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Tag: viva prep

Nathan

Persuade Yourself

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In your thesis, whatever the topic, whatever the structure, you’re trying to persuade your audience of something.

In your viva you are adding to the work of your research and the words in your thesis to persuade your examiners. You want them to believe the truth: you did the work and it has the value they’ve understood when they read your thesis.

Whatever their questions, you’re working to persuade them that you have ability and knowledge and your thesis is good enough.

 

Between submitting your thesis and succeeding in the viva you have to persuade yourself that you have ability, knowledge and a good thesis. Depending on your journey, your background and your circumstances when getting ready, persuading yourself that you really are good enough could be the hardest task of your PhD.

But that’s what you have to do.

And hard as it might be, given your experience so far, it’s a challenge you will rise to. Given everything else you’ve done, you can do this too.

Nathan

Too Much

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You can’t be overprepared for your viva, but you can be overinvested. You can do too much by doing more than is needed.

Through uncertainty or worry you could easily spend more hours, do more tasks or obsess more than is required.

Keep it simple. Plan ahead. Don’t fill your days. Figure out the core tasks required and do them when the time comes.

Not too much, just enough – just like your thesis, your research and you.

Nathan

Peaks & Valleys

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Viva confidence can come from reflecting on the years you’ve invested into your research and thesis. The journey has to show progress, personal growth and development and times that you’ve succeeded in your goals.

Looking back could also show you times when things didn’t work out, or when you faced setbacks. Particularly given the last few years you might remember the impact of the pandemic, both personally and professionally.

When you reflect it’s good to consider both the high points and the low. Use specific questions to unpick how a situation had an impact and what it’s lead to now.

  • A High Point: What happened? How did you come to succeed/develop/grow? Why has that contributed to your confidence now?
  • A Low Point: Why was this a difficult moment? How did you get through this? What have you done to learn from this time?

Highs and lows, peaks and valleys, whatever we call them, every journey of growth and progress has them. No plan goes unchallenged, there are always obstacles to overcome. But if you’re looking back on your PhD and getting ready for your viva, remember that you have overcome your challenges. You have done enough.

Don’t dig too deep into anything painful, but also remember that you have made it through your low points of your PhD. Keep going now and you will succeed at your viva.

Nathan

There Are Limits

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A PhD journey is bounded in many ways.

You can only read a finite number of papers and articles to build up your knowledge.

There’s a cap on the number of words that a thesis can reasonably contain.

You have only so many productive hours in any working day and pushing beyond that will not bring greater progress.

And you have hundreds of days to do the work but those days will eventually come to an end – and then you’ll have weeks to prepare for your viva.

 

Consider your limits as you start to get ready for submission and your viva. What do they show you?

Perhaps there were other things you could have done, but if you’re a typical PhD candidate those limits will show that you are knowledgeable. You embraced your work and studied. The limits of your PhD journey will demonstrate that you worked hard enough to get things done. You’ll have a thesis with thousands and thousands of words as proof that you stayed determined.

There are limits that come in many forms, but none detract from the picture presented of you and your work. You did something. You made something that wasn’t there before and you can be proud of what you’ve made.

Nathan

The Defence

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Remember that thesis defence doesn’t mean that you need to protect your work from harm.

Remember you’re not in a courtroom with your thesis on the witness stand.

Defending your thesis means you are tasked with speaking up for a silent book.

The words are all there, but maybe they’re not all clear. The pages are packed but there could be more to say. You have every chapter you need, but your examiners might want to know a little more or talk a little more about the fascinating things you’ve laid out.

In the viva, your task is to continue to support the work you’ve done for a long time. Defending your thesis means supporting the ideas you’ve developed and saying more about why they’re valuable.

Nathan

No Heroics

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Your examiners are looking for a significant, original contribution in your thesis and a conversation with the capable researcher who did the work. For you to meet their expectations you don’t need to have super-researcher powers…

  • Laser Focus: you can cut through an argument or question with a single glance!
  • Ultra Memory: you can recall any fact, piece of data or trivia you have accumulated!
  • Hyper Talents: you have absolute world-leading practical research skills for your discipline!

This doesn’t need to be you. It can’t be anyone. There isn’t a researcher in the world who can meet the impossible standards that worry might set. Your examiners don’t need a hero in the viva: they need a human, capable and dedicated researcher.

They’re looking for you.

Nathan

Challenging

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It’s natural to not want to talk about challenging parts of work or research in your viva. It’s human to focus on the good stuff and hope you won’t need to explain something tricky. It’s not wrong to be worried or have concerns about what might happen.

Rather than simply worry, maybe it’s better to confront the problem and do something – even something small – to improve the situation.

  • Can you think of a paper you struggled to understand? Take another look and find one thing you can make more sense of now.
  • Is there a concept in your field you often struggle to explain? Try again. Find the tricky point and come up with an idea.
  • Do you know of a question you really don’t want to be asked in your viva? Spend ten minutes unpicking why you don’t want it, what the issue is and what you could do to respond to it.

The viva is full of challenges, big and small, simple and complicated. Not all of them can be known in advance, but if you are aware of challenges don’t simply avoid them. Spend a little time exploring why it’s a challenge – then a little more on how you could engage with it.

Do more than worry.

Nathan

Tweaks & Nudges

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It can take a candidate some time to read their whole thesis. A mock viva is hours of prep and then the event itself. Sitting with your thesis to add notes to the margins and other annotations can also take a while.

These kinds of work are necessary. There’s no substitute for them but you can also improve your preparation – and how ready you feel – by doing little things too.

  • Write down one thing every day that you are proud of in your research.
  • Check one list or short summary that you have recorded previously.
  • Re-read a single page of your thesis that is really good.
  • Listen to one song or piece of music that helps you feel confident.

There’s a lot more you could do. Little things add up. There are big tasks you have to complete to be ready for the viva, but lots of small tasks that help too.

Nathan

Definite

Daily Post

Expectations for a viva fall within ranges.

There are common lengths, probable questions and likely areas of interest. It’s not as simple as rattling off a bullet point list of what will happen. There are ranges of aspects to consider and knowing about them helps. Generally, it’s clear to see what’s involved with a viva.

It also helps to remember what is definite about your viva.

You did the work. You wrote your thesis. You developed and became a better researcher. You know who your examiners are. You can prepare for your viva.

There are ranges of expectations for a viva but a lot you can know for sure about yours. Explore and remember all you can about both areas as you get ready to meet your examiners.

Nathan

Prep Club

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I often describe the work of viva prep as being similar to the work of a PhD. The work has a different focus but it exercises the same knowledge and abilities. For the most part it continues to be something that a candidate would do alone.

But does it have to be work you do solo? Whether or not you have friends and colleagues around you who are also getting ready for their viva, do you know people who could:

  • Be in the same space as you while you read your thesis, so that you’re not alone?
  • Bounce ideas around with you about how to annotate your thesis?
  • Go for coffee and listen to you talk about your research?
  • Help you even more by having a mini-viva with you?

If you know fellow PGRs who are also preparing then even better, but start by considering who your allies are. Start by asking for the support you need, if you need something.

The first rule of Prep Club is you tell other people about your need for Prep Club.

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