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Nathan

Viva Survivors Select 05

Update

In 2012 a little spark came to me: “I wonder if people would be interested in hearing viva stories from PhD graduates?”

Eight years ago I realised I couldn’t continue the podcast but wanted to use this space to still do something helpful. A spark: “I wonder if people would be interested in daily viva help?”

Sometimes before you have a concrete idea you have a spark, a what-if, an “I wonder…” that prompts action and leads to something good.

This kind of little notion is what lead to Viva Survivors Select 05, The Sparks Issue, which is out today. In over eight years I’ve written some very long posts and also quite a few short ones as well. For this issue I just wanted to look at those short posts with big helpful ideas.

Cover for Viva Survivors Select 05, The Sparks Issue. Shows two textboxes in the foreground with the title and author (Nathan Ryder) and the publication month, August 2025. Background is black with yellow-orange sparks stirred by a breeze.

The Sparks Issue contains twenty-five posts from the Viva Survivors archive covering a range of topics: viva prep, the PhD journey, building confidence and a lot more. As with previous issues of Viva Survivors Select I’ve also written two new pages: a helpful reflection on how the little things in your PhD journey can have an impact and an original reflective writing game to explore how you’re feeling as you get ready for your viva.

Viva Survivors Select 05 is out now for £3 and joins the first four issues in this ongoing project of monthly viva help. If you like the blog, want more help and want to support what I do then please take a look at and consider buying The Sparks Issue.

Please do pass on details of this issue and Viva Survivors Select to anyone you know who is looking for viva help.

Thanks for reading!

Nathan

Nathan

Symbols & Signs

Daily Post

There are many elements of the PhD journey and the viva process that are symbols or signs. Some you need and some you don’t. Some you can choose and some you can’t.

  • A completed thesis is a symbol of the work of your PhD.
  • An annotated thesis is a sign that you have taken time to prepare and get ready for your viva.
  • A piece of paper with questions held in your external examiner’s hand is a sign of the respect that they have shown your work.
  • The outfit you choose for your viva can be a symbol to help how you want to feel.

For the symbols and signs you can’t choose, remember what they really mean. For the ones you can – and particularly for the ones that have an impact on you – choose carefully.

Nathan

Push & Pull

Daily Post

Your success is partly the result of many actions that push your work forward and create your thesis contribution.

Your examiners will want to know all about this at your viva: the story of your research, the actions that got it done and the result now that your thesis is finished.

The actions that push your work forward also pull you along. Through the process you learn, understand more and become a capable researcher.

Your examiners will want to know all about this at your viva as well: what you know, what you can do, how you think and more.

Remember in viva prep to reflect on and review both your thesis and yourself.

Nathan

Favourite Days

Daily Post

I was feeling a little wistful recently as I looked back two decades to my own PhD.

What did I remember?

  • I remember sitting on a train one day when suddenly my research problem snapped into focus. By the time I reached my destination I had made the first breakthrough of my PhD.
  • I remembered attending residential workshops, meeting researchers from other departments and realised the variety of research that happened at Liverpool.
  • I remembered endless tea breaks with friends and colleagues.
  • I remembered taking over the often unused chalkboards in my office to write something out. I got stuck, called my supervisor and then realised the solution before he arrived. I remember feeling proud as I showed him a previously unknown result.
  • I remembered writing up my thesis and how it went much more smoothly when I planned my process.

I was trying to think of my favourite things from my PhD. Most of the things that came to mind also had some other aspect to them as well: something I learned, some small success or result.

 

Two thoughts came to me afterwards.

First, it struck me that it’s probably a good idea to think about your favourite days of your PhD journey as you get ready for your viva. You’re bound to think about success and growth and that can only be good for your confidence and preparation.

Second, looking back I didn’t count my viva as one of my favourite days. I don’t think that’s because it was one of my least favourite days! It’s probably more in the middle. There were certainly harder times and definitely better times too.

So: look back to help your prep and confidence, but perhaps don’t expect that your viva will be as terrible as you worry (or as great as your greatest days).

