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Nathan

Rabbit Holes

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Tread carefully when preparing for your viva, in case you find yourself tumbling down a rabbit hole.

  • Read one paper by your examiner, and find yourself lead to another, then another, then…
  • Spot one typo and you’ll wonder what else you’ve got wrong, and you’ll see something else, and…
  • Underline something to make it stand out and you’ll want to make something else stand out, then another sentence, and then…

You get the idea. There’s always more things you could do to get ready for the viva. And there’s so much you can do to help yourself that it can be tempting to do more and more. If you start your prep without a plan but just a goal (“get ready!”) then you can just keep going and going until all you can think about is doing more, and wondering have you done enough?

So start with some limits. A to-do list, finite and bounded. This, this and this, and no more. Decide before you turn to page 1 of your thesis, what are the things you have to get done. You can add to the list of course, but you have to have a good reason.

Don’t tumble down a prep rabbit hole! Tread carefully when you make your plans.

Nathan

My Vision

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I started the year helping to deliver a Leadership In Action workshop in Manchester. As part of the course, each of the facilitators had to deliver an “insight” – a thirty minute, one-off presentation about something connected with leadership.

I chose to do mine on “Vision”.

I had ideas I thought would be useful, and also thought it would be helpful for me to practice what I was preaching, dig through what I thought about vision. What was my vision for my life? For my work? For Viva Survivors?

I’m still working on the first of those, but my visions for work and Viva Survivors crystallised very quickly when I reflected. My work over the last decade or so comes down to “helping PGRs become PhDs”. That realisation has helped me to think about my opportunities (particularly in our current changing landscape) and fine-tune my decision-making processes.

My vision for this blog is “I want to help candidates see that the viva is a great big manageable challenge.”

The viva is a big deal. There are lots of things to consider, and it is a challenge, it is non-trivial, and at the same time it is manageable. It is survivable. You can do it. My vision, my work, is to try and help people realise that. That’s what I’m aiming for, but it’s not a goal: it’s the principle behind it all.

What’s your vision for your thesis? For your research? What guides it all? What’s guiding you?

Reflecting on that might help you sharpen your explanations or the background for your viva. You don’t need to have a big picture vision for the potential future of your work (you may not have one or want one), but having a way to frame what you’ve done and how you got there is useful.

So what’s your vision?

Nathan

First Chapter

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The writer Cory Doctorow once described a great way to open a story: begin with a person, in a place, with a problem. These things hook the reader’s attention; they want to know more about the person, where they are and how they’re going to figure things out.

I like it, and I think it’s a neat format for reflection on your PhD origins too. Your examiners won’t want a complete timeline for the last few years, but they might be interested in how you got started.

Chances are, early on, you were a person, in a place, with a problem. So:

  • Who were you? What was your background? What did you know?
  • Where were you? How far along in your PhD were you? How did you encounter the difficulty?
  • What was the problem? Why was it a problem? Why was it something that needed solving?

And how did you resolve the problem?

Thinking about a story like this can be useful in preparation for the viva. You have a tale to tell in the viva if you need it and a reminder of how you set out towards the successes you’ve created along the way.

Nathan

Viva Survivors: 7 Reasons You’ll Pass Your Viva

Update

I had a great time last week sharing Viva Survivors: Getting Creative with PhD candidates dotted all around the UK (and the world!). It was really fun to take my creative prep ideas and see them connect: it was just lovely, as was the opportunity to respond to questions in real time. Bar the odd Zoom-related technical hitch it all worked wonderfully.

I’ll be sharing Viva Survivors: Getting Creative again in the future, but next I’ll be sharing another new free 1-hour session, Viva Survivors: 7 Reasons You’ll Pass Your Viva on April 22nd 2020. This is for PhD candidates who have their viva coming up and want to know why it’s going to be fine. Lots of people tell PhD candidates not to worry about the viva – relax, don’t stress, it’ll all be fine – sentiments which don’t always help because they often miss an important Why.

For some candidates, one thing – the right thing – can be enough to make the difference and help them feel certain about their viva. I have seven reasons to share next Wednesday, and my aim is to convince anyone coming that they will be fine for their viva. They may have work to do, things to check or prep to complete, but when the time comes, they can be ready. They will pass.

