You Are Here

Tag: viva preparation

Nathan

If You Forget

Daily Post

Forgetting something in the viva could happen to any candidate. It’s a reasonable thing to worry about, even if there realistically wouldn’t be a great consequence to a minor lapse in memory.

It’s reasonable to worry about forgetting; if you do then you have to take action to help yourself get past the worry. There’s a lot you could do:

  • Mark out the start of chapters to make your thesis easier to navigate.
  • Mark key sections so you can find important details.
  • Highlight or underline parts of your thesis that you might want to quote.
  • Create summaries of important information.
  • Practise responding to questions to gain comfort for the viva.

There really is a lot you could do if you worry about forgetting something in the viva – and all of this work is part of regular viva preparation!

Nathan

Want And Won’t

Daily Post

To organise your viva prep think about what you want to do and what you won’t do.

You want to read your thesis but you won’t obsessively re-read it.

You want to make a note of typos but you won’t go looking for them.

You want to know about your examiners but you won’t read every paper they’ve ever published.

You want to feel ready for your viva but you won’t over-invest your time.

You want to respond well to questions in the viva but you won’t do that by scripting lots of responses in advance.

You want to feel confident but you probably won’t be able to eliminate nerves completely.

 

You want to do well in your viva. You won’t have to do much in preparation for that outcome.

Nathan

The Prep Sequence

Daily Post

To prepare for the viva well it helps to do the right things.

  • You don’t need to cover your thesis in notes and extra scribbles in every margin. Be targeted to make a better version of your thesis.
  • You don’t need to read and re-read anything and everything you’ve ever done. Reading your thesis and checking important papers is enough.
  • You don’t need to practise every question you can think of for your viva. A mock viva with your supervisor or a good chat with some friends could help you feel prepared for the day.

Good, focussed prep tasks add up to being ready – but it helps to do the right things in the right sequence. Don’t have a mock viva until your thesis is annotated, and don’t annotate your thesis before you’ve read it!

Work effectively to get ready instead of simply doing the right things.

Nathan

The Red Button

Daily Post

There’s a knock at your door.

A courier leaves a package in your arms. It’s not heavy, but it has a strange heft to it. You don’t remember ordering anything. You’re not expecting something. But here it is, addressed to you.

Unwrapping the package reveals a small brown paper parcel and an envelope. The stationery and packaging are both of a good stock, clearly not from a supermarket shelf or high street stationer’s. The handwriting on the envelope is familiar, but you can’t place it.

For your viva, it reads.

You open the parcel first, cutting the string when the knot proves too tricky. Beneath several layers of paper you uncover a polished wooden box. It’s old, you can tell, but you’re not sure where in the world it might come from. You hold it in your cupped palms, the sides are smooth to the touch. There seems to be no lid or opening. It is a box though, not solid wood: the contents don’t shift much as you carefully move it in your hands, but you can tell that the weight is not uniform.

Resting in the curved top surface is a small recess and a red button.

Perplexed by the box you open the envelope. The note inside has a scrawl for a signature, but the contents are clear enough.

Friend. In case this helps with your preparations. What do you not want to be asked in your viva? Think carefully and press the red button, and you won’t be asked. But think carefully. Yours [illegible]

A hoax. A weird joke from a friend who knows your viva is weeks away. And yet…

What if?

No. It couldn’t be. This is a strange sort of gift. You wrap the parcel up and put it in a cupboard.

Two weeks later you take it out and stare at the box and the red button for an hour.

You make a decision.

 

If the box was real, and you could press the red button, what would you not want to be asked in your viva?

The box is not real! But if there’s a question you don’t want to be asked in your viva then you probably need to do something to rehearse for that situation.

Not wanting to be asked a question won’t remove the possibility. Practice and preparation will help just in case you should encounter that one question you really don’t want to be asked.

Nathan

Achievable

Daily Post

Viva preparation doesn’t make you viva-perfect.

Perfection is unattainable.

Viva prep makes you viva-prepared.

Prepared is achievable.

Do the work, just as you always have, and you will be ready.

Nathan

Marking References

Daily Post

Your final thesis can be annotated in preparation for your viva. While you might naturally be drawn to underlining typos or adding a few helpful words to the margins, paying attention to the references you cite can be a simple way to improve your thesis’ usefulness as a resource in the viva.

You could highlight different kinds of reference – information, methodology support, question and so on – in different ink colours to draw distinctions between them. You could find the ten most important ones and add highlighter tabs or bookmarks to draw attention to where you use them. You could write a sentence or two at the top of the page to catch your eye.

You had to pay a lot of attention to the work of other researchers to help your research grow. You had to invest a lot if time in being certain that you understood their work and how to apply it to yours. Now, as you prepare for your viva, take a little more time to consider which of these references has been most helpful to you – and find a good way to mark this out in your thesis.