Nathan

Uncomfortable But OK

Daily Post

Your viva might be uncomfortable at times. Engaging with the discussion. Taking your time. Thinking and responding to questions you hadn’t considered. Simply the act of being there, being examined on something that you have invested years of work in.

Remember though:

  • You can know what to expect from your viva.
  • You can prepare and feel ready.
  • You can build your confidence to help with your nerves.

You can be uncomfortable, but you’ll be OK. Learn what to expect, prepare and build your confidence.

Nathan

What You Learned

Daily Post

You invested years of work. Read countless papers. Many months following the practical steps necessary in your discipline.

Was it experiments, interviews, reading, modelling or something else for you? Whatever it was, you did it.

What you learned matters.

You need to have a thesis to pass your PhD but that book is only an expression of the learning and development that rests in you. What you learned shows your capability. Being able to talk about what you learned, what you know and what you can do matters. You need to be able to communicate this to your examiners.

And even more importantly: understanding just how much you’ve learned and grown can be a huge boost to your confidence as you get ready for your viva.

So, what have you learned?

 

PS: Need more viva help? Check out the latest issue of Viva Survivors Select: The Focus Issue explores writing summaries as part of viva prep to focus your thinking and highlight what matters most.

Nathan

Anti-Perfect

Daily Post

You can’t write a perfect thesis from a perfect piece of research that then leads to a perfect viva experience.

I can understand aiming for perfection and trying to make something as good as possible but working towards “enough” is probably more sensible.

You can define enough. Enough has a quantity: enough research, enough words, enough work to get ready. You can plan for enough. You can work for enough.

No corrections doesn’t mean that your work was perfect.

Enough. You are good enough. You have done enough. Do enough for prep and do enough in your viva. Perfect is a distraction and you can do better. You can do enough.

Nathan

Why Worry?

Daily Post

You’re not wrong to worry about your viva.

A PhD takes a long time. Postgraduate research culture builds the viva up as some monumental event. The outcome – even when it is overwhelmingly positive for most people – is such a big thing that wanting to pass can lead to worries for all sorts of reasons.

What will your examiners say? Will you be OK? How long will it be? Will they be fair? Will your viva be fair for you and your needs?

And just what will happen?

Even though most vivas are a matter of a few hours, your viva is a big deal.

You’re not wrong to worry about your viva.

 

But…

…what will you do about it?

Worry doesn’t have to be the end. If you feel worried, nervous, anxious, scared or unsure then there’s a reason for it. By knowing the reason you can then start to make the situation better for yourself.

Ask for help. Take steps. Prepare and get ready.

You’re not wrong to worry about your viva.

If you are worried, what are you going to do?

Nathan

Hundreds Of Somethings

Daily Post

700 to 800 days.

A not unreasonable estimate for how many days a PhD candidate might show up to do work.

Some days might be bigger or more important than others. Some days you stare at a screen and try to work, others you punch the air and celebrate. Some days you read a whole book and others you can barely write two sentences.

What matters is that you keep going. What matters is that those hundreds of days include hundreds of somethings: actions, experiments, thoughts, conversations and opportunities that you apply to your research, your talent and your capability.

A long process of small steps that leads you to success. No two days the same. All those days and somethings adding up to a thesis and a candidate that are good.

Nathan

Routes To Confidence

Daily Post

Confidence comes from lots of places. The confidence you want for your viva could be found in many things.

You can feel confident if you feel capable. Your talents can help you to see you can manage this challenge.

You can feel confident if you’re calm. Putting problems and stress to one side can help you find self-confidence for the viva.

You can feel confident if you reflect over your PhD journey. You have got as far as you have by doing well, by making something that matters.

You might not be able to do all of these to the full extent you would like. Doubt, time and other pressures might get in the way. Make an effort with any of the steps above and however far you get will prompt greater confidence for your viva day.

There isn’t one way to viva confidence. Find a route that works for you. Don’t hope you’ll feel good – work your way to feeling good.

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