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Tag: the PhD journey

Nathan

Red Flags

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Are there any red flags for examiner selection? Are there people I should try to avoid?

Let’s start with a caveat: there are people in every sphere of life who build up a clear reputation for behaving badly. In academia, these are the people who everyone knows at conferences as making long self-serving comments rather than asking questions after seminars. Perhaps they’re known for arrogance or for being thoughtless and rude.

People like this have a Semaphore Guilds-worth of red flags around them.

Clear signs of this behaviour are worth avoiding if possible – if asked for examiner suggestions by your supervisor – so that you can avoid the possibility of that behaviour in your viva.

 

Beyond that: I can’t think of any real red flags that people have shared with me or from the general expectations and patterns of viva life.

Anecdotally, new academics could be more thorough in the viva. They may ask more questions if it’s one of their first times acting as an examiner. That’s not bad: they’re trying to do the job well. It’s not a reflection on you or your thesis. A longer viva could simply be a little uncomfortable by the end.

Beyond bad behaviour there are no real red flags unless they’re personal ones. Maybe you would prefer someone you’ve cited; a personal red flag would be someone who has no direct contact with your research. Or perhaps you want someone who could be a future collaborator. A red flag would be someone who might not connect well with your future research goals.

You don’t get to choose your examiners. You might be able to make suggestions to your supervisors. It’s worth considering who would be a good choice if you do have the opportunity – and what might be a red flag for you.

If you have red flags, who might that exclude from a list of potential examiners? More importantly, who might be a good choice for you?

Nathan

Almost Zero

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Viva failure is exceptionally rare.

I’ve asked graduate schools, doctoral colleges and doctoral training programmes: they consistently tell me around one in one thousand vivas result in failure. That’s not zero, but I think we can reasonably deduce a few things:

  • The vast majority of PhD candidates meet the requirements, both in their thesis and themselves, in order to succeed.
  • The regulations and patterns of experience at the viva result in success (whatever shortcomings they might have).
  • However people prepare – whether they read a blog, buy a book or attend a webinar/workshop – they do enough to help themselves succeed.

If candidates reflect on their journey they’ll appreciate they’ve done enough. If people read the regulations and ask about expectations they should find information that helps. If they ask for advice or help with preparation then they should be able to figure out what to do (and do it).

Could things be better? Most likely! It would be great if all candidates enjoyed their viva experience. It would be great if the culture around the vivas was less opaque and mysterious so people knew more of what to expect.

All of that said: do the work, ask for help, take time to get ready and there’s almost zero chance that you’ll fail.

Nathan

Mile 26

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It’s a marathon, not a sprint.

Lots of metaphors about the PhD and the viva recall marathons. They suggest perspective on how much time is involved, the pace, the determination and so on. It’s even common to see writers talk about the viva as the final mile of the PhD journey.

The viva is the last big challenge – but marathons aren’t 26 miles in length.

A marathon is 26 miles and 385 yards.

After 26 miles of progress there’s still a little more.

Not quite a quarter of a mile.

Submission is the 26 mile marker. The viva is that last 385 yards. Still a little to do. A little more work. A little more determination. But you really are almost there.

Nathan

All Vivas Are Short…

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…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.

Nathan

In The Distance

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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:

  • Regularly reflect on how you’re doing. Highlight your successes. See how your confidence changes.
  • Find opportunities to talk about your work. This will help you figure out how to explain what you do and what it means. This is helpful for your PhD, your thesis and your viva.
  • Pay attention when your friends and colleagues have vivas. What do they do to get ready? How do they seem before and after?

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!

Nathan

Again, For The Final Time

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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.

Nathan

Packing Up

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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:

  • Do I need all of this?
  • Is there anything I can just let go of?
  • Is there anything I’m carrying around simply because I’ve had it for a long time?

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.

Nathan

You Did The Work

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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.

Nathan

At A Distance

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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.

Nathan

Steering Towards Confidence

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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.

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