Daily viva help for PhDs
…compared with the amount of time you’ve invested in your PhD.
That doesn’t make them easy. That doesn’t mean they’ll fly by if they are many hours long. That doesn’t mean there’s no need to prepare.
Those thousands of hours in your PhD journey help make sure that the short time in your viva will result in success.
If you’re reading this and you’re in your first or second year of your PhD, you don’t have to worry about your viva! You don’t have to give it any great thought: for now, keep on with the main work of your research and your own development. You don’t need to be focussing on your viva.
And with that said, if you want to help yourself now and when you get to the viva, consider doing some of the following:
Little things you do over a long period of time will help you both on the journey and at your destination. Your viva is a way off in the distance. Don’t worry about it, but help yourself as you make your way there.
And of course, if you’re in your third year or fast-approaching your viva, you can follow the ideas above, they’ll still help!
That’s the viva. You’re doing something you have done many, many times throughout the last few years – thinking about and talking about your research and your ability as a researcher – and this is the last time you’ll need to do that.
(you might want to do it again, you might want to be a researcher or have a career that involves this – but you won’t need to do it after your viva)
At your viva you need to discuss your research contribution, your PhD journey and what you can do as a researcher. These are all things you must necessarily have done a lot during your PhD. The viva is a particular challenge which requires particular prep, but it’s not so different from the rest of your PhD experience.
The viva means doing it one more time. Maybe the last time.
A few months after my viva, when my corrections were all completed, it was time to pack up the desk in my shared office.
I wish I had considered it properly at the time. Instead, I just packed everything into boxes. Things were grouped together, but I wasn’t sure of what I would be doing in the future. Maybe I would still do maths research at some point. Best to keep all of the papers, notes, books, curios, desk toys, excess stationery and bits and bobs – just in case!
When my wife and I moved in together a few years later I brought those boxes with me. When we were able to buy a house three years after that I took them with me again. More time passed. Finally, somewhere in the last five years I’ve been able to open the boxes and start to shed some of this stuff that I’ve been holding on to for over fifteen years.
In 2008 I should have asked myself:
It would have been helpful to ask these questions as I was packing up!
I think it could have helped a lot if I’d asked similar questions when I was getting ready for my viva too.
Did I need to focus on every page in my thesis and all of the papers and ideas I’d been thinking about? No! I could have been kinder to myself by being more focussed.
Were there things I could just let go of? Yes! So much. Ideas for developing my work further, ideas about whether things were good or not.
Were there things I was carrying around for a long time and just kept them with me? Yes. I took my nervousness in presenting as a sign that I wasn’t good at presenting or speaking. I carried that idea for a long time before I was able to set it aside.
There’ll come a time when you have to pack up your PhD. Maybe you won’t be moving offices or taking things home, but you’ll still have to say, “This is over, time for something else.”
Be kind to yourself. Pack up only what you need.
And start the process during your prep to help you focus on the work that will help you get ready. Take time to explore what you can let go of as well.
Four words to remember.
They don’t mean that you’re ready. They don’t mean you’re perfect. They don’t mean that your viva will be easy.
They simply mean that you have got to this point in your PhD journey because of time, effort and talent. You did the work. Luck doesn’t hold sway over your progress. Your success is due to what you did.
Your success at the viva is built on a foundation of your work. A little more will help you be ready and that’s enough.
Ask for help when you’re getting ready for your viva. Talk to your friends and colleagues in your department. Get them to listen to you talk about your work or ask about their experiences. Get the benefit of their help!
…but what do you do if you don’t have a PGR community in your department? Or what do you do if you are a distance PhD and you don’t have close contacts in your department because it’s rare for you to be there?
If you are in a position where you don’t have close contacts for some reason there is still a lot of viva prep you can do by yourself. If you need advice or want to know about viva experiences you might have to reach out to others.
Start by emailing and introducing yourself. It’s likely that there are even a few people from your department or a related institution who you’re acquainted with. Start with them.
Explain your situation. Tell people when your viva is and what you’re looking for. Ask for advice if you think they might have it and be clear about the kind of support you’re looking for if that’s what you need.
You might be at a distance and you might be able to do a lot of prep by yourself – but that doesn’t mean that you are alone as you get ready.
To feel confident for your viva you have to do the work: you have to do the research needed, write your thesis, develop yourself and really realise what all of that means.
Confidence isn’t a destination on your PhD journey. It’s a feeling you have to find through the work that you do. Your actions lead you to feeling confident (or not) and so you have to see what works and what doesn’t. Does your confidence grow through simply doing things, like giving talks or publishing papers? Or do you need to reflect more on how you feel afterwards, perhaps carefully unpicking what happened?
Will simple things like considering what you wear and how you explain things help? Will small things like a music playlist or some other helpful placebo steer you towards feeling confident?
Confidence isn’t a destination. It’s a feeling you can find. Keep going, keep doing, keep thinking and you can steer yourself towards feeling good, both for your viva and more generally.
How good will it feel when those words are real?
How will you feel when your thesis is finished and submitted, you’ve had your viva, you’ve done whatever corrections you need to and – finally! – you’ve graduated?
Completing a PhD is a relatively rare thing: it might not seem that way because you’re surrounded by people who have done it or are working towards that goal! It’s unlikely you’ll ever have an experience quite like this in your life.
So take time to enjoy it if you can. Take time to record your thoughts and feelings. And take time to figure out what you can carry with you into whatever your next great challenge is.
If you think back on your PhD, all the work and effort, the success and setbacks and so on, you’re not going to remember three or more years of continuous story. You’ll remember moments: events that for matter to you and stand out for some reason.
Given the challenge of research and the difficulties you might face, it’s understandable if the standout moments skew a little negatively.
With a little help you can focus on the really helpful highlights. Consider:
You don’t have to focus on everything as you prepare for your viva. When it comes to building confidence, it will help far more to focus on the snapshots of your progress and growth.
There are several ways we use the word.
Someone is a legend if they’re amazing. They have talent and are someone who has demonstrated that for a long time. For example, a postgraduate researcher when they reach thesis submission…
A legend can also be about someone or something, perhaps a story or collection of stories. Quite often this describes how the person or thing came to be great. For example, consider a PhD journey with all of its ups, downs and ultimate successes…
Less well known is using the word legend to describe the marks on a map. The legend explains the symbols of important features, which isn’t all that dissimilar to when someone looks for the highlights in their story. For example, a postgraduate researcher reflecting on their PhD journey as they prepare for their viva…
Taken together: consider the highpoints of your story so that you can appreciate your capability and how you got here.
Or perhaps: the legend of your legend makes you a legend!