Nathan

When Do You Know?

Daily Post

Getting ready for the viva can feel hard sometimes. Reading your thesis, checking old notes and papers, finding time for a mock viva, and so on. The whole point is to get to a point where you feel ready.

But when do you know? How do you know that you’re all set and ready for the viva?

As “readiness” is based around how you feel there is always space for doubting yourself. Try some of the following if you’re uncertain or worry about feeling ready:

  • Set targets for your prep. Define what you’re going to do, make a plan and tick things off as they’re completed. Seeing that progress can help how you feel.
  • Ask friends about what they did. Your story and needs may differ in some aspects, but having an example to follow can provide reassurance that you’re doing the right thing.
  • Remember times that you have felt ready for big events and compare how you feel now. If you don’t feel ready in the same way then consider what other actions you could take.

Perhaps we can’t set a time or standard for when you will be ready for the challenge of your viva – but you can set out how you might get to that feeling.

Nathan

Alternative Routes

Daily Post

Things happen during a PhD. Deadlines slip, feedback is delayed or a promising idea reveals a sticky situation that has to be avoided. Plans change and alternatives must be found.

One way or another you get the research done. You get your thesis written and finally your viva is close at hand. While getting ready it can be useful to reflect on the paths not taken. Reflecting on alternatives can show why they were not taken, how your route was the right one or give you a fuller picture of the situation.

  • Some routes will not have worked and would never work. A poor idea or lack of time perhaps, or an idea that just wasn’t quite developed enough.
  • Some routes could have been perfect – but there were reasons why you didn’t take them. In preparation for potential questions in the viva, what were those reasons?
  • Some routes are only visible with hindsight. With the benefit of experience you know a less treacherous path or a shortcut to avoid obstacles.

Looking back at possibilities is helpful in preparation for the viva. It shows learning, it highlights your progress and helps you to demonstrate your ability as a researcher.

You’re near the end now. You can’t go back and take a different route. You can be aware of the alternatives and what they mean.

Nathan

Five Flavours Of Viva Prep

Daily Post

I’m an extremely amateur cook and baker. I like to make nice things for my family and I like to experiment. I love to learn about how ingredients are transformed, how to combine them better and how to improve the process and outcome of something.

In my reading a few years ago I learned there are five basic flavours – sweet, sour, salty, bitter and umami – that make up the flavour of all the things that we eat and drink.

This formulation appealed to me a lot: I love to express things simply. Having three of this or five of that as a foundation for a topic makes my brain very happy!

Flavour is a nice metaphor for lots of things as well. Perhaps we can apply it to viva prep too?

Sweet viva prep describes the fundamental tasks that you have to get done: reading your thesis, making notes, adding bookmarks and so on. It’s work to do but you know what you have to do.

Sour viva prep is tougher; it makes you think more and tilt your head to one side: reflecting on questions, revisiting tricky concepts and checking old references.

Salty viva prep needs a break afterwards to refresh yourself: a mock viva, writing a summary or giving a presentation. All helpful, but all demanding.

Try to avoid bitter viva prep as much as possible. It can help to explore what ifs and maybes when reflecting on your PhD journey and your contribution, but not as much as being certain of the success you’ve found. Don’t go looking for problems now.

All viva prep should have a satisfying umami flavour to it! When completing any task – sweet, sour, salty or bitter – you should feel satisfied by the effort, like you have added to your readiness. You are closer to the viva, nearer to completion and more ready for the challenge.

Nathan

Ten 2-Minute Viva Prep Tasks

Daily Post

A simple post! Here’s a list of ten things you can do in two minutes or less that will make a difference to your viva preparations.

  1. Find and download the regulations for thesis examination for your university.
  2. Check and make a note of a member of staff you could contact – in your Graduate School or Doctoral College – in case you need help with arrangements for the viva.
  3. Gather together a suitable assortment of stationery to support annotating your thesis.
  4. Write and send a short email to three friends who could help you have a mini-viva.
  5. Find and bookmark the webpages of your examiners for later reading.
  6. Write a short email to your supervisor(s) asking about their availability in the coming weeks.
  7. Contact two or three people you know who have recently had a viva in your department and ask them a few questions about the experience.
  8. Write “YOU CAN DO THIS” at the top of the first page of your thesis.
  9. Stick a Post-it Note at the start of each chapter in your thesis to help you navigate it well.
  10. Write down one thing that you know is a valuable contribution in your research.

Viva prep takes time, but there are lots of little things that can make a big difference. Whenever you have a spare moment, think about what you can do to help yourself get ready.

 

Bonus 11th suggestion! Read this blog post about the book I published a few months ago! Ordering in print or ebook will also take less than two minutes and will help! 😉

1 … 6 7 8 9 10 … 35