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Tag: viva expectations

Nathan

Exceptions To The Rule

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There are always some. For the viva think of them as exceptions to the expectations…

  • …the six hour vivas, out of the ordinary, but they do happen.
  • …the vivas done over video chat, which don’t happen that often, but often enough.
  • …the vivas where an examiner doesn’t have a PhD, or perhaps where there are two external examiners.
  • …the viva where the candidate is stood for four hours answering questions in front of a blackboard!

That last one was me. Totally unexpected, not unpleasant or terrible, just different. At the time I didn’t have either knowledge or experience to know it was out of the ordinary. I’ve never met anyone else who has stood for their whole viva.

There was a reason for why my viva happened that way: I was asked to give a presentation, and I stayed at the blackboard.

There are reasons for all of the exceptions; they don’t just happen, particular circumstances lead them that way. Not all exceptions to the rule can be seen in advance, but some – like the make-up of your examining group, or being asked to give a presentation, or doing the viva over videochat – can be. In all of those cases, there are rules and regulations for what happens.

Expectations for the exceptions.

Nathan

Manage To Keep Going In Difficult Circumstances

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You can survive the viva, but you don’t just survive the viva.

“Manage to keep going in difficult circumstances” suggests someone has been doing this for a while.

“Manage to keep going in difficult circumstances” tells you someone has experience.

“Manage to keep going in difficult circumstances” is encouraging, not overwhelming.

“Manage to keep going in difficult circumstances” is honest, but not the full story.

Surviving doesn’t just happen in the viva: you survive because of the knowledge, skill and experience you take to the viva.

Nathan

Viva Dreams, Viva Goals

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What are your viva dreams? What would you really love it to be like?

Two hours or less? Great, smiling faces as you walk into the room? Examiners gushing praise at you? No questions?! No corrections?!

Some of that sounds nice.

But what can you really do about it?

What are your viva goals? What are you practically going to work towards?

Being prepared for the day? Presenting a confident, capable researcher to your examiners? Being prepared to listen and engage with questions? Showing your examiners what you can do well?

All possible.

A dream can inspire and motivate, but could be difficult (or impossible) to work towards.

Set goals instead: figure out what you can do, then make it a reality.

Nathan

No Strangers

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There are lots of possible examiner qualities candidates might prefer – an expert, someone you’ve cited, someone relatively new – but all of these are just preferences. There’s no right or wrong preference: it’s just how you feel. Reflect on your preferences and make some suggestions to your supervisor. See which names surface in the discussion.

My only other piece of advice for candidates would be to aim for examiners who aren’t strangers.

Aim for an internal who you have spoken to before. Aim for an external you have met at conferences. Aim for people who aren’t big question marks when you think about them and their work. Knowing even a little about your examiners can boost your confidence a lot for the viva.

Nathan

Everyone Is Human

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No-one is perfect. Everyone can make a mistake.

You can miss a typo in your thesis. You can mis-remember a reference in the viva. You can not-quite-catch the importance of a question.

Your examiners can not-quite-get a concept you write about. They could mis-hear you. They could not recognise a typo as a typo.

And they know you could be nervous. They could be nervous. Exams make a lot of people nervous. That doesn’t mean there is something wrong with you, your thesis or the viva.

Everyone is human. Remember that and you’ll realise that the little human imperfections don’t add up to much compared to the achievement of your research, your development as a person and your talent on the day.

Nathan

You Know Enough

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Before your viva remember:

You don’t know everything.

You can’t know everything.

You’re not expected to know everything.

But you know a lot. You know a lot more than when you started.

You know enough.

Nathan

Off The Topic

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It’s not impossible that a question or comment could seem irrelevant to you. It’s not impossible you could start responding to a question but go off topic from the discussion. However it happens, if you experience any confusion because you need to talk about something unexpected:

Stop.

Pause.

Think.

Think about what’s being asked or discussed. Then decide how you can best proceed.

In the case of off-topic questions from examiners, you might really believe a question is irrelevant. Totally off-topic, completely unimportant. You could say that…

…but will that help? It might be better to explore the topic and try to respond as well as you can, to begin with. You could still say you don’t think it’s all that important afterwards, but perhaps give it a little time first.

Nathan

The Flatpack Viva

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Thank you for taking the time to assemble your viva!

Be familiar with the instructions before you begin assembly: regulations, general expectations, thoughts on useful preparations, advice from friends, advice from the internet.

The viva requires a minimum of three to put together.

You will need your own tools.

Ensure all necessary components – research, thesis, candidate, examiners – are in good condition before you start.

As the volume of instructions about your viva can be great, perhaps consider summarising them on a single sheet of paper with a pen.

(paper and pen are not provided)

Note: the length of your finished viva will be different from pre-existing vivas due to natural variability of materials!

Your viva is simple to put together. Just follow the instructions.

Nathan

Defending Your Work

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In the viva it means supporting your thesis.

It means restating what you did, or replying to a question about a related aspect. It could be listening to another point of view and reconciling it with your work. It could be clearing up a mistaken belief that your examiner holds. It could be making your work clearer because it wasn’t clear in your thesis. It could be all of these things and other things besides.

Defending your work does not mean being defensive. Defensive is not listening. Defensive is thinking that you are right, no matter what. Defensive won’t help.

You could be angry or upset with a comment or question, you can feel what you feel – but you’ll serve your thesis and your viva better by defending your work, rather than by being defensive.

Listen to the question or comment. Check it against what you think and feel. Think about your response. Check it for emotion – you don’t need to be a robot, but be careful you’re not just reacting to a negative feeling.

Defend, not defensive.

Nathan

The Memorisation Memorandum

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You don’t need to memorise your thesis, you’re not expected to memorise your research, and most viva candidates couldn’t do that even if they wanted to.

Your examiners expect you to do the work, be familiar with the literature you’ve cited and be a capable researcher. That’s enough.

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