You Are Here

Tag: the PhD journey

Nathan

How Many Times?

Daily Post

How many times have you faced difficult challenges during your PhD journey?

Think about how many meetings you’ve had with your supervisor.

Think about how many times you’ve presented your work as a paper or poster.

Consider how many times you’ve shared your work in a departmental seminar.

Remember how many times you’ve had a discussion about what you do, particularly those times you’ve responded to difficult questions.

Think about how many times you overcame an obstacle in your work – and how many times you showed up to do the work of your research!

How many times have you already succeeded before you meet your examiners?

Nathan

Resolve

Daily Post

Don’t make big resolutions for this year. Don’t set impossible goals for yourself.

Don’t put that on yourself, particularly if you’re finishing your PhD and your viva will be between now and December 31st.

Instead, try one thing. Every day, when you’re fully awake, before you start your work or leisure, just ask yourself: “What can I do today to make tomorrow better?”

It can be tiny. It could be a one-off. It could be the start of a habit. It could be by yourself or involve others. It could be the start of an activity or finishing something.

“What can I do today to make tomorrow better?”

Then do it.

 

All the best for 2024 and my particular best wishes if you’re working towards your viva. What can you do in the coming weeks and months to make that day better?

Nathan

Best of Viva Survivors 2023: Reflections

Daily Post

If you read through any handful of posts on Viva Survivors you’ll come across a reflection. With the work that I do supporting postgraduate researchers – and having done this for a very long time now – I like to reflect, look for patterns, look for connections and try to find interesting ways to explore what the viva is all about.

You’ll read many more reflections on the viva, viva prep and everything related in 2024 – but tomorrow look out for my favourite short posts of 2023.

Nathan

Fun & Games

Daily Post

The PhD journey is long, often tough and regularly features setback, failure and difficulty on the path to making a significant, original contribution.

It can also be very enjoyable, and while you can’t simply put all the obstacles to one side, it might help you more as you get ready for your viva to remember the good times.

  • When did you have fun while doing your research? What made those experiences fun?
  • Have you been able to challenge yourself to get better at something?
  • Was it possible to share your growth or your research with others?

Reflecting on how you overcame something can be powerful, but it’s also helps to remember those moments where you simply shone, where you enjoyed doing something that mattered.

Nathan

Keep A Record

Daily Post

From day one of your PhD keep a record whenever you achieve something.

  • Learn something new? Write it down.
  • Finish a project? Write it down.
  • Read a helpful paper? Write it down.
  • Complete a task even when it is difficult? Write it down and underline it.
  • Thrive in a challenging meeting? Write it down and add an asterisk.
  • Present your work in any format? Write it down, underline, asterisk and break out the highlighter!

From the start of your PhD, keep a record of your achievements – and by the end not only will you have a very impressive record indeed, but you’ll have a strong sense of confidence that your talent, capability and knowledge have grown.

 

If today is not day one of your PhD – if it’s more like day one thousand, say – you can still get some of these benefits for yourself.

Start keeping the record today and invest some time in looking back. Remember the times when you learned something, finished a project or read a helpful paper. Make note of the challenging tasks you persevered with, when you rose to the challenge of a discussion or presented your work.

Day one or day one thousand, there’s always time to build up your confidence for your viva. You always have an opportunity to do something to build the certainty that you’ve done something good in your research and that you are good enough as you are.

Nathan

Your Choices

Daily Post

Important questions in the viva are interested in the why of the decisions you made during your PhD.

Why this topic?

Why this method rather than that one?

Why did you decide to focus on this approach?

Take a little time in your preparation to review the choices you’ve made and the reasons that supported them.

Nathan

Rainbow’s End

Daily Post

Stories say that there’s a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.

The reality is that a rainbow’s end moves as you move. Make any progress in getting closer to where it appears to be and you’ll find that it’s not where you thought it was. Struggle and strive but it moves further away.

You can perhaps figure out where the end of the rainbow would be based on where you are now – but by the time you reach that point it will have shifted (or maybe disappeared).

 

I think this resonates with the reality of the PhD journey. The viva or graduation might seem like the big event you’re aiming towards, but as you get closer you’ll realise that there’s something more. You get closer to what seems like the end, only to find that there’s more waiting for you.

The PhD journey is just a part of the greater journey; it’s an important stage, and the benefit could be valuable to your future. If you feel like there’s nothing else but your PhD, remember there’s no pot of gold at the end. The end is further away and you are more than your research.

Nathan

Past, Present, Future

Daily Post

As you get ready for your viva:

  • Look back over everything you’ve done that has got you this far. Consider what has helped you to grow and what you’ve achieved.
  • Think about where you are now and what you can do in the days leading up to your viva. Decide on the actions you will take to help your prep.
  • Cast your mind ahead to the viva. What do you expect from your examiners and what do you think will need to be explored in your thesis?

Looking back helps remind you of the journey that has lead you this far. Taking action now can help you be more prepared for your viva. Looking ahead and reflecting on the challenges you’ll face will allow you to be more ready for when they arrive.

Nathan

No Luck Required

Daily Post

PhD success is built on work.

The happy accident can happen. You can be in the right place at the right time. When all things are considered though, you put yourself in that happy place with the decisions, determination and dedication in your work.

Hard work takes you to the viva. You can’t pass by being lucky. You will pass through your own efforts.

 

PS: One way you can remind yourself of all the good you’ve done would be by playing How You Got Here, a reflective writing game about the PhD journey that’s part of the Viva Help Bundle – a collection of helpful viva prep resources on sale for £6 until Thursday 30th November 2023 – that’s today!

Nathan

Simple Doesn’t Mean Easy

Daily Post

The viva isn’t hard to understand. You do the research over years, write your thesis probably over months and then talk with your examiners for a few hours.

In the viva itself you’re discussing what you’ve done, what it means, what you can do and how you think. You’re showing that your skills and knowledge are enough and that the work you’ve done makes a difference.

 

This is all simple to understand.

That doesn’t mean it is easy to do.

 

All that work and effort is hard. The viva is a difficult challenge despite being so simple to grasp.

Partly this is due to the level that you’re working at. Partly it’s the unknown aspect of the viva. And partly it is because you will probably be nervous at your viva.

Your viva will most likely be a difficult challenge for you – but only difficult. You’ve come so far by becoming good at what you do. After all, that’s the only way you could have written and submitted a thesis.

It’s quite simple really.

 

PS: If you’re looking for simple, easy-to-follow advice about the viva and viva prep then check out the Viva Help Bundle of ebooks. A collection of three helpful resources, on sale for £6 until Thursday 30th November 2023. Do check it out!

1 … 13 14 15 16 17 … 42