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Tag: viva expectations

Nathan

Rumour Control

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Rumours I have heard about the viva in the last ten years:

  • “It’s all decided in advance!”
  • “It’s a fix really: everyone passes so what’s the point?!”
  • “You can’t do anything to prepare because it’s always different!”
  • “It’s just a hazing ritual, examiners tearing years of work apart…”
  • “…actually, they’re usually alright…”

I’ve only seen evidence for the last rumour. The rest are either false or missing key contextual information.

The antidote for rumours is finding out more information: real, hard evidence from people with experience. Don’t be satisfied with surface fluff and secondhand stories.

Ask friends and colleagues who have been through the viva. You don’t need a dozen minute-by-minute accounts to get a real sense of what they’re like. Ask specific questions to get details to help shape your expectations.

Ask academics about their roles as examiners. What do they do? How do they approach it? How do they feel about the process? I’d be surprised if some weren’t as nervous as candidates are.

Get a grip on rumours by finding out more. Then, when your viva is past (and you’ve passed!) be a help to future PhD candidates by sharing the details of your viva experience.

Over time let’s get the viva rumours under control.

Nathan

Relatively Few

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Relatively few vivas are unchallenging, but relatively few are overwhelmingly unfair.

Relatively few vivas result in major corrections – and not too many result in no corrections either.

Relatively few candidates are unprepared; but there’s also not many candidates, relatively, who are able to respond perfectly.

(in fact, probably none can)

Relatively few examiners could match you for your knowledge of your work; are you one of the relatively few candidates who could match their examiners for general experience of academia?

When we consider all of these things together, we can see, I think, that relatively few of these are actually concerns for the viva. They don’t matter – in terms of you doing well, of you passing, and so on.

Relatively few vivas result in failure. There are many reasons why.

Nathan

The Viva Is…?

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…just one day, after lots of days.

…important, for now.

…stressful for some, for many reasons.

…survivable for many more reasons!

…unique, but not unknowable.

…something you can prepare for.

…something you could be challenged by.

…ultimately, a life event you might find difficult, or tricky, or simple, or an anticlimax.

 

The viva is personal. Deeply personal. There’s lots to explore, lots to say about it, lots of help to find for it, lots you can do to be ready for it.

The starting point – one you might have to return to several times – is simply to ask yourself, “What is the viva to me?”

Nathan

The First Viva

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The first viva must have been really awkward.

What questions would the examiners ask? How might the candidate know what to expect? How would the examiners know what to expect?!

Who decided what made a good thesis? Or if the candidate had done enough? Or if they did enough in the viva?!

Why were they even having a viva???

Of course, the viva as we know it today is an evolution of former practices. Structure given to culture, rules to rhythms. That’s not a bad thing: it may be tricky to pinpoint exactly when and where PhD vivas started, but we know where they are now.

For your viva you can know what to expect. There are regulations, expectations and experiences to frame your understanding. Your viva might feel a little awkward and uncomfortable, but I’m sure it will be much better than the experience of the candidate at the first viva!

Nathan

Discuss, Explain, Demonstrate

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Examiners have three important things to do in your viva:

  • Explore your significant, original contribution;
  • Unpick the hows and whys of your research;
  • Examine your competence as a researcher.

They ask questions to motivate discussion. If they’re satisfied by your thesis and the discussion then you are awarded your PhD.

You have to assume at submission that your thesis is good enough. Then, in the viva, the three important things your examiners have to do prompt three important challenges for you. You have to…

  • …discuss your significant, original contribution;
  • …explain the hows and whys of your research;
  • …demonstrate your competence as a researcher.

Discuss, explain, demonstrate – the three core verbs to have in mind for your viva.

What could you do to better prepare yourself to discuss your contribution?

How well can you explain how and why you did your research?

And how can you demonstrate your competence – your talent – as a researcher?

Nathan

Video Viva Checklist

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When you submit, you’ve done a lot already that helps you in the viva. After submission you have an opportunity to do a little more work to help you get ready. If your viva is over video, you can do a little extra to help you be ready for that particular situation. Here’s a non-exhaustive list of things that could help.

  • Practise with the technology. Ask friends to do rehearsal calls. Find the location of basic on-screen buttons and prompts. Don’t assume that it will simply run fine on the day.
  • Find a space and setup that works well for you. What do you want to have behind you? Do you need to elevate the camera that you’re using? For all my webinars I have to put my laptop on top of a boxfile so that I’m not looking down at the camera!
  • Check your connection. See if you have a stable connection over wifi. Explore whether or not you need to use an ethernet cable.
  • Be certain of the plan for your viva. Know which software, what time and so on. Know what the backup plan is or how to get in touch if something unexpected happens.
  • Decide how you might support your verbal responses. Will you use an onscreen shared whiteboard? Or use a small whiteboard at your desk and then display to the camera? Or perhaps even use a second camera to show sketches?

Like most in-person vivas, video vivas are typically fine. They’re not meant to be ordeals. Preparation can ensure yours won’t be.

Nathan

Assume

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What assumptions are you making about your viva? Here are some I think are generally valid for the viva.

  • Assume your examiners will be prepared.
  • Assume you’ve written a good thesis.
  • Assume that perfection is out of reach.
  • Assume you have enough time to get ready.
  • Assume that you have what it takes.
  • Assume your viva will follow the general pattern of vivas.
  • Assume that it will be different to every other viva you’ve heard of too.
  • Assume that you will pass.

I like to assume – and think it’s fair to assume too – that once you’ve passed you’ll go and do something even more impressive.

Nathan

Slicing Carefully

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Don’t attribute to malice that which is more easily explained by stupidity.

According to The Great Mental Models Volume 1: General Thinking Concepts – a book I mentioned a month ago on the blog and which is still echoing around my brain – this little line above is Hanlon’s Razor.

I wonder if stupidity is a little tough, maybe we could say carelessness? Oversight? A slip?

For the viva and viva prep it’s very easy to see something wrong and see (incorrectly) bad intentions behind it. Try not to. Instead of seeing negativity in your past actions, acknowledge that you could have made mistakes, or your supervisor could, or your examiners could be now. Not out of malice, just out of error.

Pause to appreciate motivations and intentions by all concerned in the viva – and definitely don’t call anyone stupid…

Nathan

Imagine That

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There’s a lot of negative possibilities that candidates imagine for their viva.

They worry they won’t be ready. They fear potential questions. They’re concerned in case something bad happens.

The viva’s important, so it’s natural to have concerns. But passing is way more likely than failing. A good viva is far more probable than a bad on. It’s far more useful to imagine all the good that could happen.

So imagine that you’re prepared. Imagine you get interesting questions. Imagine getting minor corrections. Imagine passing, smiling, breathing a sigh of relief maybe, but being done.

And remember that not everything is out of your control. What will you do to make your imaginings a reality?

Nathan

Unscripted

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You can rehearse for the viva, but you can’t take a script.

It’s worth using questions to practise how you respond, but much less useful to have written responses to parrot.

Your examiners want a conversation rather than a performance; a chat rather than a play.

Unscripted doesn’t mean unready.

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