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Tag: the PhD journey

Nathan

Famous Last Words

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We can express l(Yn) – r(Yn) as a linear combination of annulus diagrams a^m….

That’s how the last sentence in my thesis begins – please don’t ask me what it means!

Where do you leave things in your thesis?

I’m eighteen years past my viva so I don’t feel I need to remember everything now. For you, with your viva at some point in the future, it makes sense to have a good grasp on where you leave things in your thesis.

Many candidates give a lot of focus to the start of the viva: what might those initial questions be? You’ll never know for sure until your examiners ask. You’ll never know the closing questions until they’re asked too.

It makes sense to unpick the final pages of your thesis to look for possible areas of exploration:

  • What are your final words on your thesis research?
  • What future steps could someone take to continue what you’ve done?
  • What do you think of the end of your PhD research?
  • What do you think your examiners will ask?

The final sentence of my thesis was a conjecture. I had a theory, an idea I could never show to be true. At the time I had a hope. Eighteen years on I still have a little flicker of belief that I was probably right.

What do you hope you’ll be asked at the end of your viva?

 

PS: today’s post was a super-specific reflection but if you’re looking for more general viva help then check out the details for my upcoming live 7 Reasons You’ll Pass Your Viva webinars in June and July. The first of these is Wednesday 17th June 2026 and I have four more dates including evenings and weekends. Thanks for reading!

Nathan

Imagine Success

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Success at your viva means satisfying your examiners and doing what you need to in the discussion. Maybe success still leads to corrections but it certainly leads to passing, the opportunity to graduate, celebration and being Doctor Somebody.

  • What would it take for you to succeed at your viva?
  • What might you have to do between now and then?
  • Who do you need help from?
  • What might you need to explore or check?
  • How might you have to change?

There might be time and work ahead of you before you reach that success. Remember though that that viva success does not solely rest on the actions ahead of you.

In fact if you’ve submitted your thesis or are working towards submitting soon then your future actions are only a small part of your success. Remember everything else you’ve done to get to this point.

 

PS: Looking for more helpful reflections and viva confidence-building? Then take a look at The Submission Issue, the latest Viva Survivors Select collection – twenty posts from the archive and two original pages of help for £3.

PPS: If you’re looking for even more help then check out the dates of my upcoming 7 Reasons You’ll Pass Your Viva live webinars in June and July. Booking for all of these opens on Tuesday and I’ll be sending an extra announcement then – but you can activate reminders on Eventbrite so you’re told as soon as registration opens!

Thanks for reading 🙂

Nathan

Building On Difficult Circumstances

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Every PhD contains difficult circumstances. Reflecting on how you get through them – how you keep going – is a useful way to explore how you have you grown and how you can approach future challenges.

(because you will definitely face challenges in the future)

Writing about the challenges you’ve faced can be a good way to think through your PhD journey and what it means. Bring to mind one of the difficult circumstances you’ve overcome. Then reflect and respond to these questions in sequence:

  • Why did you face difficult circumstances?
  • When did this happen during your PhD?
  • What was the impact of the situation?
  • Who did you turn to for support?
  • How did you overcome the circumstances?

Thinking about the whys and hows of a situation – particularly how you overcame it – can be helpful for the future. Thinking about why something happened and what you can do differently can prevent similar circumstances from occurring again. Thinking about what you have learned as a result can help you to feel more capable when dealing with problems.

Recognising that you overcame a significant challenge can help you to feel confident when you find yourself confronting challenges in the future.

(because, again, you will definitely face challenges in the future!)

Every PhD candidate encounters difficult circumstances. It’s a part of the journey towards completing a doctorate.

Difficult circumstances don’t have to define who you are and how you go about your research but reflecting on them can be helpful as you work towards completing your PhD.

Nathan

Prep Matters

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People succeed at their viva, for the most part, because of who they became during their PhD journey. The amount of work, the amount of knowledge, the scale of results and the personal growth – that’s what helps them create a thesis and it’s what leads them to success at the viva…

…but prep matters.

