You Are Here

Tag: viva prep

Nathan

Viva Survivors Select 11

Update

Cover of VSS11, The Examiners Issue, dated June 2026 and by Nathan Ryder. Two towering figures loom over a smaller figure; all are stylised as simple game pieces

It’s release day for The Examiners Issue, the latest issue of Viva Survivors Select!

You can find The Examiners Issue on my Payhip store now. This issue is a curated collection of writing from the blog and I’ve tried to cover every angle: who examiners are, what they do, how they’re selected and how you can prepare for meeting them at your viva.

Page 1 of VSS11, titled HELLO! and introducing the content of the issue

The Examiners Issue contains twenty posts from the Viva Survivors archive as well as two original pages of viva help: a reflection on my own examiners and a helpful quick process for exploring who yours are. This issue continues my plan for this year’s zines to create all of the art myself. I’m very happy with the cover for this month and can’t wait to share the next cover too! (you’ll find it as the back cover teaser on this issue!)

Page 5 of VSS11, titled Citing Examiners. The top half of the page is a short article and the bottom shows a black and white illustration of a figure examining a noticeboard with various images and papers connected by strings

Viva Survivors Select 11, The Examiners Issue, is out now for £3. If you like the blog, want more help and want to support what I do then please consider buying Viva Survivors Select. If it helps you then please pass on details of The Examiners Issue and Viva Survivors Select to anyone you know who is looking for viva help.

Thanks for reading!

Nathan

 

PS: the next collection, The Contribution Issue, is due out on Wednesday 15th July 2026!

And PPS: if you’re looking for even more viva help then check out the details for my upcoming 7 Reasons You’ll Pass Your Viva webinars: you can check dates for sessions over the next six weeks at Eventbrite, and the first session is next Wednesday 17th June 2026.

Nathan

Call A Friend

Daily Post

Remember that quiz show where you could call someone to help you answer a question?

Yeah, you can’t do that at the viva!

It’s all on you at the viva: engaging with your examiners’ questions and the discussion for several hours.

In preparation though you can most definitely call a friend. When you are approaching submission, so long as it feels comfortable to do so, tell your friends that your viva is coming up.

Ask for advice. Ask for assistance from the people who know about the viva and who could play an active role in your preparation.

Who could be a good listener? Is there anyone around who could ask you questions and prep with you?

And don’t forget to talk to friends and family who can’t play an active role in your preparation. They might still be able to support you by making space and giving you time to do the prep work that you need to do.

Nathan

Seven Reasons

Event, Update

I posted recently that I have five independent viva help webinars happening soon so this is a little reminder post!

7 Reasons You’ll Pass Your Viva has grown to be one of my most-requested webinar sessions since I first delivered it during COVID lockdowns in 2020. I love sharing this 1-hour viva confidence-boost and seeing how it resonates with PhD candidates.

Why might this session be worth your time? Here are seven reasons to attend 7 Reasons You’ll Pass Your Viva!

  1. I’ve offered viva help for more than fifteen years to over 10,000 PGRs so I’m not new to the topic.
  2. I’ve shared 7 Reasons You’ll Pass Your Viva almost 100 times – in fact the final session in July will be number 100.
  3. The session is designed to be a confidence boost, concise and valuable, with plenty of time for questions too.
  4. “Thanks, really helpful session that’s helped me feel confident about the viva!” – one of the many pieces of feedback I’ve received about the session.
  5. I’m offering 7 Reasons You’ll Pass Your Viva at a range of times in June and July – including evening and weekend sessions.
  6. Attendees will have access to a catch-up recording to review for four weeks afterwards…
  7. …and receive a follow-up email and resources including my pdf guide 101 Steps To A Great Viva.

Tickets for all 7 Reasons You’ll Pass Your Viva sessions are available now. If you’re looking for viva help then I hope you can join me on Zoom on one of these dates:

One more time: registration for these live 7 Reasons You’ll Pass Your Viva webinars is £20 and includes a follow-up email, a pdf copy of my 101 Steps To A Great Viva guide and access to a catch-up recording of the session.

Thank you for reading. I hope you can join me for one of these sessions – and if this news might help a friend with their upcoming viva then please share this message.

All the best,

Nathan

Nathan

The Tops

Daily Post

What’s the top paper you’d recommend someone read to start learning about your research?

What’s the top result of your PhD research?

What’s the top point you struggle to remember when you think about your research?

What’s the top question you hope to be asked by your examiners?

What’s the top question you really hope not to be asked by your examiners?

What’s the top thing you can think of doing to help yourself get ready for your viva?

It’s helpful, when getting ready for your viva, to start with the first of something: the best this, the top that, the number one thing – it gives a signpost to help you see what will be a helpful focus.

What do you do next? And, beyond the list above, what other top things do you need to consider, do or find out more about ahead of your viva?

 

PS: if you’re looking for more general viva help then please check out the details for my upcoming live 7 Reasons You’ll Pass Your Viva webinars. The first of these is next Wednesday 17th June 2026 and I have four more dates. Registration includes a catch-up recording, follow-up email and my pdf guide 101 Steps To A Great Viva. Thanks for reading!

Nathan

All The Questions

Daily Post

Simple questions aren’t necessarily easy to respond to at the viva. They can be simple because you understand them with no trouble, because they’re short or because they’re expected. You might still have a lot to say.

Complex questions might not be hard. A question with lots of points could be straightforward because of how much experience you have with that topic.

An easy question is just easy. A small question. A clarification. A detail.

