Daily viva help for PhDs
Another way to think about viva prep: it’s the extra time you get to do a little bit more.
Not a lot of time. Not a lot of work.
The work you’ve already done – research, writing and development – is what gets you through the viva. You’ve written a good enough thesis to share your research. You’ve grown enough in your talent and knowledge to be a capable researcher in your field.
Prep is that little extra to help convince yourself that you’re good enough.
I would hope you don’t need to be brave for your viva. I would hope that whatever worries or concerns you have, they don’t overwhelm so much that you need to find courage. Given everything you’ve done before, your viva should not be such a great challenge.
But if you do find yourself more anxious than confident, if you do feel fear and you need to be brave, remember:
You don’t need to find a lot of courage or do a lot of work to be ready. Be brave if you need to be. Ask for help if you need it. Keep going.
If you work hard at your research then you increase the chance that you get useful outputs for your PhD.
If you write the best thesis you can then it’s more likely it will be read well by someone else (like an examiner!).
If you prepare for your viva then odds are you’ll be better off than if you had done nothing in particular.
And if you do all of these, as most PhD candidates do, then you’re very likely to succeed.
Whether you feel good or bad as you finish your PhD journey, remember why you did this in the first place. What was your reason for starting a PhD? Why did you want to do it?
Your why can help you renew your efforts if you’re tired or silence doubts when you think you’ve not quite done enough. Your why can motivate and reassure. Your why could have changed over time, so reflect on that too: why did you start a PhD and why did you keep going?
There are lots of possible whys: whatever it is, yours is good enough. Come back to it if you need a boost or a push to get finished.
You’re almost there. Keep going.
It’s essential to read the regulations for thesis examination at your institution before you submit. They’ll tell you what you need to do and what you need to know. Some of this you’ll have picked up by being around other postgraduate researchers for years, but there can be key points you have missed.
Check for details on timelines. Check for paperwork you need to complete. Check, if needed, what the requirements are for having a viva over video.
Remember that reading the regulations is only a small part of the story. They won’t tell you what questions will come up. They won’t tell you what you need to do to get ready. They won’t tell you what vivas are really like.
So ask your friends and colleagues. Talk with your supervisor. Read blog posts and viva stories to get a sense of what to expect. Explore whether or not there are norms within your department for how vivas take place.
And when your viva is finished and you’ve passed, consider sharing your experience to help shape the expectations of other candidates. They’ll read the regulations too, but will need your story to help guide their expectations, preparation and confidence.
The phrase “significant, original contribution” is probably the best combination of words that we have to describe the something that a PhD candidate needs in their thesis to demonstrate that they are a good researcher and that they have done good work.
It’s also a worrying concept to grapple with for many candidates.
A “significant, original contribution” sounds like a singular result. It sounds like one fantastical theory, a number, a paragraph that shares knowledge with incredible impact.
Many candidates imagine something like this and worry because they don’t have one contribution, they have lots of little things. They have a collection of papers. They have a collection of projects (that was my thesis). They have many small results presented in one thesis, but perhaps no unifying conclusion.
Of course, as the title for this post suggests, these all add up to make a contribution.
The chapters, sections, results, papers, ideas, developments, conclusions – all together these make the contribution. “Significant” is a worrying word to candidates in my experience, because they try to imagine the number that goes with that. How many pages? How many papers? How big a bibliography? How much of the thing that I do?
This sum doesn’t have a number for an answer. Taking all the parts together, you have to judge for yourself: is this enough?
Ask your friends and colleagues: is this enough? Ask your supervisors: is this enough?
Is this enough?
And why?
Once you feel sure for yourself then you can move past a “significant, original contribution”. The sum of everything you present, everything you’ve done, all shows a real contribution to knowledge – and it shows a capable person who has created that contribution.
The viva is a challenge. The majority of candidates pass.
Candidates are talented because of the time and work spent on their PhDs. Candidates need to take time after submission to prepare for the viva.
Most candidates are nervous. Most candidates feel confident.
Challenging but passing. Talented but taking the time to get ready. Nervous and confident.
We have to accept these strange dualities; often, with these seemingly contradictory states and feelings about the viva, it’s the case that both are true.
I often encourage PhD candidates to reflect on Why, How and What:
These three questions are useful for breaking down the thesis contribution. They could be a good way to build up a summary. They’re a nice reminder that your thesis has something valuable.
But don’t forget Who:
Your thesis has a significant original contribution. It’s only there because you did the work. You persisted, despite any pressures or setback – you made it happen. You became more talented along the way.
So: who is going to pass their viva?
A fairly common question about the viva, asked by someone who has to pass one in their near future, is whether or not it’s an exam of the candidate or their thesis.
“Is it me or my book?” – and the answer is both.
The candidate wrote the thesis, but on the day both have to be good.
Both typically are.
Last year, with the help of a plugin, I made a little link that diverts to a random post every time it is used: www.viva-survivors.com/randpost/
I use it to find old posts to read. I look for little thoughts I might want to explore more. Occasionally I remind myself, “Oh wow, I wrote that! That’s pretty bad/good/silly/weird…”
Here are five random posts and five thoughts from them that seemed worth sharing:
Each of those posts is more than a one-liner. And there’s 1600 more to find by using the random post link: www.viva-survivors.com/randpost/
Maybe you’ll find just what you’re looking for.