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Nathan

Viva Survivor, Thursday 27th March 2025

Event, Update

Every day I share at least one helpful thought through the Viva Survivors blog. There’s a lot in the archives but it could take a long time to put together a full picture of what to expect and what to do by reading the last 2800 posts.

If you want a good idea of what to expect, what to do, how to get ready and how to build confidence then take a look at my upcoming Viva Survivor session on Thursday 27th March 2025. For three hours I’ll be sharing what vivas are really like, what effective viva preparation can look like and how someone can engage well with their examiners.

For three hours on Zoom you’ll get direct help from me through a live session that I have shared and developed with thousands of PhD candidates over the last fifteen years. I have a full plan, plenty of time to take questions from attendees, great follow-up resources and a catch-up recording in case anyone can’t stay for the whole time.

I love doing this session (I’ve delivered it almost 400 times!) and I hope that you’ll take a look at the registration page if you are looking for viva help. If you have any questions please get in touch – and do please pass on information of the session to anyone who might be looking for viva help.

One last time: Viva Survivor session on Thursday 27th March 2025!

Thanks for reading 🙂

Nathan

Knowing Your Stuff

Daily Post

At the viva you’re expected to know your stuff, whatever that might mean for someone in your field or discipline. Broadly speaking: you’re clever, you’ve done the work and you’re assumed to be capable.

It’s not hard to worry that you might be missing something, but keep in mind, to set the right perspective:

  • Knowing your stuff doesn’t mean you need to know everything.
  • Knowing your stuff doesn’t mean you are expected to have a fast recall of every detail.
  • Knowing your stuff doesn’t mean having read every paper.
  • Knowing your stuff doesn’t mean guessing every question your examiners might have.
  • Knowing your stuff doesn’t mean knowing all of your examiners’ stuff too.
  • Knowing your stuff doesn’t mean figuring things out quickly.

At the viva, knowing your stuff means being knowledgeable, capable and being willing to engage with your examiners’ questions and the discussion that follows from them.

To get as far as you have you must know your stuff: it’s the only way anyone could get to submission.

 

PS: want to know more about the viva process and expectations? Take a look at my Viva Survivor session. Registration is live for my March 27th 2025 webinar and includes follow-up resources and a catch-up recording if you can’t attend on the day.

Nathan

The Build-up

Daily Post

At submission sketch out a viva prep plan.

You might not know your viva date but that’s OK: you know your current situation. You know how busy you are and you know what responsibilities you have. With a little reflection you can also get a good feeling about how you need to approach getting ready.

A sketch of a plan can take account of busy-ness and obligations. Do you need two weeks to get ready or is it safer for your stress and your time to have a month? Sketch how you would do the work.

Start small and build. Day one of viva prep doesn’t have to mean reading your whole thesis, checking ten papers and having a mock viva. Build up to that. Read a little and then do more the next day.

The last week of viva prep will probably be busier than the first – but the last day might be more relaxed as you realise you’ve built up everything you need for meeting your examiners.

After all, you’re building on solid foundations.

Nathan

Density

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Thousands of hours of work, spread out over hundreds and hundreds of days.

How much thinking? How much practical work? How much reading?

Now all squashed into several chapters, a few hundred pages maybe.

Your thesis is dense.

In preparation for your viva you need to dig in to it.

Read what you wrote. Reflect on what it means. Review what you need to so you feel ready.

And remember that dense substances are often very valuable.

Nathan

Contributions Matter

Daily Post

“How would you define your significant, original contribution?”

That’s a hard question for a lot of reasons.

It asks for specifics, your opinion and makes an assumption that there is one big thing you’ve done through your research. Personally, I would struggle to respond because I didn’t have a single focus during my PhD: my thesis was a collection of results, not one overall idea that I explored.

It’s a hard question, but it could be rewarding to unpick nonetheless. Reflecting might reveal some helpful ways to share your research with your examiners (and others).

