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Tag: viva prep

Nathan

Five Minutes

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Have five minutes spare and feel like you need to do something productive for your viva prep but don’t know what? Try one of these:

  • Make a list. Key points, key papers, important people, helpful thoughts, things to do – you can’t go wrong with a list.
  • Redefine your contribution. Capture thoughts on the significant, original contribution you’ve made through your thesis.
  • Reflect on who your examiners are. What do you know about them? What does that mean? And what can you do to be a little more clear on them?
  • Read a random post of viva help. There’s a link to a random post in the sidebar of every page of Viva Survivors or use this link to get a random post!
  • Write about how you’re feeling. Feeling happy? Why and what can you do to hold on to that? Feeling worried? Why and what can you do to help with that? And so on.

Or maybe just rest. That’s OK too!

Nathan

Frozen Thesis

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Icebergs are often used as metaphors for describing people: we only see what’s presented to the world, but there can be so much more going on beneath the surface.

We see a person, but don’t see their history, their feelings, their thoughts, their worries, their problems and so much more. Sometimes not knowing these things can lead to problems if we make incorrect assumptions about what we see.

The iceberg metaphor – things unseen beneath the surface – stretches neatly to reflect on a PhD thesis too.

When a thesis is submitted it’s a finished work. Examiners or anyone who reads it can read it, hopefully understand and consider what it means. Depending on their knowledge they might be able to ask questions or make assumptions about how something happened or why something was arranged in the way it was.

But they can’t know it all. They can’t see beneath the surface and know the last three (or four or seven) years of research.

They need you for that.

Having done the work you do see beneath the surface of your thesis iceberg. You see the mass of work and knowledge that is under the bright surface of new understanding. You can share that with your examiners in your viva and show them what they need to know for their own understanding.

Nathan

The End Point

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When you come to plan your viva prep consider what you want to have and how you want to feel when you’ve finished the work.

  • What resources do you want to have made?
  • What tasks do you have to complete?
  • Who can support you?
  • Ideally, how do you want to feel while doing the work?
  • And, again ideally, how do you want to feel when you’re done?

Whatever your responses are, they can guide you into thinking about what you will do, how you will do it and what you are ultimately aiming for.

What do you want to have done? How do you want to feel?

Nathan

Don’t Chase Perfection

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Perfect answers don’t exist in the viva. With preparation and rehearsal you can give good responses.

A perfect thesis is an ideal: if you’re very fortunate then perhaps you’ll pass your viva with no corrections required. It’s something you can only hope for though.

Vivas have ranges of expectations and patterns of experience. You might have an idea of your perfect viva. You can’t really steer your viva towards the 90-minute, no-corrections, easy-conversation that you might have in mind.

Perfects and ideals are nice, but you’ll over-commit your time, energy and focus if you chase them.

Instead, just do the work you can. Do your best research, write the best thesis you can, prepare with the time you have – while resting and looking after yourself and your other responsibilities – and then show up on the day of your viva determined to engage with your examiners.

Your best is better than chasing PhD perfection.

Nathan

Write It All Down

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Before you begin your viva prep, write down everything you can think of that you need to do. This is before you make a plan. Get down thoughts of any little or big thing. After a few days of letting those ideas breathe you can start to make sense of how and when you’ll get things done.

As you do your viva prep, record what you do. Make a record of your actions, the tasks you complete and the outputs you create. This will help you to see that you are moving forwards to your viva with purpose. You’re not simply passing the time: you’re investing time in helping you pass.

After your viva is done, take twenty minutes to capture your thoughts about what the viva was like. What did you do to get ready? What made a difference? Keep a hold of these as you may have an opportunity to share helpful thoughts with a future candidate who needs a little advice.

There’s a lot to do to get ready for the viva. Take time to write and think, both to help you plan, to keep you on track and to help others in the future.

Nathan

What They Want

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Your examiners want to read a good thesis with interesting research.

They want to follow the viva regulations for your institution and meet the expectations of your field or disciplines.

They want to engage with a capable, knowledgeable candidate.

They want the hours of the viva to be an appropriate challenge for you.

They want to see you rise to that challenge.

So what will you do to give them what they want?

Nathan

Talking Comfortably

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I think a huge part of viva confidence for a candidate is based on feeling comfortable when talking about their research.

Examiners need to ask the candidate questions, they need to share opinions and they need the candidate to respond so that they can have a discussion and examine. Candidates have to do their part and want to do their part, but too often worry that they won’t be able to in the moment.

  • “What if I forget something?”
  • “What if there’s a long pause?”
  • “What if I don’t know something?”
  • “What if it’s a bit awkward or I’m hesitant?”

The short answer for all of these questions and worries is that the viva will still happen. It’ll continue however you feel, but will feel better for you if you’re able to talk with some confidence about your research and all the related things your examiners want to discuss.

How do you get to talk comfortably? You prepare. You read your thesis and think and make notes. More important than anything you take time to rehearse for being in the viva through opportunities like a mock viva.

You can’t be ready with pre-loaded responses to every conceivable question or comment.

You can be ready to engage with whatever question your examiners ask by taking time before the viva to rehearse.

Have a mock viva. Talk with friends. Talk with your supervisor. Make opportunities to be in situations where you’ll talk about your work and respond to questions. Make sure you have real experience before the viva so that you feel more comfortable talking about your PhD research.

Nathan

Chapter Headlines

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The chapters in your thesis might have titles, but what are the headlines?

How could you summarise what they’re all about in a few short sentences? What details or terms do you need to emphasise? What points must you get across?

A short headline or two for each chapter could be a neat and simple way to add a few useful annotations to your thesis. What would you add?

Nathan

The Best Bits

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What are the best bits of your thesis?

What are your favourite memories of doing research?

What stands out when you think about how you’ve developed as a postgraduate researcher?

It’s important to spend time to reflect on difficult things and hard topics – but equally important to be certain about the good in your work and in your growth as a researcher.

Focus on the best bits first.

Nathan

Set Prep Goals

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It’s not enough to plan your viva prep and write read my thesis: you have to spell out what you’re trying to achieve by doing that.

Don’t just pencil in a date for your mock viva: what do you want from that experience?

And you can’t simply allocate time for checking a few papers written by your external: what do you want to know from reading them?

Plan your prep so you have an idea of how and when you’ll do the work.

Set prep goals so you have a good sense of what you’re achieving and how it will help you.

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