Like last week’s session, I want to run this again, but don’t have firm plans for now. If you want to come to Viva Survivors: 7 Reasons You’ll Pass Your Viva then book now! Full details are at the link: the session is free, but you have to register to attend. It’s open to 60 participants like the last session – which was fully booked – and at the time of writing 40% of places have gone. Simply click through to sign-up; all of the joining instructions will follow on after that.

Thanks for reading this. If it sounds like it might help you, then please register for a spot on the session. Hope to see you there.

Nathan

Nathan

Perfect Is Hard

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Actually, it’s impossible.

Trying to be perfect for your viva will only cause you pain, stress, worry and other feelings of falling short.

Perfection will always be ten steps ahead of you, but ready can be right by your side.

Aim for being prepared: perhaps a little nervous still, but confident, fully capable of successfully meeting with your examiners and doing what you need to.

 

Nathan

One More

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Before submission, you could always…

  • …read one more paper.
  • …do one more test.
  • …ask one more question.
  • …check one more thing
  • …have one more meeting.

It won’t take much to prepare for the viva, but however much you do, you could always…

  • …read your thesis one more time.
  • …check one more paper by your external.
  • …have one more conversation with a friend.
  • …write one more summary.
  • …worry one more time about what you might be asked.

There’s always more you could do, at every stage of the PhD. You don’t necessarily need to do that though. Instead, think about where you are, and think about what enough means for that stage.

The viva is one more day you get to show up and show what you can do before you’re finished.

Make the most of it.

Nathan

You Made A Difference

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Part of the viva process is your examiners exploring your significant, original contribution. They will want to discuss your work with you, to find out more about it, to see what it means, to see how it applies, maybe find the edges or exceptions. Whatever their questions though, it’s all about what you did.

And what you did was make a difference.

You’ve changed what was before and made something new.

There’s a time and a place for summaries and defining what you did. Start with appreciating first that you did it. You made a difference. Through your effort, your learning, you skill and your time. You made a difference. You did it. Something exists because of you. Remember that before you do anything else for your viva.

You made a difference.

Nathan

What You Can Do

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You can write a good thesis.

You can make yourself prepared for your viva.

You can know what to expect from your examiners.

You can know what to expect from the viva.

You can learn about remote vivas, if that’s likely to be the scenario for your viva.

You can build your confidence to balance out your worries.

You can’t be perfect, but you can do your best.

You can be good enough for your viva.

Nathan

Who Do You Need To Convince In Your Viva?

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I think it’s you.

Your examiners have your thesis already. It’s possible they have questions about this or that, but if you’ve got to submission and the viva your work must be good enough. Perhaps a detail isn’t quite right, or a paragraph could be made clearer, but you don’t get to submission by accident.

But do you believe that? Where are your doubts when it comes to the viva? What do you need to convince yourself of? How could you do it?

You need to discuss your research with your examiners. You need to explain your thesis and your decisions to them. You might have to defend those decisions in some cases, adding additional support to your arguments and ideas.

But you need to convince yourself: you are the right person for this. You are talented. You are good enough.

You are.

Nathan

Remote Vivas

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Virtual vivas, Skype vivas, Zoom vivas – I see lots of names being used for the same thing. The current situation in the world means some vivas will be delayed, and others will necessarily happen online. Remote vivas are needed, a sudden change in procedure, and so naturally that creates a space for worry and concern.

Thankfully, while previously rare, remote vivas aren’t new. There are people who can help you understand what might be ahead if your viva is in the near future.

Find academics and ask them about what doing a remote viva is like, what they might have to take into account. Ask PhD graduates who have had their viva over video, and see what that felt like. Set your expectations, and check if there is anything special you might need to prepare for. See if there was anything that surprised them – that perhaps now doesn’t have to surprise you!

A few weeks ago, when universities started closing their doors, I asked for help on Twitter. I knew a little about remote vivas, but it was more on the technical help side – check the software beforehand, check regulations, and so on. Thanks to the generous contributions of many Twitter users I was able to curate a thread of help starting here:

There are lots of valuable points here! If your viva is likely to be sometime in 2020, it’s probably worth taking a look.

By the end of the year, perhaps, universities will be opening their doors again. But it won’t hurt you to find out a little more. It’s always been useful for candidates to check expectations; it’s hard to prepare and feel confident if you don’t have a handle on what’s ahead.

Now particularly, when the backdrop of the world is a little more scary and uncertain, it’s important to bring your viva into focus. See what it might be like, as clearly as you can, and you can make your viva a little less scary and uncertain.

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