Daily viva help for PhDs
Patience is a virtue for a PhD candidate.
It takes time to explore literature.
It takes time to think and work your way to write up a thesis.
It takes time to complete a PhD.
It takes time to prepare well for the viva.
Patience gets you through difficult days, hard times and trying setbacks.
Be patient in the viva too. Don’t rush. It takes time, even a little, to respond well to questions.
Take the time.
At the time I went to my viva, just over eleven years ago, I didn’t know for certain that I was finished with my research. I was 90% sure that I wasn’t going to get any kind of academic position, 90% sure that my research was done and I wouldn’t do more. And yet I had to be ready to talk to my examiners about what I could do with my research, or rather, how someone else could continue the work.
I talked about special cases that might be of interest. The utility in making a better computer program of an algorithm I’d developed. Other problems where my methods might be applicable.
But I was clear: I might not be doing this. These are just ideas.
You might be in a similar position. Or perhaps you know that when you’ve finished your PhD you’re leaving academia. You don’t have to lie, you don’t have to fib, but I think you do have to have something in mind. There are many reasons why people leave academia after the PhD. But there’s a natural line of questioning in the viva, “You did this, what could you do next?” Even if your examiners look to you with an expectation that you’ll tell them of your plans, you can reframe that sort of question with general ideas, as detailed as you think appropriate.
Possible future plans are just that: possible. Start with why something might be a good idea, say how someone might do it, what they might do. But you can be clear, if you want to, that that’s not the road for you.
It’s a waste of your examiners’ talent and everyone’s time if they just pore through your work to find clunky sentences or spelling mistakes. They will find some probably, because very few candidates get no corrections, but that’s not what they are looking for.
Your examiners want to unpick what you did, why you did it, how you did it and what it all means.
Going blank in the viva isn’t a big problem. The potential for it might feel worrying, but typically it doesn’t happen that much. If it does happen there are things you could do. You can take your time, you can think and something will come. Going blank doesn’t mean you’re not talented, it means you’re human.
Your viva isn’t a test of perfection.
If you go blank in the viva, sit with it, pause, relax and try again.
Going blank before the viva is also a small problem. If you realise you don’t know much about your examiners, or you’re unsure about the procedure for the viva, those are small problems. If you try to think about a certain chapter or theory and your brain doesn’t supply ideas, you have a small problem.
Small problems often have many solutions – generally either thinking, reading or asking.
If you go blank before the viva, ask yourself what could make it better, and the answer to that question will probably resolve things.
As with every aspect of the PhD and the viva, there is a variety of experiences for the end, but several common stories.
Candidates might be asked if they have any questions or comments. Then when all the talking is done, examiners most commonly ask the candidate to leave the room so that they can have a quick chat. While the candidate waits nearby, perhaps nervously, perhaps not, the examiners confer and make a firm decision. They check they’ve got satisfactory answers to all of the things they needed to raise, and talk about the viva and what they think of it all.
The length of the wait varies. One person told me they waited two minutes and were called back; another told me they waited half an hour, and while there were no problems they had really started to worry! Ten to twenty minutes is seen as a reasonable length of time for examiners to chat.
Typically, examiners give the result then. They tell the candidate what the outcome is and what that means. If corrections are involved they might say a little about them. Examiners might need time to put a full list together. While minor corrections is the most likely outcome, it’s important to know in advance what all the outcomes mean. How much time is given? What is the process for getting examiners to certify that corrections have been completed?
The viva is not the end of the PhD. The end of the viva is not the end of the PhD. It can seem like there’s always something to do. But you’re getting close. Compared to everything that’s come before, you’ve not got far to go.
Please don’t.
There are statistics about the viva, both in terms of experiences – around 50% of vivas are two hours or less – and outcomes – around 85% of candidates get minor corrections – but these are only useful in terms of sharing broad expectations. Don’t just use the numbers to imagine a most likely scenario.
Instead, put them all together to create a smudgy, blurry image. Don’t just hope that your viva is less than two hours but work so that you feel confident whatever the length. Don’t just believe your thesis will pass with minor corrections whatever happens, work to make it the best possible thesis it can be.
Stats help tell the story, but it’s not enough to just hope for a particular outcome or experience.
If things work out during your PhD, that’s not simply luck. You have to work for it. If you get the most fantastic results or the brightest ideas they come to you only through effort.
Which means that when you get to submission and then the viva, it’s not simply luck. You HAVE worked for it. The end result of a good thesis and a good candidate for the viva is due to your effort.
You’re fortunate, not lucky. If your hard work has produced results this far then what would stop your fortune continuing to the viva?
Take a drink with you to the viva. After years and years of working with researchers, chatting to examiners and asking at institutions, I’ve found very few places where providing tea, coffee or water is part of the practice for the viva. Take something to stay hydrated.
Maybe take something to eat too. I don’t hear many stories of sharing cake or biscuits in the viva, but plenty of tales of candidates feeling drained as soon as the viva is finished. Take something you can eat to help energy levels in a break or when you’ve passed.
Little things can make a big difference.
Have you heard of the “rules of three” for surviving in extreme conditions?
People survive in extreme conditions, but only just.
I’ve heard PhD candidates wonder how they might survive in a potential three hour viva. That’s not extreme conditions, even relative to the viva! Most candidates could expect to be finished within three hours. It’s difficult to imagine what an extreme viva might be. There are challenges inherent in the process, but they’re not all or nothing, do or die.
PhD candidates survive the challenges of the viva – they manage to keep going in difficult circumstances – because of the challenges they’ve already faced in the three or more years of doing research.
The years help with the hours.
…but that doesn’t mean you can’t learn something by asking questions about your friend’s viva.
Every viva is different, but there are expectations.
Yours will be unique, but you can have a picture of what it will be like.
Find out. Ask. Learn. Get ready.