Daily viva help for PhDs
Remember that your viva comes as a response to the work you’ve done. There may be regulations for thesis examination and ideas for what makes a “good viva” but yours is just for you, based on the thesis you’ve written.
Because it follows your work it’s a challenge that only you can rise to – and because it follows your work it is a challenge that you will rise to.
Some vivas are less than an hour!
But you can’t realistically expect yours to be.
You can hope, but what does that do for you?
It’s much better to prepare for your viva and the discussion, rather than invest energy in hoping it will be over quickly.
PS: Something else that’s short and sweet is my helpful little guide, 101 Steps To A Great Viva! It’s on Kickstarter until Wednesday 31st May, raising funds to produce a print run. That goal has now been reached and I’m aiming a little higher so that all backers get a bonus resource for viva prep. You can find more details at this link.
Every PhD candidate has expectations for their viva.
Some expect it to be long. Some believe it will be difficult. Some expect that examiners will be harsh. Other will expect that it’s all a formality. And some don’t know what to expect – or rather, they expect that there’s nothing to expect in particular!
But some candidates expect that it will be challenging but fair. They expect examiners to be thorough but reasonable. They have an expectation for how long it will be and what the tone will be like, but know that they won’t know exactly what it will be like until they’re actually there in the viva.
So what do you expect? And how do you know your expectations are reasonable?
Every viva is unique, but that doesn’t mean your viva has to be a total unknown before you go to it.
Idea by idea. Paper by paper. Day by day.
There’s no other way to put your PhD together than keep showing up, good days and bad, and work your way through. Learn more, do more, achieve more and find your way to becoming a good and capable researcher in your field.
When the time comes, this approach is what helps you prepare for your viva too. There’s no single activity that flips the switch to “ready”.
And, really, it’s how you get through the viva too.
Question by question.
Chapter by chapter.
Response by response.
Minute by minute you demonstrate the capable researcher that you became bit by bit.
And that’s enough.
PS: I almost called this post “Step By Step” but thought that was too close to the title of 101 Steps To A Great Viva, still going strong on Kickstarter! The overall idea is still the same: it’s not one thing that makes you ready, but enough steps in the right direction can make a real difference. Check out 101 Steps To A Great Viva now and you can pledge support to be one of the first with a copy of the guide.
Are there risks of danger, problems or disappointment in the viva?
In general when we consider risk it’s worth assessing three elements:
So, for example: your examiners find a typo. That’s very likely in a book with tens of thousands of words, but it wouldn’t have a great impact on your success or the work needed to correct it.
Or: your examiners could find a section in your thesis that they don’t agree with. There’s a fair chance of that happening when considering new and interesting research. The impact could be an in-depth discussion of the points in the viva or perhaps a request for certain amendments to your thesis.
An extreme example: it’s possible to fail your viva. That would have an enormous negative impact in many ways – but it isn’t very likely at all. It’s a very rare situation.
If you think or feel something about a potential Bad Thing, ask yourself how likely it is. Ask yourself what might happen. Then consider what you really need to do in response, either to reduce the chance of it happening or lessen the impact if it does.
Tension is created when opposing perspectives meet, in the viva or elsewhere. In daily life that could be very challenging depending on the situation, but it doesn’t have to be that way in the viva.
Disagreement in the viva just means that there is something to talk about.
If there’s disagreement then the best thing you can do is explore why. What reasons do you or your examiners have for your positions or beliefs? What’s the evidence? What does that mean? Where do you have common ground and where do you really differ? And what does that mean?
A difference of opinion could mean simply understanding the other view. It could lead to an acknowledgment of an alternative in corrections to your thesis. It could be due to a simple mistake or error on someone’s part; discussion could help to resolve tension that’s purely accidental.
If you encounter disagreement in your viva, it may not be a big thing or a bad thing, but it’s something.
Something to talk about and resolve.
There are many reasons why a viva might be delayed.
Examiner or candidate illness could lead to a date change. Traffic or transport disruption could lead to a last minute change. Simple, random life stuff could force back the start time by half an hour on the day of a viva.
Whatever the circumstances, no delay to the viva – of weeks, days or minutes – will feel good.
To build up and get ready for meeting examiners and then have to wait could make someone feel extra-nervous; it might have other practical considerations too, like arranging childcare, checking transport options or having to rebook a room.
If it were to happen to you, remember that the feelings will pass. The situation will resolve. It won’t directly impact the viva itself. All of your preparation still counts. You might have a little longer to wait but you will still make it through.
This is a very common question about the viva and I have a lot of thoughts!
How much do you say in response to a question? It depends on the question. It depends on the situation. It depends on your knowledge, your experience and your research. It depends on knowing what your examiners are looking for.
To know that you might have to ask them a question or two.
There are lots of whispers, rumours and half-truths about the viva.
…I know someone whose viva was almost a whole day…
…I’ve heard the internal barely says anything…
…why do we have to have them, what’s the point, most people pass anyway…
…don’t get corrections, they’re the worst, try to avoid them…
…you just have to hope it all goes well…
Make sure when you ask your friends for advice that you look for views not wholly skewed by worry, apocryphal stories and negativity.
Start with a solid foundation that isn’t built on whispers.
If your thinking is blocked – you freeze or forget – in the viva:
Being blocked is a starting point. You have to go somewhere from there – so you may as well take charge and do something!