You Are Here

Tag: the PhD journey

Nathan

Dots

Daily Post

Postgraduate researchers collect, connect and communicate dots.

(let me explain)

Dots are raw bits and pieces of research. The papers you read. The ideas you have and test. The practical research you do.

You collect a lot of dots on your PhD journey. You sift and sort your collected dots and decide which ones matter.

You have to connect them in a way that makes sense. Sometimes you make them make sense. You write and think and write some more. You connect the dots as you bring your thesis together.

Your thesis communicates the meaning of all these collected and connected dots but you need more than that for a PhD. You also have to communicate the meaning in your viva.

You collect, connect and communicate the dots. You do a lot of really useful and valuable work to make the world more known and more interesting.

Thank you for all that you do!

 

(inspired by a Seth Godin post that has been rattling around in my head for a while!)

Nathan

The Nth Test

Daily Post

The viva is the only exam of your PhD but it’s not the first test.

How many challenges have you faced and overcome?

The viva is just the next test. You’ve managed N-1 for some suitably large number N over the past few years. The viva is one more challenge, one more test, even if it is the first exam.

The viva is a particular challenge so find out what to expect and prepare – but remember that you have done more and can do more. You can overcome this Nth test you face.

Nathan

Year One

Daily Post

How far have you come from the researcher you were in the first year of your PhD?

  • I remember that I was always nervous before meeting my supervisor – afraid that I would be found out.
  • I remember never quite understanding the terms in the papers I was reading – and worried because I found other papers to read but wasn’t sure if I should spend time on them.
  • I remember spending hours and hours feeling stuck with my main project – and spending hours and hours on little side projects that didn’t quite come together.

Which left me wondering if I was going to make it through my first year, never mind the rest of my PhD.

By the end of my PhD I was definitely doing things differently:

  • I remember going to meetings no longer nervous. Maybe I wasn’t exactly confident but I could say and show that I was making progress.
  • I remember still not understanding everything in the papers I was using but I felt that I knew enough.
  • I remember spending hours and hours finishing my thesis – and only a few hours considering what I would have to leave out to make it happen.

What I didn’t see at the time was the difference between how I was at the end of my PhD and how I had been in year one.

I can see it now. Doing things well or better helped – but knowing that I had made progress and really feeling that would have made a huge difference to my confidence.

As you get closer to your viva take time to reflect on the difference between who you are now and who you were when you started your PhD.

 

PS: How has your thesis contribution grown from the beginnings of your PhD journey? The latest issue of Viva Survivors Select, The Contribution Issue, has lots of ideas for reflecting on your work. Take a look if you’re looking for more viva prep help!

Nathan

All Your Hours

Daily Post

Something like 5500 to 6000 hours of work might go into a full-time PhD journey.

(that might be more hours as well if you’re a part time researcher…)

Thousands of hours of reading, writing, making notes, practical work, meetings, seminars, learning, developing, growing, creating and making and improving – and thinking.

So many hours of thinking.

When you bring all of that together and really consider how much you’ve invested into your journey then you will find some confidence for your viva.

 

PS: The many hours of your PhD journey lead to significant original contributions in your thesis. The latest Viva Survivors Select, The Contribution Issue, explores contributions from many perspectives. Take a look if you’re looking for more viva prep or confidence building help!

Nathan

Lucky & Fortunate

Daily Post

It’s important to properly frame the role of good fortune in a PhD journey or in viva success. Words matter – and the words you use to describe your progress and achievements have an impact on you and on others.

Lucky could happen to anyone but fortunate is down to you and your efforts.

Fortunate means you worked hard and enough of that hard work paid off.

Lucky means your actions didn’t matter. Anyone could have done it and it just happened to be you.

Whatever your research, remember that you’re not lucky: you’re fortunate.

 

PS: The latest issue of Viva Survivors Select 12, The Contribution Issue came out yesterday! Reflecting on your thesis contributions is a useful reminder of how your success really is down to good fortune and not luck. You’ll find a lot more in the issue too so please do take a look if you’re looking for more viva help.

Nathan

The Viva Essentials

Daily Post

What do you need for a viva?

You need to have a significant, original contribution to research from one or more projects that you’ve completed over (at least) several years.

You need to have a well-written thesis which, in some way, describes the research.

You need to have read the regulations for your institution and learned what to expect generally from a viva.

You need to have two suitable examiners (or sometimes more) who are going to prepare for and examine you at the viva.

You need to prepare for your viva.

You need to make sure that the university makes any necessary adjustments to the viva process to meet your specific needs, if you have any.

You need to show up on the day, ready to engage as well as you can with your examiners’ questions.

 

What else do you need? If you can think of something, how will you get it?

Nathan

Today & Tomorrow

Daily Post

You can’t change the past even if you wanted to.

You don’t get a do-over if you faced difficulties in your PhD or have regrets for something that could have been – or if you simply know more now than you did then.

Whatever happened, whatever the reason, today you can change course. Today you can decide that the past doesn’t define you. You can go a different way.

Today you can change course and tomorrow you can take action. And, importantly, you can do this again and again, steering yourself closer and closer to who you want to be for your viva.

So what do you want to achieve for yourself before your viva? How do you want to present yourself and your research at your viva? How might you change course? And what will you do to get to your destination?

 

PS: my final 7 Reasons You’ll Pass Your Viva webinar is running tomorrow morning, Wednesday 15th July 2026 at 11am. This is my last webinar before my summer break – so I’ve decided I’m really going to make it a good one! 😉 Registration includes a catch-up recording, follow-up email and my pdf guide 101 Steps To A Great Viva. Hope to see you there.

Nathan

A Problem

Daily Post

When you have a problem in your research there are a lot of questions that someone could ask.

  • Why is it a problem?
  • How is it a problem?
  • When did you realise you had a problem?
  • Did you resolve it? How did you do this? Did you have to try anything else first? And can you think of any other way you might have approached it?
  • Was this a one-time problem? A recurring problem? Is there literature about this kind of problem – or even this specific problem?
  • What does it mean to resolve this problem?
  • How have you felt the impact of the problem?
  • How would you advise someone else who faces this problem or similar in the future?

When you have a problem in your research there are a lot of questions that someone could ask – and someone could be one of your examiners.

Consider the problems you’ve faced in your PhD before you go to your viva. The fact that you have faced problems is not negative: it means there plenty of things to talk about which can demonstrate your capability.

Nathan

All The Stats

Daily Post

The breakdown of viva lengths, pass rates, corrections and questions don’t mean a thing for confidence. They might give a little comfort but they won’t really make you feel better about your viva.

What did you do? What does that mean? What can you do now that you couldn’t do before?

Consider these simple questions, look back over your time as a postgraduate researcher and you’ll find lots of confidence to help you feel better about your viva.

Nathan

Crossing The Gap

Daily Post

Some candidates worry that viva prep will be a terrible task to complete.

The viva can seem like an awesome task to face – how can you get ready in the few months between submission and the viva when you’re being called to be prepared to talk about your work, yourself and what it all means with two experienced academics?

By recognising that in reality, the gap between who you are at submission and who you need to be for the viva is not that great.

By remembering that viva prep is doing particular work for the particular challenge of the viva – and remembering that if you have got to submission then you are very experienced at rising to challenges.

There’s a little work to do to cross that gap. You can do it.

1 2 3 4 … 51