Daily viva help for PhDs
Find out when and how you’ll have your viva. Check the regulations. Google your examiners and bookmark their staff pages. Note down key expectations your supervisors share. Be sure of the viva process at your institution.
The formalities matter. They’re also a really small part of the viva and of getting ready for it. Sort them out as soon as possible so you can focus on preparing yourself, your thesis and your confidence for the viva.
When a candidate hears “defend your thesis” it’s easy for them to think of the viva as a battle, a struggle or a debate.
Perhaps a better way to describe the viva is that it’s a chance to support your choices. Your examiners have read your thesis. They’ve prepared for your viva. They have questions and opinions but the space is there for you to support what you’ve done.
You can clarify the unclear, add details or expand on your process. In sharing more of your research you have the opportunity to support your choices. So in your preparation be sure to check details that need checking, highlight details that are important and summarise anything that could make a difference.
The viva is one more opportunity to show what you did, what you know and what you can do.
Friends who have recently had a viva in your department are good to ask about what to expect. Listening to their stories can give you certainty for your viva.
There’s great variety generally when it comes to viva experiences; local knowledge of your department’s practices can both shape your expectations and help you to prepare. By asking the right questions you can get the information that will be most useful to you.
If you ask only one person then you might hear a helpful story that puts the viva in perspective. If you ask several people you might spot patterns in the structure of vivas in your department. Perhaps your department has a certain way of doing things. Knowing that information could really put you at ease.
Don’t simply ask a friend, “How was it?”
Go deeper. Ask more to help yourself more.
Knowing exactly what to say to answer every question in your viva isn’t a reasonable expectation. It’s not required for the viva. Your examiners don’t expect it from you. You would probably need to know all of the questions before they were asked (and you won’t).
You’re not expected to know all the answers, but you are expected to respond to every question.
A response could be an answer or an opinion. A response could be sharing an idea or offering a hypothesis. A response could be a gut feeling or a question for clarification.
A response could even be saying “I don’t know,” and then explaining why.
You can’t have all the answers but you have many options for offering a response.
There are lots of reasons why a short viva might be “good” but no good reason to try and make it that way.
The viva is not a race, so you don’t have to rush. The viva is not a quick-fire quiz, so you don’t have to respond to questions quickly.
Listen.
Breathe.
Take your time.
Long or short, your viva will be over sooner than you think.
If I had a pound for every time someone told me they were surprised they enjoyed their viva I would probably have a very healthy savings account. When I share stories of success and enjoyment with candidates they are surprised. They’ve heard that vivas are OK or that most people pass, but don’t know that they can be good.
With candidates and graduates being surprised by this we have a problem!
So what can we do?
Candidates can find out more about what to expect to get a better sense of the reality of the viva. Graduates, surprised or not, can share their stories more widely. Vivas aren’t perfect, but they are more often enjoyed than awful.
Your examiners have enough experience that they can read your thesis, understand it and know what they need to do in their role to give you and your work a fair examination.
It’s possible that your examiners might know more than you about your field. They might even be considered experts in topics related to your thesis.
If that’s the case, however you feel, remember that you have the experience of writing your thesis. You have the experience of doing the work. You have the experience of reading everything you needed to get this far. You have the experience of rising to all of the challenges you had so that you could get to submission.
Your examiners are experienced enough to do their part well. You are too.
Questions in the viva aren’t tricks, traps or trouble. They’re not dissecting problems or simply looking to expose weakness.
Your examiners’ questions are there to get you talking. They’re asked to get you exploring, explaining, talking – engaging with the exam, talking about your thesis, your research and your journey.
Viva questions are your opportunities to engage – how will you make the most of them?
If you’re nervous about the viva then you will feel uncomfortable, but there’s nothing wrong.
Nerves are a very human response to important situations. Your examiners might be nervous about your viva because they want it go well too. Your supervisor could be nervous, friends and family could be nervous on your behalf. A crowd of people, near and far, all nervous for what will happen and wanting it go well.
I don’t have a tried and tested method for removing nerves – but you can lessen the discomfort you feel by building your confidence. Reflect on your PhD journey, see the progress you’ve made and the knowledge and skillset that you must have. It doesn’t make you not-nervous, but it can help make you more confident for the important event that is in your future.
If you’re nervous about the viva then you’re human. As a human you can do something about it.
You can’t flip a coin to determine viva success.
The stories we tell about vivas pivot on knowing if someone passed or failed – but these things are not equally likely. Around one in one thousand PhD candidates don’t pass.
There are many, many reasons why candidates pass – the process, the structure of the PhD, the skillset and knowledge base and experience that a candidate must typically have.
Doubting your future success is a human response; knowing a little of what to expect in the viva can be the first step to putting doubts to one side, so you can focus on being ready to succeed.
Passing the viva is not due to simple luck.