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Tag: viva preparation

Nathan

What’s Left?

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Do you have ideas that you didn’t have time to develop during your PhD?

Questions you maybe asked at the start that now at the end don’t have answers?

Or perhaps a section or chapter you were going to write but weren’t able to?

Review loose threads, unfinished projects and half-formed ideas as you prepare for the viva. The work at the edges could be of interest to your examiners, and you’ll be able to share it with them if you’ve spent a little time in preparation for that possibility.

More importantly, by contrast, you’ll see why the work that is finished got done. Ask yourself why unfinished projects didn’t make it, and you’ll get a sharper sense of why the work in your thesis got to completion – what was different about what made it in and what didn’t?

Nathan

Ladders, No Snakes

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I’ve been thinking about my mini-vivas resource recently, exploring how to do more with it, or make it more accessible. Naturally, this gets me thinking about other possibilities for game-like resources. I hope to have more to share with you over the summer.

I don’t think I’ll make a viva prep board game. If I did it would be like snakes and ladders – but without the snakes. Every action you take doing viva prep, big or small, moves you closer to the final square, Ready.

You may make an action that shoots you up a ladder to some higher place because it just makes a big difference. Or you may simply move a couple of spaces forward, on track, making progress.

But there are no snakes. There’s no traps or pitfalls to derail your progress and move you away from the finish. You’re only moving onwards and upwards, closer with each action to being ready for the viva.

With that in mind, what small steps are you taking? What big steps could you attempt? And what are the ladders that send you closer to being Ready?

Nathan

Demo Discs

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I’m old enough to remember demo discs: CDs or DVDs that came with gaming magazines and which allowed people to try new games or software before the full release.

(I’m actually old enough to remember demo cassettes, but let’s put that to one side as I start my six-month countdown to my forties…)

Demo discs gave fans the chance to try things. Here’s the first thirty minutes of the new game you’re excited for! Here’s something interesting to whet your appetite! Here’s a little something to get you used to this new thing!

Demo discs were useful to set expectations and raise interest. Demo discs are less common now due to digital downloads, but it’s possible to demo or trial all sorts of things in a useful way.

Like the viva!

A mock viva is a demo for the real thing: it can never be the same, it might be time-limited and you might only be able to trial it once, but it will help set your expectations.

A mini-viva is a demo for your viva: it focusses on specific parts of your work, it’s feature-limited as well as time-limited, but it’s also simple to get started. (user-friendly!)

A seminar is a demo for your viva: it’s not the same format, but showcases a lot of the elements that will go into your viva.

Explore your options for rehearsing for your viva. There are lots of demo options available to help you prepare.

Nathan

Option Two

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As a PhD candidate, I think you have two main strategies to manage how you feel about your viva.

Option One is to try and squash down any nerves that you feel. Take any worries and anxieties and just push them down, lock them away and avoid them at all. Don’t engage. I’ve seen viva success follow from this approach, but at a cost to candidates’ state of mind. I wouldn’t advise following Option One.

Option Two is to work to boost your confidence. Recognise your ability, work to prepare for the viva, notice your talent and where it comes from. Doing this will far outweigh any nervousness you feel.

Nervousness and confidence are not polar opposites – they’re different things all together. You can be nervous about the viva, because you recognise that it matters, yet confident in your success. You only have so much energy and effort available. Rather than focus on squashing away nerves, work to boost your confidence. Confidence will put your anxieties into perspective.

Option One: squash nerves.

Option Two: boost confidence.

Go with Option Two.

Nathan

By The Numbers

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How many papers have you read?

How many days did you show up to work?

How many times did you learn something?

How many hours did you put into your preparation?

How many opportunities did you take to present your work?

How many times have you had a good conversation about research?

How many times have you responded to tricky questions?

How often have you solved tricky problems?

How many times did you fail, but then later succeed?

How many times did you persevere when thing were tough?

How many hours have you invested into your PhD, into becoming good at what you do?

There’s no neat formula that takes all these numbers together to give you a confidence score or a grade. But taken together they must help you see you’re moving towards success.

What numbers help you feel confident for your viva?

Nathan

Signposting

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What can you do to keep reinforcing and reminding yourself about your talent? While viva preparation has to build on what you know, what you can do and how well you can respond in the viva, one key aspect of this preparation is reminding yourself that you are good.

Because you must be. You must be talented to have got as far as you have with your research.

I’m a fan of putting up signs. Signs are useful for the newcomer – giving directions, setting out expectations – but they’re also really useful for the experienced to reinforce culture or knowledge, or simply to remind and inspire.

I have a Post-it Note on my office wall that was given to me anonymously after a workshop years ago that makes me smile every time I see it:

It helps to have that reminder. I have a page full of prompts for blog posts on the wall, despite having a lot of experience now at writing regularly. An index card next to my desk asks me, “What’s the most important thing I can do today that would make tomorrow better?”

What signs could you put up around your workspace as you get closer to your viva?

Key points to remember about your research? Details about examiners you don’t want to forget? Or maybe simple things to help you feel better and remember that you’re good at what you do?

At the end of 2019 my wife put this lovely piece of art up on the landing in our house:

It’s been very useful, particularly in the last six months, to be walking past this every day 🙂

What signs do you need? Where will you put them? What are they for?

Nathan

Practice & Luck

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The harder I practise, the luckier I get.

Quote Investigator explores the story of this little phrase, which I only encountered recently but which has clearly been around for a while. Long time readers of this blog will know I don’t believe in “luck” – but I appreciate the sentiment here. The more you invest in your research, your skill, your knowledge, your thesis, your practice – the more you invest in yourself – the “luckier” you are when you encounter tricky situations.

Preparation is needed for the viva, but don’t forget you’re drawing on years of practice when you meet your examiners. You make your own “luck”.

Nathan

Where & When

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The viva isn’t a huge surprise. Thankfully you don’t turn around one day and-

-tell us about your contribution to knowledge!

Online or on-campus, tomorrow or six months from now, you’ll know where and when your viva will take place. You’ll know for weeks beforehand.

Knowing where and when helps your preparation: of course, read your thesis, think about your work, rehearse – and think about what you will do to arrive at that place and time, on that day, in the best state possible.

If you’re at home, what will you do beforehand? How will you arrange your viva space? How can you make it great for you?

If you’re in your department, how will you get there? What do you need to check about the room in advance? What do you need for it to be good?

At some point you’ll know where and when. Then you can start a small but useful part of the preparations for your viva.

Nathan

Definitions

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A short viva prep exercise: make a list of five to ten concepts or ideas that are fundamental for your research.

Now spend a few minutes defining them, either recording yourself talking about them or writing a few notes. They could be hyper-specific – a genus 2 handlebody was important in my thesis, for example – or much more general:

  • What is an equation?
  • What is an interview?
  • Can you describe an essential piece of equipment for your research?
  • How do you define a good method?
  • What is “good” data?

Go back to fundamentals and definitions. In the viva you’re called on to explain how you did your research and to show that you’re a good researcher. Perfection is not a realistic state to attain, but do you feel confident about your understanding of basic definitions?

You can.

Nathan

Unanswered Questions

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The lack of an answer in your thesis or in the viva doesn’t mean a problem for you.

Perhaps it tells you something about the question. There’s a reason you don’t know. What is it? That’s important.

Or maybe focus on why you can’t give an answer directly. What’s missing? Where’s the gap? That will be important too.

An unanswered question might not be unanswerable forever. Discussing “why you can’t give an answer now” could be the best response you could give in the viva.

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