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Tag: the PhD journey

Nathan

Celebrate Your Thesis

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I love World Book Day! Not the costumes and dressing-up, but the sheer love of books.

It’s… a celebration of authors, illustrators, books and (most importantly) it’s a celebration of reading.

I don’t remember a time when I couldn’t read, when I didn’t read for fun, for learning, for joy, for the thrill of it. Books are fantastic.

A PhD thesis is fantastic too, but, like the viva, I wonder if they tend to get dragged down a bit. Lots of questions about writing up and so on tend to be negatively tuned in tone, or get a less than positive response from the person being asked.

That would be nice to turn that around, don’t you think? We can’t dismiss the hard work, the long hours, the difficult effort that goes into a thesis, but we can do more to recognise that a thesis is amazing.

So this World Book Day, if you have a thesis and want to celebrate:

  • Tell others what’s so great about it!
  • Write summaries in preparation for your viva!
  • Explore what makes it great – which is what your examiners will be looking for too!

If your friend has their viva or submission coming up, help them to celebrate their thesis:

  • Ask them about it! Not “How’s it going?” but “What makes it special?!”
  • Ask to know more: go for coffee and ask for more details.
  • Celebrate when it is finished!

Books are fantastic. A thesis is fantastic. To write one, you’ve got to be fantastic too.

Nathan

Every Little Thing

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The success you’ll find in your viva is cumulative. It’s built on top of everything you’ve done over the last few years.

It’s not an all or nothing, once-in-a-lifetime event. You’re there because of every little thing (and quite a few big things) that you’ve done well, got right and been amazing at over the course of your PhD.

Find your confidence for your viva in all of your other successes that have come before.

Nathan

Celebrating Milestones

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This is the 1000th daily Viva Survivors blog post!

A friend said to me, “That’s crazy! What are you doing to celebrate?”

And I said, “….Erm…..”

Hmm. Nothing really.

That got me thinking about celebrating milestones in general. I remember when I submitted my thesis (both for the viva and for my final submisson) I was feeling great, but lots of friends were too busy to go out. They had their own theses to think about! The staff at my university’s admin building basically shrugged when I handed my thesis over to them.

Milestones, like submitting your thesis, passing your viva, doing your literature review, completing a project – making it to the end of a tough week! – should be acknowledged. They should be marked. They should be celebrated!

I’ve seen some good practice on Twitter of departments and graduate schools sending out virtual cheers when someone passes their viva. I’ve heard of stickers being given out from time to time. My favourite little celebration I heard of recently came from an Edinburgh PGR who told me she was given a lollipop for submitting.

Kindly sent by Lesley Fraser, used with permission 🙂

That’s a very fancy lollipop!

Maybe your friends are busy, maybe admin staff will shrug, maybe you won’t get a fancy lollipop or shiny sticker…

So what are you going to do? Good work needs recognition. It helps reinforce you did it. You persevered. You got your PhD done. How will you celebrate? If celebrating doesn’t feel quite right, at least how will you mark it? Think about it and do something.

I decided to mark the 1000th Viva Survivors post with… this post! (And maybe some ice cream later!)

Nathan

Highlights…

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…or, I Went To The Zoo To Do Viva Survivor!

There’s a lot of nice things I get to do as part of my work. A few months ago I was asked to deliver my Viva Survivor session as part of a doctoral training programme’s away day. It’s not the first time that I’ve delivered the session outside of a university, I’ve been to a couple of other away days at hotels or conference centres.

This was the first time I’ve been to a zoo for work 🙂

I got to have a wander around, and then did the session after lunch. There was a special treat just before my session started. Going behind the scenes at the Yorkshire Wildlife Park, to learn about how they care for their big cats and then feed a lion! I’ve sometimes done work as part of a larger programme, but never had to follow something quite as thrilling as feeding a lion…

It was a great day, and most of the time when I’m out working I’m fortunate enough that it feels like I’ve had a great day. This was a bit more special than usual though, a real highlight.

I hope that lots of researchers feel that their PhDs are filled with great days (even though, sadly, I know from talking to people that’s not always the reality). As your viva gets nearer I’d encourage you to reflect on what the highlights were, and why they stand out. Is it all emotional? Is it something you learned, a significant day in your research? Was it the first or only time you got to do something really special?

Over a thousand-and-more days, parts of the PhD can fade into the background. Sometimes it can feel like it’s all about the work. But when it’s done, you’re the PhD.

How did you get here? What were the highlights on the path that got you here?

Nathan

Skeletons

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Let’s make some assumptions about your PhD:

  • you didn’t plagiarise;
  • you didn’t falsify results;
  • you didn’t try to misrepresent anything in your work.

All fair? Then there can’t really be any skeletons in your research closet. Maybe there are realisations you feel you “should” have had sooner. Maybe there are questions or ideas that you groan at having considered. None of these are shameful secrets though. You might not feel like telling everyone about them, but they don’t disqualify you.

Fundamental question about your PhD: were you honest? Yes?

Good. Then everything else helped you learn. Your mistakes have helped you grow to be the talented researcher you most definitely are.

Nathan

Origin Stories

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Superheroes all have origin stories: the tales that show why they are the way they are. Some parts show their beginnings, or how they got their powers. Some chapters show why they’re driven to do what they do, but taken together this tells a story that defines who they are.

But origin stories change over time for superheroes. Times change, memories fade, new audiences come. Stories are remade, taken apart, cleaned and ideas added. Things are tweaked or re-emphasised in how they’re told.

So, PhD Superhero: what’s your story? How did you get to where you are now? What are the pivotal events that give you your powers and drive?

And do you need to revise your origin story? Is there a better story you can tell yourself about how you got those superpowers and how you got this far?

Nathan

The Longcut

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I like this term. The longcut is the anti-shortcut. The longcut doesn’t cut corners or take chances with success. It’s slow, patient and persistent.

You didn’t take shortcuts with your research. You didn’t take shortcuts with writing your thesis. When you come to get ready for the viva, you don’t want to take shortcuts, you want longcuts. You want to do good work that will help you be certain of being ready.

Don’t skim your thesis the day before. Don’t rely on the bare minimum. Don’t just think about what might happen.

If you’re busy, still make time. Think about what will make a difference, make a plan and do work to get yourself ready for success.

Take the longcut.

Nathan

Prologue

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People sometimes think of The Hobbit as just the prologue to The Lord Of The Rings.

The story of The Hobbit is barely a footnote in the first Lord Of The Rings movie. They take a few seconds to say “Bilbo found a magic ring” – but there’s so much more to it than that! Dwarves and trolls and fantastic expeditions, elves and a dragon and incredible heroism…

The Hobbit is an epic adventure. It’s not only so Bilbo can find the One Ring.

…we now cut from Nathan’s Book & Movie Review Corner, back to the Viva Survivors blog…

I think candidates sometimes forget that the time spent doing the PhD is not just the prologue. And your thesis is for more than passing the viva. It isn’t just there to please your examiners and pass an exam. It stands as a separate, lasting contribution. It means something.

The ways you change, the things you learn, the things you can do by the end – it’s epic, not just the prologue.

I love The Hobbit, but The Lord Of The Rings is the grander story. Your life after the PhD probably will be too.

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