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Nathan

What’s Your Contribution?

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A fundamental assumption of the viva process is that a PhD thesis has a contribution to knowledge.

What’s yours?

How do you define it? How do you explain it? What do you highlight for others?

What does someone else need to know to understand what you’ve done?

What do you hope your examiners take away from reading your thesis?

Reflecting on your contribution ahead of the viva will help you to unpack and explore it with your examiners. Taking time to read your thesis, write summaries and rehearse can all help you talk confidently and respond to your examiners’ questions.

Start simple.

What’s your contribution?

Nathan

Planning Time

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Viva prep typically takes between twenty and thirty hours. The range follows from the wide variation in thesis size, how a candidate might feel and practically how much time they can commit given their other responsibilities.

I think it’s impossible to plan out in advance exactly how much time you will spend each day over the course of your prep. On Tuesday 24th I will read my thesis for forty-five minutes… I don’t think that approach works well.

I think you can decide that you might read your thesis over the course of a week and allow an hour or so each night. You can set aside an hour on a date to write a summary about a particular chapter. You can schedule a mock viva for whenever is mutually convenient.

Sketching a plan at submission, figuring out generally how much time you might spend in the coming weeks is a good approach to prep that lowers stress. Detailing the minutes spent each day will most likely add more negative pressure and create standards that are hard to meet – and unnecessary.

Take a little time to plan your prep. Use the rest to get prepared.

Nathan

Patterns, Predictions, Preparations

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Vivas follow patterns. These come from regulations, general experiences of candidates and examiners and the culture of departments. There are general expectations that describe the trend of vivas in the UK, reasonable estimates of length, process, ranges of feelings and so on.

Given the general patterns and a person’s experience, ability and research, it is possible to make some predictions for what will happen at a particular candidate’s viva. It’s reasonable to predict that someone’s experience will most likely be similar to the patterns of the general experience. It’s reasonable to predict particular questions based on their research and thesis.

Patterns and predictions only take one so far though. They can help you feel better. They can highlight general things for you to think about in advance of the viva.

Then you have to prepare.

Preparations for the viva are what make the difference. It’s not enough to have a good feeling. It’s not enough to get a sense of what vivas are like. You have to do something. You have to take steps to get ready.

What patterns are you aware of? What can you reasonably predict for your viva? And what will you do to make sure you are prepared?

 

PS: one thing that could help your preparations is Viva Survivor, my upcoming live webinar on Wednesday 25th June. I have three objectives for the session: to share realistic expectations for the viva, help attendees know how to prepare well and to be of help.

I’ve shared this session more than 400 times with over 8000 PhD candidates, but this is only the third time I’ve opened up registration. Viva Survivor is a 3-hour live webinar and all attendees get access to a catch-up recording and follow-up materials. Take a look and see if it might be of help for you. Thanks for reading!

Nathan

Ideas Need Work

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“What a good idea!”

It’s very rare that an idea is enough. It takes work to develop, to implement, to unpick, to understand and for it to have an impact.

You will have had many good ideas throughout your PhD. However they’ve made their way into your thesis, they needed effort to come to life. They needed your work to make an impact.

Whatever is in your thesis, it took work to write, work to edit, work to figure out how to express it.

Your work.

There are great ideas that exist because of the work you did. When you go to your viva there’s a lot to talk about. Remember that the reason it’s there is because you took the time and the effort to do it.

Your thesis is proof of your contribution and evidence of your capability as a researcher.

 

PS: today’s post aims at boosting confidence by reflecting on your PhD and the work you did. If you’re looking for more ways to boost your confidence and get ready for the viva then check out Viva Survivors Select 03, The Preparation Issue, which came out yesterday and is available now at this link!

Nathan

Viva Survivors Select 03

Update

It’s come around so quickly hasn’t it? Or maybe that’s just how I feel…

In any case the third issue of Viva Survivors Select is out today!

Viva Survivors Select 03, The Preparation Issue is here and I’m very excited to release it into the world. Twenty posts from the Viva Survivors archive plus two new original pieces equals a lot of concentrated support for anyone who needs to get ready for their viva.

In this issue I felt it was time to dig into viva prep in detail: when do you start? What do you do? What tasks help? And how can you make the most of the time between submission and the viva to get ready for meeting your examiners?

Twenty posts from the Viva Survivors archive and two new original pieces: a new resource for having helpful rehearsal conversations with friends and a confidence-building project you can start to help you feel better for your viva. Viva Survivors Select 03 is out now for £3 and joins the first two issues in this 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 Preparation Issue – and 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

Ten Minute Annotation

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Annotating your thesis for the viva takes more than ten minutes! However, you can make a good start in a short amount of time:

  • Add sticky notes or tabs to mark the start of each chapter.
  • Add similar for any key sections that stand out to you in your thesis.
  • Add a summary sentence to the start of each chapter.
  • At the top of the title page write three things you are proud of from your research.
  • Further down on your title page write “You can do this!” – and then underline it.

Then take as much time as you need to finish annotating your thesis.

In ten minutes you can start well. What else do you need?

Nathan

The Right Words

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The right words of feedback from your supervisor or a trusted colleague can make a huge difference to your work or your wellbeing. Think about what you ask for, when you ask for it and who you ask it from.

The right words of annotation on the pages of your thesis – by you – can make a huge difference to how ready you are for viva day. Think about what you need to add during prep, how you will do it and what the result will be.

The right words in the right way can make a huge difference to your PhD and your viva.

 

PS: looking for more about viva prep and getting help from others? These are two topics I’ll be talking about at Viva Survivor, my upcoming live webinar on Wednesday 25th June. Registration is open now for my 3-hour live webinar – all about the viva, viva prep and getting ready – and attendees also get access to a catch-up recording and follow-up materials. Take a look at the details to see if this session might help you.

Nathan

Helpful Factors

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Viva prep needs reading, reviewing, rehearsal and a lot of practical work on your part. There is also a lot you can do to help your preparations be as productive as possible.

Here’s a non-exhaustive list of helpful factors for viva prep:

  • Make a small plan. Sketch out what needs doing in the weeks leading up to your viva.
  • Meet your needs. Make sure that your plan actually addresses what you need.
  • Make time. Planning is great but you need the time to do it. Figure out when works well for you.
  • Be flexible. Leave room in the plan because something will need to change at some point. That’s life!
  • Find support. Ask for help before submission and be clear about what you need from others.
  • Review your progress. Take ten minutes every few days to check that you’re on track.

And rest. Remember that all of the work will be better if you are as well-rested as you can be.

Nathan

Maybe & Definitely

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Maybe you didn’t get all of the results you were hoping for.

Maybe writing your thesis was harder than you expected.

Maybe your external examiner isn’t the person you would have picked.

Maybe there’s something tricky in your third chapter that you find hard to remember.

And, who knows, maybe your viva will be longer than you would like.

 

Definitely: You did the work. There are regulations and expectations that create a knowable viva process. You can take time to prepare in a way that helps you. Your examiners will be known well in advance of your viva. You have time to get ready.

 

Every viva has maybes. Whatever maybes you can think of for yours, these are more than covered by the things that you will know and can do definitely.

Nathan

Asking About Examiners

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When your supervisors have decided on your examiners make sure to have a conversation about those choices, even if you’ve already asked them before. Make sure, for your own peace of mind, that you explore the following:

  • Why do your supervisors think that these two people are the right choice?
  • How can you prepare for meeting them in the viva?
  • What, in particular, do your supervisors think these two examiners might ask about?

Exploring that last question in general might be too big a problem to consider, but with two individuals, known to your supervisors – who know about your work – there might be some specific questions to unpick as part of your viva preparations.

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