It’s also helpful to reflect on all of your contributions, big and small. Look back over your PhD and think about your results, achievements and victories. What do they all amount to? Whether or not there is a single headline conclusion to point to, what do your contributions mean?

Remember that contributions can be a stepping stone to confidence: recognising what you’ve achieved can be a helpful way to boost how you feel.

 

PS: exploring confidence is a big part of my Viva Survivor webinar – alongside expectations, viva prep and the whole viva process. Registration is open now for my March 27th 2025 session and includes a catch-up recording if you can’t attend live!

Nathan

You Have Time

Daily Post

Or rather, you can have time.

You have time to get ready for your viva – or, rather, you can have time if you sketch out a plan and know in advance what’s expected for viva prep.

You have time to respond to any and every question at your viva – or, rather, you can have time if you rehearse and get used to the idea that you don’t need to rush to answer.

There’s time to do everything you need to get ready and time to do everything you need at your viva.

You might have to slow down to take that time and make the most of it.

Nathan

Final Preparations

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My last viva prep task was to knock on my supervisor’s door with fifteen minutes to go, “Hi Hugh, just to check one more time, a genus 2 mutant can be defined as….?”

What will your final prep be?

Perhaps you’ll just check you have everything in your bag. Maybe you’ll focus on re-reading something one more time. Your last prep step could be to relax with a cup of coffee.

Or like me, your last task will be to stress at the last moment.

 

There’s an element of choice involved. You can plan your viva preparation. Sketch out a plan when you reach submission. You don’t need to account for every minute of every day until your viva, but by looking ahead you can remove stress, rush and a lot of doubts.

The last step in getting ready for your viva could be tiny or could be a big task. It’s better if it’s not panicked or stressed.

Nathan

The Greatest Hits

Daily Post

What are the best and most valuable references in your bibliography?

What were the biggest achievements of your years working on your research?

What could make the biggest impact now that your thesis is complete?

 

If you reflect on where your work comes from, what you did and where it could go then you have considered the context for your contribution, the contribution and a possible future for it. That’s a good piece of reflection as part of viva prep!

Nathan

Use The Right Tools

Daily Post

We use tools to help ourselves.

Screwdrivers come in all sorts of shapes and sizes. Saws vary depending on their purpose and the materials they’re designed to cut. Hammers can be used to assemble or destroy.

Tools are useful to make or maintain, to remedy small problems or big situations.

 

So what tools are you taking to your viva?

Perhaps you have something physical to show your examiners, but more likely you’ll be demonstrating intellectual tools that you have constructed over the course of your PhD.

You’ll show your knowledge. You’ll share your understanding. You’ll demonstrate your capacity for thinking like a researcher in your field.

These are the tools you need to do well. They’ve helped you make the research in your thesis and can now help you to make good on that promise at your viva.

Don’t forget that tools need maintaining too – viva prep is essential for sharpening yourself!

Nathan

A List Of Lists

Daily Post

If you’ve five or ten minutes and are looking to do something to help your viva preparation, you can do a lot worse than make a list. Here are ten ideas:

  • A short list of key contributions in your research.
  • The top ten most useful papers in your bibliography.
  • Five questions or topics you anticipate being asked about at your viva.
  • Seven small tasks you can do to help your prep.
  • Seven questions to ask your supervisor at your next meeting.
  • A short list of everything you’ll take with you to your viva.
  • Five little things you could do to steady your nerves.
  • A list of anything you don’t know about the viva that you need to find out.
  • A list of your proudest moments from your PhD journey.
  • Five things that show you are a capable researcher.

Lists can be summaries, boosters, reminders and more. Don’t underestimate the power of a good list to focus your attention on your preparation and how close you are to being done.

 

PS: looking for more viva prep ideas? Take a look at my Viva Survivor session! Registration is open now for my March 27th 2025 webinar and includes a catch-up recording if you can’t attend live.

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