A hard question is hard. Opinions. First thoughts. Unknown or unexpected. Not impossible though; asked because it needs to be asked for some reason, never to haze, harass or harm.

Difficult questions are common at the viva. Consider the level you work at. Consider the standard of your significant and original contribution to research. Consider the nerves you might feel and the outcome you’re working towards.

Difficult questions account for a lot of questions at the viva – but you have a lot of experience with difficult work.

 

All the questions you’ll get at your viva are unconfirmed until you hear them. You can have expectations and good guesses but you won’t know until you’re there.

Rather than worry, do the work: rehearse and find a way to engage with any question you’re asked. Don’t just hope you get easy or simple questions. Acknowledge the reality of all the questions you’ll be receiving on your viva day.

Nathan

Famous Last Words

Daily Post

We can express l(Yn) – r(Yn) as a linear combination of annulus diagrams a^m….

That’s how the last sentence in my thesis begins – please don’t ask me what it means!

Where do you leave things in your thesis?

I’m eighteen years past my viva so I don’t feel I need to remember everything now. For you, with your viva at some point in the future, it makes sense to have a good grasp on where you leave things in your thesis.

Many candidates give a lot of focus to the start of the viva: what might those initial questions be? You’ll never know for sure until your examiners ask. You’ll never know the closing questions until they’re asked too.

It makes sense to unpick the final pages of your thesis to look for possible areas of exploration:

  • What are your final words on your thesis research?
  • What future steps could someone take to continue what you’ve done?
  • What do you think of the end of your PhD research?
  • What do you think your examiners will ask?

The final sentence of my thesis was a conjecture. I had a theory, an idea I could never show to be true. At the time I had a hope. Eighteen years on I still have a little flicker of belief that I was probably right.

What do you hope you’ll be asked at the end of your viva?

 

PS: today’s post was a super-specific reflection but if you’re looking for more general viva help then check out the details for my upcoming live 7 Reasons You’ll Pass Your Viva webinars in June and July. The first of these is Wednesday 17th June 2026 and I have four more dates including evenings and weekends. Thanks for reading!

Nathan

The Shape Of Your Thesis

Daily Post

You don’t need to memorise your thesis to be well-prepared for your viva. You’ll have it with you in the viva, annotated in whatever way suits your needs, and you can consult it whenever you need to.

To get ready for your viva you need to read your thesis and re-appreciate what you’ve done.

  • Do you have a single project or lots of smaller projects?
  • Does your thesis share a big book-length project or a collection of papers?
  • Is your thesis “different” in some way: do you have a creative work, a portfolio or something else entirely that isn’t typical for many candidates?

Whatever you have, take time after submission to read it carefully. Again, you don’t need to memorise what you’ve done but it will help to refresh your memory and appreciate the shape of your thesis.

Make sure you know the flow of information and ideas in your work as you’ve presented it.

Nathan

Every Question, Any Question

Daily Post

You can’t know every question you’ll be asked in advance of your viva.

You can be prepared to respond to any question you’ll be asked at your viva.

Read your thesis, annotate it well, make helpful summaries to focus on what matters and rehearse – you still won’t know every question you’ll be asked but you’ll be ready for any question that your examiners have for you.

Nathan

Live Webinars, Summer 2026

Event, Update

In brief: I have five independent viva help webinars happening soon.

 

“Thank you so much this was very helpful – I have my viva on Monday and am feeling a bit more confident now :)” – Liverpool John Moores University PhD candidate

I regularly deliver Viva Survivor and 7 Reasons You’ll Pass Your Viva sessions for universities and doctoral programmes around the UK. However, not every university engages me to deliver sessions – and sometimes even when they do there’s limited availability.

So, to create more opportunities for PhD candidates to access viva help sessions, I’m offering a range of dates and times for my 1-hour 7 Reasons You’ll Pass Your Viva live webinar in June and July:

Morning, afternoon and evening slots – and for the first time ever I’m offering a Saturday morning session for anyone who might struggle to attend during the week.

 

“Thank you for such an engaging and helpful session!” – University of Liverpool PhD candidate

7 Reasons You’ll Pass Your Viva was developed in the early days of the first COVID lockdown in 2020 and has grown to be one of my most-requested sessions. I love sharing this 1-hour confidence-boost for the viva and seeing how it resonates with and helps PhD candidates.

Registration for these live 7 Reasons You’ll Pass Your Viva webinars is £20 and includes a follow-up email, a pdf copy of my 101 Steps To A Great Viva guide and access to a catch-up recording of the session.

 

“Thanks, really helpful session that’s helped me feel confident about the viva!” – University of Edinburgh PhD candidate

Tickets for all 7 Reasons You’ll Pass Your Viva sessions are available now. If you’re looking for viva help then I hope you can join me on one of these dates:

Thanks for reading. If this might help a friend then please share this message.

All the best,

Nathan

Nathan

Rehearsing For Examiners

Daily Post

A mock viva might be the best thing you could do to be ready for meeting your examiners. Taking time to practise being in the viva environment will help you rehearse listening to questions, taking your time and responding. This should help you feel comfortable and confident for your viva.

It’s not all you can do though. Make sure you’ve had a good conversation with your supervisors about your examiners. Get a sense of who they are and what they do if you don’t know already – and dig deeper by exploring their most recent publications. This can help you appreciate any particular areas of crossover or connection with your research.

Your examiners will be preparing to do their job well at your viva. You need to do the same. They have a responsibility and a role to play: you can be ready for them through rehearsal and preparation.

1 2 3 4 5 … 152