Daily viva help for PhDs
Don’t fill the margins, footers and headers of your thesis until they are overflowing with notes.
Too much can be a distraction, just something else to read and decipher as you’re looking for something helpful.
A little goes a long way.
A little thought helps in the preparation, and a little note on the day can help you in the viva’s discussion.
I advise candidates to annotate their thesis, but the word really in my mind is augment:
To make something greater by adding to it…
You’re not just adding some notes or bookmarks, some Post-its or highlighted sections; your thesis will be better for you doing it.
I use the word annotate in workshops, because that’s what people expect. Let’s be clear though: if you add Post-its to show the start of chapters, underline typos, add notes in a consistent way, highlight references, insert clarifications, decrypt technical language, update a thought and anything else like this – you’re augmenting. Your thesis is greater than it was, a richer resource for you.
Step one, ask yourself: what would make your thesis even greater for you?
Tiny Post-its are good for marking the start of chapters. You can clearly highlight where important parts of your thesis are.
Large, square Post-its help to expand on a point. Postcard-sized Post-its can be a brief summary of a key section or chapter.
Post-it Notes come in a variety of colours too! If you really want to you can think about some kind of way to code for different information. Different colours for different chapters, certain colours for certain kinds of work.
There’s a lot you can do to help annotate your thesis. A trip to the stationery cupboard is a good start.
PhD graduates have rarely told me they’ve forgotten an important detail in the viva. Usually everything comes to mind when needed.
But nevermind others: if you’re worried that something important will slip your mind you can do things to help yourself. Just for starters:
Your examiners don’t expect you to commit three or more years of work to memory. The worry comes from you. The solution can too.
There’s a lot of empty margins in a thesis. A lot of space free in headers and footers. And in the centre of most pages a LOT of words.
A thesis is a summary of at least three years of research. An embedding of thoughts into words. It’s taken time to get it all just so.
When you’re reading it all back, remember that a few more words can make a difference:
Annotation helps. Don’t be afraid to add a few more words.
Software is often patched after an initial release. Sometimes to repair a previously unknown defect. Sometimes to add other functionality. And sometimes a patch just makes something better.
The last kind is the same as making notes in your thesis margin before the viva. It’s equivalent to highlighting or underlining text or references. Small additions can help a lot. Annotation is a patch to make your thesis more user-friendly for one important user.
I’m rounding 2017 off with five days of link sharing for five different areas I’ve posted on this year. I’m starting today with the topic of viva prep which is something I think about every day. How can we best approach it? How can I help people think about it and then do something effective? Here’s a list of some of the best posts from 2017 to help with preparing for the viva!
I hope these posts are really useful for you. There are hundreds of posts on the blog from 2017, so go looking and see what you find.
Found something else on viva prep that you think is awesome? Let me know! And please share my best of 2017 posts with anyone who might need them. Retweets are always welcome!
Behind the scenes extras on DVDs are interesting, but not for everyone. I’m a fan of commentary tracks. I like listening to a movie director explore influences, or explain why they made the choices they did. It’s fascinating, but I guess that most people will just want to watch the film.
When it comes to your thesis and your viva, you’re not “most people”. Annotating your thesis creates a valuable commentary that is doubly useful. First you ask yourself questions, engage with your thesis and make choices about how to add to the work. After that, you have an incredible resource you can refer to in your preparation and in the viva.
So read your thesis with pen in hand. What does that piece of jargon actually mean? Can you summarise this complex argument you make? How will you draw attention to typos? Which are the key references to highlight?
How will you make your thesis even more valuable?
Whatever field you explore for your research, you will have terms that others can’t easily understand. There may be terminology that you can’t easily understand. I built up shorthand in my head, “OK, so a genus 2 mutation is like a donut with two holes. But not quite.”
Yeah, not quite…
When you come to read through your thesis, either when you’re finishing it up for submission or when you’re reading to prepare for the viva, make a list of terms that you find. Make notes about what these all mean. Be certain of your jargon. Break it down for yourself and you’ll be able to explain it better to others.
I realised the other day that I often advise people to take their time when it comes to the viva.
Plan how you’re going to prepare.
Invest time in reading your thesis carefully.
Don’t rush to an answer in the viva.
It got me wondering, are there any areas of viva prep or thesis examination where it would be good to rush?
Well, there are things that you can do quickly, but they’re not so much about rushing as they are about doing specific tasks. Dash out some bullet points about a chapter when you start a summary file; spend two minutes to put a Post It at the start of each chapter in your thesis; write down the first five researchers you can think of whose work you build on.
You can do these quickly and then develop them: write a summary, add Post Its to other important areas, expand your researcher list. You’re not rushing, you’re starting.
I can’t think of a good reason to rush in preparation or in the viva…
…but maybe after the viva you want to hurry to tell someone your good news?