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Tag: viva expectations

Nathan

Preparing For The Unknown

Daily Post

Your examiners will have a plan for what they want to talk about at your viva.

This isn’t a script. They’re not asking a set list of questions like a questionnaire. They’re using pre-prepared questions and points to prompt the discussion.

You might have some expectations. Based on past experiences of talking about your work or because of your research you might think, “I’ll probably be asked about…” or “I’ll bet they want to talk about…”

It’s reasonable to have hopes or expectations, but you still won’t know until you get to your viva and it’s happening. There’s lots you can do to be prepared for the unknown though:

  • Talk to friends about their experiences.
  • Talk to your supervisors about viva expectations.
  • Reflect on your contribution to think about what examiners might want to talk about.
  • Read your thesis to remind yourself of what you’ve done.
  • Practise for the viva by talking about your work or having a mock viva.

You won’t know what questions will be asked until you get to your viva, but doing any of the above will help you feel a little more ready for whatever questions your examiners do ask.

Nathan

The Right Tools

Daily Post

What do you need to take to your viva?

  • Your thesis. Annotated in advance, carefully read and available as a resource to help the discussion.
  • Pen and paper. Something to write on and something to write with, according to your own preferences.
  • Water. Something to drink as it’s unlikely your examiners or institution will provide refreshments.
  • Anything else? Depending on your research there might be a prototype or prop that you can show, or some accompanying materials. It depends!

You don’t need much in your viva. You need your thesis and some other basics will help.

The most important things you’re taking are your knowledge, your capability and your experience.

The right tools for the job.

Nathan

At A Distance

Daily Post

Ask for help when you’re getting ready for your viva. Talk to your friends and colleagues in your department. Get them to listen to you talk about your work or ask about their experiences. Get the benefit of their help!

…but what do you do if you don’t have a PGR community in your department? Or what do you do if you are a distance PhD and you don’t have close contacts in your department because it’s rare for you to be there?

If you are in a position where you don’t have close contacts for some reason there is still a lot of viva prep you can do by yourself. If you need advice or want to know about viva experiences you might have to reach out to others.

Start by emailing and introducing yourself. It’s likely that there are even a few people from your department or a related institution who you’re acquainted with. Start with them.

Explain your situation. Tell people when your viva is and what you’re looking for. Ask for advice if you think they might have it and be clear about the kind of support you’re looking for if that’s what you need.

You might be at a distance and you might be able to do a lot of prep by yourself – but that doesn’t mean that you are alone as you get ready.

Nathan

Working Out The Odds

Daily Post

There are lots of statistics about the general experience of the PhD viva – but we can’t combine them to find out the probability of a particular outcome.

Want to know how likely it is you’ll have a four-hour viva with major corrections and three examiners instead of two? Sorry, I can’t tell you and you can’t work it out.

There are lots of patterns of experience. Vivas tend to result in minor corrections. They tend to be longer than two hours. But to combine these and other details meaningfully and make predictions we’d need to know a lot more.

PhDs and vivas are unique: they follow patterns, but are always different. The patterns can show you what you can do to be ready in whatever situation you find at your viva.

You don’t need to work out the odds of success: instead work towards being ready to talk with your examiners and prepared for passing your viva.

Nathan

Hope For Excited

Daily Post

Hope is what we have when we have little leverage on the outcome.

I encourage PhD candidates to prepare for their viva rather than hope it will just all go well, because preparation leads to a better experience and a better outcome. No candidate needs to hope that they will be ready when they can act to be ready.

You might need to hope you feel excited or enthusiastic for meeting your examiners. It’s rare in my experience that candidates feel that way. I ask candidates how they feel about their viva at the start of every webinar I do and between five and ten percent say they feel excited.

At the end of a session they might say they feel better, but it’s rare that they now feel excited!

 

I know what someone can do to feel ready. I know the kinds of actions someone can take to be prepared. But I only hope that candidates feel excited. Confidence can ward against nervousness, but excitement is another thing entirely.

Maybe that’s something else I can consider in the future: how can you go from confident to excited?

Maybe if more people were excited it would be simpler to build up a positive culture around the viva.

And maybe then the viva would be something that fewer people were worried about.

Nathan

Expect The Expected

Daily Post

Every viva is unique but no viva should be a great unknown.

Regulations and stories of viva experiences give a shape to the general process; departmental and disciplinary practices give some fine detail to specific viva norms. Taken together these give a general pattern of expectations: you can’t know exactly what will happen, but you can imagine something that the viva will tend towards.

Every viva is different, so you can expect the unexpected – a unique experience – but you can also expect your viva to be like others you’ve heard about in your preparations. You won’t know which details will follow the pattern exactly, or how closely, but unless your situation is very different from every other PhD candidate you can expect your viva to be similar to many past stories.

Every viva is unique but you can expect yours to follow expectations.

Nathan

Help If You Can

Daily Post

If a friend or colleague asks for help with their viva prep then assist them if you can. Ask what they need and help with their request as much as you’re able.

Perhaps they need to know what to expect from a viva. Share your experience or share what you’ve heard from trusted sources. Point them in the right direction for more help.

If they ask you to listen or to ask them questions then try to be there for them. Do this regardless of whether you’ve had a viva. When you’re asked to listen or discuss, help flows both ways. You learn while you offer support: the experience you get being in conversation helps you too.

There are valid reasons to say no to helping – you are busy or you really feel like you’re not the right person – but if you can, help your friends when they need someone.

Nathan

Good Responses

Daily Post

Some of your viva questions will have great answers.

You’ll know something for certain, either because of your reading or your research. In that situation, when asked you will be able to give an answer.

You won’t know in advance which questions will lead to that in the viva. In fact, aside from some good guesses or small hopes, you won’t know any of the questions or comments that your examiners will ask or offer at your viva.

You might not have an answer standing by but you can always be ready to respond. Through practice and preparation, no matter the question or comment, you can:

  • Listen carefully to what is being said.
  • Pause and think carefully.
  • Make a note if needed.
  • Check your thesis for information if that will help.
  • Choose your words carefully and offer a good response.

Some viva questions or comments won’t have answers. Some don’t need them. Your examiners are looking to you to offer a good response by engaging with their words and doing your best.

Great is great but good is good enough. Engage with your examiners’ questions; offer the best responses you can and you’ll succeed at your viva.

Nathan

Examiner Perfection

Daily Post

A list of characteristics a candidate should look for in examiners is very short: do they have PhDs in a relevant area? Do they have enough post-PhD experience and training?

That’s it. After that you and your supervisor are not looking for the best examiners: you’re trying to find examiners who are available and who are best for you.

What attributes would your ideal examiners have? Would they be people whose work you’ve cited? Would they be people who do similar things to you? Would you want someone with a long career and significant expertise? Or someone who has finished their own PhD in the last few years?

You can’t find examiner perfection, but you can find “good for you” if you reflect on what you think you need, ask the right questions and explore who might be available with your supervisor.

Nathan

The Pledge

Daily Post

I will engage with my examiners’ questions, whatever they are.

If you commit yourself to this goal then you won’t go too wrong in the viva.

Keeping this in mind means you’re open to discussion. You’re ready to listen. You’re well-prepared.

You’re not listening to worries about “hard questions” or hoping to keep certain topics off the table.

You’re remembering that while you can’t know every question ahead of time, you can take your time in the viva to think and respond as well as you can.

Pause, think and respond as well as you can to each question and comment in your viva. Engage with your examiners’ questions, whatever they are.

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