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Nathan

Who Is At The Viva?

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In the UK there have to be at least two examiners, one internal and one external. Both are important. It’s not true that the external has the final say or is senior to the internal. Both will have read your thesis. Both will be prepared. Together they will lead the discussion in the viva and together they will determine the outcome.

An independent chair could be part of the viva process: a member of staff who will observe and confirm that the viva was fair. Some universities always insist on a chair; others require them for certain situations. If there needs to be a chair then they will be there.

You might need your supervisor at your viva. It might feel appropriate to have them be a witness to a final step of your PhD journey. You might need them to make notes about what you discuss or you might need the help of having a supporter in the room.

Or you might need them to not be there: that’s fine too!

Finally, you need to be there. You need to be present, prepared and ready to engage.

Who is at the viva? In short, everyone who needs to be.

Nathan

Different Kinds of Mistakes

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Different kinds of mistakes require different actions in the viva.

If you find a few typos during your viva preparation you don’t need to go out of your way to mention them to your examiners.

If you find a sentence that doesn’t quite make sense you may need to bring it up if you’re talking about that chapter or topic.

If you discover a paragraph or section that is wrong for some reason, it could definitely help to pre-emptively explain what you really meant.

If your examiners ask you about something and you haven’t noticed it before the viva then you need to think carefully in the moment. That’s all. You need to stop, think and respond.

You need to be prepared to acknowledge all kinds of mistakes in the viva, but you don’t need to build up stress about them. Do what you can in preparation, but spend more time getting ready to talk about everything that isn’t a mistake. The focus in the viva is far more on what is right than what is wrong.

Nathan

Either/Or

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I hear a lot of people describe vivas in binary terms.

  • The viva is long or short.
  • Either you’ll love it or hate it.
  • Expect examiners to be fair or critical.
  • Questions are either easy or hard.
  • Preparation is straight-forward or lots of work.
  • You’re either nervous or confident when the day arrives.
  • Overall, the viva is either good or bad!

And of course the truth is that, generally, these either/or positions don’t capture what the viva is really like. Different people will feel different things, and rarely will the viva be one thing or the other.

My viva was four hours long and it felt like it flew by. My examiners were really fair with their questions and they had some very critical comments about the structure of my thesis.

Being nervous means that the viva is important to you, but you can be confident too if you reflect on your achievements and realise the success that you’ve made for yourself.

Nathan

Prove It

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In your viva you might be able to handwave some details.

To have time to explore the truly important aspects of your work you might want to skip past tricky things, or make a short point that captures something big. That’s acceptable to do. You can say, effectively, “Trust me. This is the way it is and we don’t need to explore or explain it too much.”

It’s acceptable, but it’s also acceptable for your examiners to say, “Prove it.”

You can use whatever words you want in the viva to explain something. Your examiners can always ask for more detail. While you can say things as simply as you want, you have to be prepared to explore the complex.

Nathan

This Might Not Work

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I was halfway through my PhD journey before I accepted a truth about my research: “I’m trying this, but it might not work.”

I spent weeks trying various methods to get an algorithm to act as I expected.

It took me a long time to decipher what papers meant and then combine them to prove the results I needed.

And I tried different approaches for over two months before I realised that I couldn’t solve the equation I was working on. And I never did solve it.

This might not work.

It could be a helpful thought to hold on to from time to time during a PhD. You can work hard, try your absolute best but fail to get the result. You could read a lot but not find what you wanted, or understand what you need. You could explore your area and leave with more questions than when you started.

Sometimes PhD candidates hold on to the thought as they approach their viva – but that’s a mistake.

By the time you’ve reached the viva you’ve already passed submission. Despite all the problems you’ve faced and times when things haven’t worked, enough has worked for you to complete your thesis.

By then, enough things have worked out for you that the viva will work out too.

Nathan

You Pass

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In most cases the viva is a tough, fair, interesting conversation. In most cases the candidate finds out they have to complete some corrections afterwards. In most cases the candidate discovers that their worries about what might happen didn’t match up with what did happen.

Your viva could be an anticlimax. It might not live up to all of your expectations. It could be boring. It could be fine but not the amazing event you thought it might be.

After thousands of hours of work spread out over several years of a research programme, in the space of a few hours you’re pretty much done.

Before you can believe it, it’s all over.

You pass.

Nathan

Finding Fault With Your Thesis

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It’s necessary to read your thesis in preparation for the viva. It’s natural that you might find things you want to change now you’re reading it one more time. It’s possible you could even start to worry about the faults you uncover:

  • Seeing the number of typos…
  • Reading sentences that don’t quite make sense now…
  • Remembering ideas you didn’t include…

All these things have simple explanations. A typo escapes spellcheck. A sentence slips past your proofreading. An idea now seems good that you previously left out. Faults don’t just happen, but that doesn’t mean you’re at fault. You’re human. You’re responsible, but they don’t have to matter as much as you might think.