Viva prep is learning what to expect and working towards meeting that challenge. By the time you submit your thesis you are well experienced at overcoming challenges. Viva prep is a little bit of necessary work to help you feel ready for and succeed at the particular challenge of your viva.

Prep matters for how it helps you to focus. Prep matters because you can see what really matters when you slow down and take a little time for yourself. Your prep will matter to you because you are doing it to meet your needs.

Nathan

Less Than 100%

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Looking back over your PhD you have to accept that you can’t have given it your all.

You can’t have answered every question.

You can’t have achieved everything.

You can’t have written a perfect thesis.

You can’t be perfect.

And that’s OK.

Look at what you did. Step away from the trap of perfection and the distractions of what ifs. Then you can see that you have done something amazing.

You’ve done something that no-one else has ever done. You’ve become someone that no-one else has ever been.

Nathan

Start With You

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The work starts with you. There are lots of possible motivations for your research but you did it.

All of the reading, research, results and outputs – all of the impact – comes from you.

Your PhD is personal. It makes sense for your viva and viva prep to be personal too.

Start with you. Look back over everything you’ve done and think about what it means. When you know what you’ve done and what you still need to do then you can move forward proactively.

Nathan

Doctor Time

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The moment will come when you’re really, really done with your PhD but there are lots of steps along the way that might feel like endings.

  • How will you celebrate when you pass your viva?
  • How will you celebrate when you graduate?
  • What will being Doctor Someone mean to you?

Finishing your PhD is a big deal. It’s much bigger than the viva.

Thinking about the end can help you plan ahead, figure out how you feel and potentially motivate you for the work you still have to do.

You celebrate, you change and then what?

Nathan

Whose Fault Is It?

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It’s not uncommon to ask who is responsible if something goes wrong. After all, things don’t just happen, someone has to do (or not do) something. In your PhD journey there could be lots of people involved when something is wrong: the person who wrote a paper missed something, your supervisor wasn’t available to help or maybe you made a mistake.

Asking “Who?” is typical human behaviour but it might be less helpful than asking “Why?”

When we ask “Who?” we have a name. When we ask “Why?” we’re working towards a reason.

If something went wrong and you ask “Why?” then you can start to unpick the reasons, the impacts and the resolutions. You see more and can explain more (whether you’re doing this kind of exploration at the viva or in advance).

 

Don’t forget you could also ask “Why?” things worked out well during your PhD too. Why did you arrive at submission with a good thesis? Why was the contribution in that thesis sound? Why was the work that you did ultimately of a good standard?

Although, at the root of all of these questions what we’re really asking is “Who did this?”

 

PS: There are lots of reflections and more viva help in the latest issue of Viva Survivors Select, which I released earlier this week. The 2025 Issue collects twenty of my favourite blog posts from last year and adds two new pages of viva help. Want a helpful viva prep game? You’ll find it in the latest issue here 🙂 And please spread the word if you can!

Nathan

By The Ends

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By the end of your first year you probably have a direction or goal in mind for your research.

By the end of your final year you’ve realised enough of your aims to create a thesis.

By the end of your thesis someone can appreciate the contribution that you’re making.

By the end of your viva prep you’ll feel ready for the challenge of your viva.

By the end of your viva you’ll know that you did it.

By the end of all of this hopefully you’ll have a smile on your face as you think, “What now?”

 

PS: Take a look at the latest issue of Viva Survivors Select for more reflections, practical viva help and more. The 2025 Issue collects twenty of my favourite blog posts from last year and adds two new pages of viva help. You can see a few of the pages here to get a sense of what this little curated zine is all about. Please spread the word if you can!

Nathan

Limited Times

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You had limited time to research. You had limited time to write your thesis.

You’ll have limited time after submission to get ready for your viva. You’ll have limited time to take advantage of support from others and limited time to do the prep work you need to do.

At the viva you’ll have limited time to share your contribution and demonstrate your capability.

Another way to look at all this is “enough”.

For the work you needed to do you had enough time to get it done and enough time to write a thesis that was good. You have enough time to prepare and enough time to get help. At your viva you’ll have enough time to think carefully and enough time to respond to the discussion as it happens.

Time is limited at all stages of a PhD but there’s enough to succeed.

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