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Nathan

Viva Survivor Webinar, December 3rd 2025

Update

Let’s keep this announcement short and simple:

  • I’m running my Viva Survivor webinar on Wednesday 3rd December 2025.
  • Registration is open now for this three-hour live webinar and participants will have access to a four-week catch-up recording and other follow-up materials.
  • Viva Survivor has been delivered for the last 15 years to more than 8000 PhD candidates at universities and programmes all over the UK.
  • In that time and in over 400 sessions I’ve been continuously developing Viva Survivor to be as helpful as possible to PGRs.
  • You can register now and use code VIVASURVIVORS until midnight on Sunday 5th October 2025 to save £10 on registration.

There’s a lot more information at the link about the webinar on Wednesday 3rd December 2025 and if you have any questions please get in touch. Viva Survivor is one of my favourite things to do and I’m really looking forward to this session, my only remaining independent Viva Survivor of 2025.

Please take a look if you’re interested and don’t forget that the code VIVASURVIVORS will save £10 on your ticket if you register before midnight on Sunday 5th October 2025.

Thanks for reading!

Nathan

Nathan

The Questions I Can’t Answer

Daily Post

I love to respond to questions from PhD candidates. When it comes to general advice there’s a lot I can help with and I’m willing to listen to situations to offer a few thoughts about particular things that might help.

There’s also a lot that I don’t know or can’t help with.

 

There are so many questions where the most responsible answer is “it depends” – and it will depend largely on the person asking the question.

There are many, many questions where the best person to offer a really valuable response might be the candidate’s supervisor. There are often questions where the best place to look for help is the university regulations.

I’ll always help if I can. If I can’t, remember that you have a lot of help around you.

When you’ve finished your PhD you can be a lot of help too.

Nathan

Viva Help Webinars

Event, Update

In brief: A second post for this morning because I have two upcoming dates for my 7 Reasons You’ll Pass Your Viva session. As a reader of this blog I thought you might want to know. Use the code DAILYBLOGFAN before Sunday to get a discount on your ticket.

 

If you’re looking for viva help then look no further than the 3000+ posts on this blog.

Look to see what resources and help your university or PhD programme offer.

And then look at what past attendees say about 7 Reasons You’ll Pass Your Viva:

  • “Thanks, really helpful session that’s helped me feel confident about the viva!” – University of Edinburgh PhD candidate
  • “Thank you so much this was very helpful – I have my viva on Monday and feeling a bit more confident now :)” – Liverpool John Moores University PhD candidate
  • “Thank you for such an engaging and helpful session!” – University of Liverpool PhD candidate

 

I describe 7 Reasons You’ll Pass Your Viva as a 1-hour confidence boost. I explore why candidates can know what to expect, how that helps them and what they can do to help themselves. When you register you also get access to a four-week catch-up recording of the session and after the session you’ll receive a pdf copy of 101 Steps To A Great Viva guide.

I’m running the session live on Wednesday 24th September 2025 (and Thursday 30th October 2025 October date is cancelled) and registration is open now. Registration is £20 and between now and Sunday 7th September 2025 you can get a discount if you use code DAILYBLOGFAN when prompted.

 

If 7 Reasons You’ll Pass Your Viva seems helpful to you or someone you know then check it out. Feel free to share details and the code DAILYBLOGFAN. Please get in touch if you have questions or if you need any help with your viva prep.

And if you’re looking for my Viva Survivor session then keep the morning of Wednesday 3rd December 2025 free in your diary and look out for more details and registration in October.

Thank you for reading!

Nathan

Nathan

One Sentence Per Page

Daily Post

One purpose of annotation is to make a more useful version of your thesis for the viva. Another purpose is to engage again with your thesis and think more about what’s in there and what it means.

One helpful annotation you could make is to add one sentence to the top of each page: read, think and then add one sentence to the top of each page that summarises what’s below. One sentence, maybe ten words or less to briefly describe what else is on the page.

