be well-received. Expect your examiners to be good and prepared. Expect that you’ll receive good questions.

Expect yourself to be good enough.

Nathan

Investing In Confidence

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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

Remember You Are Talented

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The skill set, knowledge and attributes you have as a researcher are due to your experience. You are talented because you have put the effort in consistently over a long period of time.

You work through your PhD journey and build up your talent. You pass your viva because of that talent.

Don’t forget that while you get ready. Build a strong foundation of confidence for your viva.

Nathan

One Weird Trick For The Viva

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Alas! There isn’t one.

No shortcuts. No hacks. No loopholes.

No tricks. No weird little things that will just make it all better.

But you don’t need them.

You need someone who has done the work. Someone who has put in the time and dedication. Someone who takes things seriously. Someone who takes the time to get ready.

Someone like you.

You have all the magic you need for your viva.

Nathan

The Key Expectation

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There are lots of things we could expect of the viva. A particular length, certain questions, the tone of the discussion, the expertise of the examiners…

And the most fundamental expectation: that the candidate is up to the task. That they have done the work. They have written a good thesis. They are a capable researcher.

If your viva is near, or submission is soon, it’s reasonable to expect you are up to the task.

It’s also common to feel that you’re not. It’s common to be nervous, anxious or worried that you are missing something.

If you feel doubts about your ability then take a deep breath and ask yourself three questions:

What am I really worried about? What can I do to work past that worry? And could I really have got this far if I wasn’t good enough?

You can’t simply be lucky. You’re expected to be good.

And really, you must be good by this stage.

Nathan

In Case You’ve Forgotten

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If you’re working towards your viva now you are so close to being finished. And to get this far you’ve already successfully completed many major milestones. Some you will share with other candidates, they’re part of the general PhD journey; some will be your own, and no-one else will have had to rise to the challenges that you have.

If you’re nervous, concerned or afraid then at least remember that you are good. You can do this. Don’t forget how far you have come. Don’t forget how you have succeeded despite living through strange and challenging times. You’re so close. You can do this. Keep going.

Nathan

A Little Extra Is Enough

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Another way to think about viva prep: it’s the extra time you get to do a little bit more.

Not a lot of time. Not a lot of work.

The work you’ve already done – research, writing and development – is what gets you through the viva. You’ve written a good enough thesis to share your research. You’ve grown enough in your talent and knowledge to be a capable researcher in your field.

Prep is that little extra to help convince yourself that you’re good enough.

Nathan

Learning & Growing

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It’s not wrong to reflect on what you might do differently if you started your PhD again.

No thesis is perfect. No PhD journey can be completed without encountering problems or making mistakes. The PhD process is one of learning, so it’s natural to complete it and realise you might do things differently.

Some things could be because you realise a choice was made in error. Or perhaps you know that something went wrong. Maybe now, with the benefit of hindsight and greater knowledge, you know you would take another course of action or understand something with more clarity.

Considering what you would do differently is a great way to remind yourself that you’ve learned more than you knew at the start of the PhD. Don’t think about differences as a way to give yourself more problems and doubts. Reflect and see that your talent, knowledge and skills have grown.

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