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Tag: viva expectations

Nathan

The Demonstration

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The verb that could most clearly summarise what you have to do at the viva is demonstrate. Your examiners have read your thesis. Now they need you to give them more in the viva.

  • You have to share what you know and what you can do.
  • You have to clearly describe and explain what you did for the last few years.
  • You have to show just how good you are as a researcher.

In the viva you’re giving a demonstration of how much you’ve done and how good you are. Your thesis counts towards your success, but you have to be ready on viva day to demonstrate just how capable you are.

Nathan

Staring At The Clock

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I was in full flow in my viva. The questions were challenging but fair. I was working hard to explain and explore my work, but that was, I suppose, to be expected.

Then I happened to notice the time. The clock on the wall informing me that we had been discussing things now for almost two-and-a-half hours.

I didn’t know if this was good or bad. I had no real expectations or understanding of what happened at a viva. But two-and-a-half hours seemed like a long time. I was surprised that was how long it had been so far.

I started to wonder how much longer it might be.

It seemed like a good idea to look up every now and then to “keep an eye on the time”. This quickly became a distraction, the first two-and-a-half hours of my viva had seemed to pass in no time at all. Now it felt as if time had slowed to a crawl…

 

Staring at the clock didn’t help.

Staring at the clock never helps.

Staring at the clock does nothing but distract.

For the most part the venue for your viva doesn’t make a great difference on your experience. It’s a seminar room or it’s over Zoom, that’s all. However, in either situation, do what you can to avoid staring at the clock.

If you have a video viva, place a little Post-it Note in the corner of your screen to obscure the clock once you get started. If you’re in-person for your viva, arrange to sit with your back to the clock in the meeting room.

Knowing the time does nothing to help you. You will only wonder when you’ll be finished, or whether you’re progressing well. It’s far better to reserve all your focus for simply engaging with the discussion in your viva.

Nathan

Knowing Enough

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You can’t know what the first question in your viva be will be until it’s asked.

You can’t know how long your viva will be until your examiners say, “OK, we’re done!”

You can’t know how you will respond to a tricky question until you experience it.

You can’t know in advance just what you’ll need to correct after the viva.

There’s a lot you can’t know before you get to the viva and experience it. That’s just the way it is.

But you can know that you’ve done enough to get you there. You know you’ve done enough to succeed. You know who your examiners are in advance, and can know all about their research, if that helps. You can know what to expect from the viva by reading regulations and listening to stories of viva experiences.

When you stop and think, there’s a lot you can know before you get to your viva.

Nathan

Even If

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Even if you think you know it all, read your thesis before your viva.

Even if you’re sure there’s no way you’ll forget any of your corrections, take a notebook to the viva.

Even if you’re sure your examiners won’t ask about this or that, be sure you take a look at this and that before your viva.

Even if you don’t want to rehearse with your supervisor, find some useful way to practise responding to questions before the viva.

Even if you’re nervous, go to your viva and succeed.

Nathan

The Same, But Different

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In July, our daughter was in school and so my wife and I snuck to the cinema for a day-time date. Watching the movie on the big screen was amazing: the story, colour, the scale, the sound, all fantastic.

A few weeks ago we watched it all together at home. We drew our curtains, snuggled up on the couch with chocolate and watched the movie on a smaller screen. It was amazing: the story, watching it with my daughter, pausing for hugs in sad moments, stopping to get ice cream, all fantastic.

In both times the movie was the same: we just engaged with it in a different way. In the cinema it was great to be able to get lost in the movie. At home it was great to be super comfortable and together. It was the same, but different.

 

And this is how we can think about the reality of in-person and video vivas: they are the same, but different.

Same purpose, same parameters, same drivers, same roles, same needs but different locations, different ways of engaging and different opportunities. Depending on who you are, who your examiners are and the regulations of your university you may have a choice or not about where your viva is. But fundamentally, despite the differences, you can expect the same process from the viva.

Nathan

One, Two, Three

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A short pause between hearing your examiner’s question and responding.

A little break to check you understand and think things through.

A simple beat to get things right in the viva.

Your examiners don’t expect you to rapid-fire responses to their questions. The viva is a discussion, not a quiz. Take your time to listen, think and respond well.

Nathan

Thought Experiments

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I like thought experiments, both philosophically and in fiction. It can be fun to ask what if? and then follow that thinking to see what might happen next. It’s useful in the kind of work I do too, thinking through how a session might run or how a new webinar might help someone. It can identify issues that need addressing in advance – or eliminate headaches before they happen!

 

Thought experiments allow us to get ahead of problems sometimes, but they can also be a distraction. A lot of what if questions about the viva are completely understandable but can also be very distracting:

  • What if my internal asks about something I didn’t do?
  • What if my external asks about something I can’t remember?
  • What if someone disagrees?
  • What if I lose my train of thought?
  • What if I feel nervous?

I have specific advice for each of these, but the general response to all of them is: “Then you would pause, think and ultimately respond to the situation in the moment in whatever way seems best.”

Because that’s all you can do.

You can prepare, you can practise and you can ask yourself what if – in the end you have to stop worrying and wondering about thought experiments.

Remember who you are, what you did, what you can do and what you bring to the viva.

Nathan

How To Finish Well

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Look back over the progress of your PhD journey. Your progress.

Realise that there is something new that now exists – and the only reason it does is because you made it happen.

Prepare for your viva carefully, invest time to make sure you are ready and confident.

Listen, think and respond to your examiners; make the most of your viva.

And when all of that is done, take a moment to think about what you take with you beyond your PhD. When it is finished it’s not the end for you and who you are now.

Nathan

The Unfair Viva

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From time to time I’ve been told that the viva is unfair because candidates are at a great disadvantage due to the position they’re in. Examiners can ask what they want, they have more experience, they get to decide the outcome, candidates don’t know what’s coming – and so on.

I’ll admit, there are things that a candidate won’t know at the start of their viva – but does that really disadvantage them?

There are regulations that govern the viva. There are consistent expectations – patterns of experience – that are derived from countless viva stories. The viva is a custom exam every time, but it springs from the seeds of the candidate’s work. The viva is an exam on their thesis and their journey. A candidate might not know every question, but they know everything they need to be able to respond to them.

A candidate is in a different position to their examiners. They have a different role in the viva. They have different information. But that doesn’t mean they are at a disadvantage.

Nathan

Understandable

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It’s understandable that the nature of the viva could make a person worry. It’s understandable, given what any PhD candidate has to do to get to the viva, that the person being examined might be concerned or worry about how to do their best.

Or better than their best!

And it’s perfectly understandable why the thought of being asked this question or that question – or any question – might make someone feel nervous, concerned or stressed.

To simplify the situation, in the viva, questions are just questions. When you hear a “?” at the end of the sentence that’s your cue to talk. Your cue to talk about what you did, how you did it, what you know or what you think. It’s your cue to say something: to ask a question, to share a response, to say you need to think or to say you’re not sure.

Your examiners have to ask questions to find out what they need. You have to respond to those questions to try to meet those needs.

There are no good or bad questions, although it’s reasonable to expect challenging questions that you have to think about. It’s understandable for you to be nervous about being asked, but also reasonable to expect you to rise to the challenge of responding.

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