This fulfils the point of engaging with your thesis and thinking carefully about it – and creates a more useful version of your thesis for the viva, complete with a commentary track about everything you’ve presented.

Nathan

Ask The Right Person

Daily Post

Do you have any of these questions rattling around your mind?

  • What happens at vivas?
  • How much time is given for minor corrections?
  • What does “major corrections” mean?
  • If I don’t want a mock viva what could I do?
  • When do I know when my viva will be?

I’ve been asked these lots of times at webinars, over email and in-person when I used to travel for work. I am always happy to help but it’s also worth pointing out that some questions I’m asked can be dug into far better by the candidate asking.

I can give a general perspective on regulations and expectations – but if you ask someone at your institution or read your regulations you’ll know exactly what you need. I can suggest the kinds of good support you could get from someone else if a mock viva doesn’t feel right – but you could know exactly who around you would be best placed to offer help.

Always ask. If you see me in a webinar or want to send me an email please do! I will always respond. But consider that someone much closer to you could help with some problems much more effectively.

 

PS: the latest issue of Viva Survivors Select contains a lot of helpful thoughts for your viva. It might not answer all your questions, but it will give you a lot of help. It’s available at my Payhip store along with the previous issues of curated collections and other resources too. Take a look if you can and tell anyone else who needs viva help 🙂 Thanks for reading!

Nathan

Five Times Five

Daily Post

Make a list of five papers you could read as part of your viva prep.

Make a list of five pages you’d like to be able to find easily in your thesis.

Make a list of five people you could talk to about your research.

Make a list of five days you could take a small break (even an hour) in the coming weeks.

Make a list of five questions you could write about before your viva.

 

Five lists with five points on each. They won’t take long to think or record.

Twenty-five helpful actions or activities you could do as part of your viva preparations, ready to go.

 

PS: Looking for more practical viva prep ideas? Explore June’s issue of Viva Survivors Select, my monthly viva help zine where I curate posts from the Viva Survivors archive!

Nathan

Viva Survivors Select 04

Update

Viva Survivors Select 04, The Focus Issue is ready and I’m very excited to release it into the world!

As with the first three issues, The Focus Issue is made up of twenty posts from the Viva Survivors archive and two new original pieces of viva help.

In this issue I wanted to explore the power of creating summaries as part of viva prep. I’ve loved sharing this topic in webinars and workshops for years. There’s a real value to thinking ahead for the viva, drawing useful information together and building confidence from really appreciating what you’ve done, how you did it and why it matters.

The Focus Issue is twenty posts from the Viva Survivors archive and two new original pieces: the first digs into the power of key questions for creating summaries and the second is an original prompt-based reflection game for reflecting on the PhD journey.

Viva Survivors Select 04 is out now for £3 and joins the first three issues in this ongoing project of monthly viva help. If you like the blog, want more help and want to support what I do then please take a look at and consider buying The Focus Issue.

Please do pass on details of this issue and Viva Survivors Select to anyone you know who is looking for viva help.

Thanks for reading!

Nathan

Nathan

Viva Survivor this Wednesday

Event, Update

In brief: Registration closes tomorrow at 5pm for my Viva Survivor session this Wednesday morning, 25th June 2025. Take a look now if you’re looking for help getting ready for your viva!

 

Slightly more details: If you want to know what to expect, what to do, how to get ready and how to build confidence for your viva then take a look at my upcoming Viva Survivor session this Wednesday 25th June 2025.

For three hours on Zoom you’ll get direct help from me in a live session I have shared with over 8000 PhD candidates. We have a packed schedule, plenty of time to take questions and I’ll be sending you great follow-up resources including some of my publications afterwards. All this and access to a catch-up recording for four weeks!

I love sharing Viva Survivor. I’ve spent more time sharing this session than anything else in my work since my PhD. I’ve now delivered it more than 400 times for universities and doctoral training groups all over the UK.