Most candidates are asked to complete corrections, an opportunity to amend little things and make your thesis better. The great majority of candidates are also responsible for doing research that matters and writing a thesis that contains a significant original contribution.

You’re responsible for both the little faults and the great, big wonderful parts of your thesis.

Nathan

The Next Question

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Some candidates fixate on a not unreasonable concern about the viva: that they will be asked a question for which they will find no good response. It could be a question they dread. Or a question they’ve never considered. It may be a question that feels easy but which they can’t figure out. Or even just a comment that hits them harder than they like.

Candidates worry that this moment, if it happens, will be too much. They fear that, if it happens, it will impact the rest of the viva. Given the importance of the viva, this kind of concern is reasonable.

The roots of the problem can be really complex but the solution is simple: if you are faced with a question as described you have to breathe and focus on the next question coming up.

Because there isn’t anything else to do. If in one moment on one day you find that you don’t have what you need, then there is still the next moment and the next question to engage with.

Simply thinking about questions before the viva is not enough to eliminate fears. Making notes for possible responses falls short. To help, you have to put yourself in situations where you need to respond. Practice makes a difference. Mock vivas, conversations with friends or seminars can all make a difference.

Each question you’re asked is an opportunity to demonstrate something: what you know, what you did or what you can do. And if you fall short in an opportunity then there is the next question coming up, another chance to show something good.

If you face a difficult moment: breathe and focus on the next question.

Keep going.

Nathan

Catastrophes

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Last Christmas Eve just after dark, without warning, there was a power cut in our neighbourhood.

In our house our whole evening changed. Plans for a festive dinner and a movie were abandoned. We made sandwiches by torchlight and ate them nestled under blankets. We read with candles and kept busy with little jobs so that we didn’t think too much.

When I did think I could only worry and imagine the worst. What if the power didn’t come back on? Would everything in our fridge and freezer be ruined? Would we be able to celebrate Christmas the next day?

Over the course of a few hours the power kept coming back on and then shutting off abruptly. Then it stayed off again for a long time.

What now? What should we do?

For half an hour I just panicked. Then by torchlight I got out my notebook and wrote:

We’re fortunate enough to have torches. The power will get fixed at some point. We’re fortunate enough that we could buy more food if needed. We can still find a way to celebrate. We can find other options. It’s not ideal but we can figure it out. We will still have Christmas.

I felt better. I didn’t know what was going to happen, but I knew that whatever did happen we could do something.

Moments later the power came back on and stayed on. I felt a little anxious for the next few hours that it would go off suddenly, but the problem was resolved. We went to bed and the next day was Christmas, just as we’d planned.

 

On Christmas Eve I was catastrophising the situation. Something went wrong, suddenly, and all I could do was imagine the situation getting worse and worse.

The power cut hit me out of the blue, completely unexpected, but for the viva some potential situations can be anticipated. And depending on how you view things, you could believe that you have a future catastrophe. What would you do?

You could forget something.

Your examiners could ask a tough question.

You could doubt yourself.

There could be a delay.

And so on. Lots of things could happen. They could happen. They might not. And even if they do they’re not totally beyond your power to resolve or do something about.

A delay could be uncomfortable, but you could find a way to use the time. If you doubt yourself at any point then you can find a way to remember the contribution you’ve made in your thesis and the talent you’ve developed as a researcher. A tough question or a forgotten detail will not disqualify you from achieving your PhD; taking a moment to think is probably all you need.

Expected and unexpected “catastrophes” are not always as terrible as they first appear. A problem or situation may not be as dire as it seems. Even when confronted with a tricky situation you have the talent and knowledge to do something.

Nathan

Wait For It

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There’s a lot of waiting in the thesis submission and viva process. Waiting to hear that your examiners have got your thesis. Waiting to find out when the viva is going to be. Feeling like you’re waiting for the day to arrive. Waiting on the day to begin – and waiting to find out what it will be like.

I don’t have any tips for the day-by-day waiting for things to come around, but one thing you can do for the day of the viva is to make a plan for the short break at the end of the viva. Your examiners will need a little time to talk and reach their conclusions before they tell you what the outcome is. Make a plan for that short period – it’s commonly between five and twenty minutes but could feel a lot longer if you don’t have something to do.

Whether you’re on campus or at home, decide in advance to take a short walk around the space you’re in. Or stretch. Or make a drink. Or read a book. Or whatever you need to do at that time.

Decide beforehand what you will do so that you are not left with just nervous thoughts, waiting to find out what the outcome will be.

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