There are lots of free resources on this site that can help you get a sense of what to expect and what to do for your viva. Start there, but if you’re looking for more then please take a look at the registration page for Viva Survivor this Wednesday. If you have any questions about the session please get in touch and do pass this on to anyone who might be looking for viva help.

One last time: Viva Survivor session this Wednesday 25th June 2025! Registration closes tomorrow, Tuesday 24th June, at 5pm.

Thank you for reading 🙂

Nathan

Viva Survivor webinar, June 25th 2025

Event, Update

If you want to know about the viva then you could ask friends and colleagues. You could talk to your supervisor about examiner expectations. You could explore the support that your institution provides.

You can also look through the 2900+ posts on this daily blog about the viva, all freely accessible, or explore the different publications I’ve produced. There is a lot of support around you to get an idea of what the viva is about and what you might do to get ready.

 

And if you want to go deeper then register for my upcoming Viva Survivor session on Wednesday 25th June 2025. Three weeks from today I’ll be sharing what vivas are really like, what effective viva preparation means and how someone can engage well with their examiners. We’ll be exploring the practical steps to take before and after submission, building confidence and a lot more.

For three hours on Zoom you’ll get direct help from me through a live session that I have shared with over 8000 PhD candidates. We have plenty of time to explore questions from the group, I have great follow-up resources including some of my publications and a catch-up recording in case you can’t stay for the whole time.

I love sharing my Viva Survivor session – so much so that I’ve delivered it over 400 times for universities and doctoral training groups all over the UK.

“The session last week was so, so helpful. I really appreciated the practical guidance, which made so much sense and feels do-able and will help my confidence going into the viva. It helped that your manner in the training was calm, clear, concise, and full of empathy and understanding.” – UCLAN PhD Candidate, December 2024

Please take a look at the registration page if you are looking for viva help. There are full details there but please get in touch if you have any questions. Please pass on information of the session to anyone who might be looking for viva help.

One last time: Viva Survivor session on Wednesday 25th June 2025!

Thanks for reading 🙂

Nathan

Viva Survivors Select 02

Update

It’s really lovely to announce the second issue of Viva Survivors Select!

The Uncertainty Issue is the second curated collection taken from the Viva Survivors daily blog archives. I’m really happy to be working on this new ongoing project. I hope that it might be a great resource for candidates who need some really considered viva support.

Background: a wooden tabletop has a series of dominoes in the shape of a question mark. The dominoes are captured mid-fall. Foreground, two text-boxes, middle and bottom. Middle: "Viva Survivors Select 02, The Uncertainty Issue, May 2025" Bottom: "Nathan Ryder"

In this second issue I wanted to explore where the most frequently asked questions about the viva come from. As someone who has been supporting PhD candidates with their viva for fifteen years now, it’s my belief that a lot of questions and worries stem from the uncertainty about the viva – whether that’s real or only perceived by the candidate.

So The Uncertainty Issue collects twenty posts to help with common concerns: practical advice, encouragement and reflections to support getting ready despite uncertainty.

I like the post on the page below, which was originally published on the blog in January 2019. People often ask about what to wear out of a desire to fit in I think, but really it’s an opportunity to boost one’s confidence.

Page 7 of Viva Survivors Select 02; top half of the page has the text of a blog post entitled "What To Wear". Lower half has a black and white line drawing of a figure in armour.

Plus I really like that piece of art I found on the public domain image site Pixabay! You’ll find nineteen more posts, more fun public domain art and two new pages of original writing in Viva Survivors Select 02.

If you like the blog, want more help and want to support what I do then please take a look and consider buying The Uncertainty Issue – you might also want to take a look at last month’s issue too!

Thank you for reading, do pass this on to anyone who you think will find Viva Survivors Select 02 helpful – and look out for news about Viva Survivors Select 03, coming in mid-June! I’m already hard at work and there’s a sneak peek on the back cover of this month’s issue.

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