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Tag: viva process

Nathan

EDQs

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Or Extremely Difficult Questions.

You could make some educated guesses at what these might be for your viva:

  • A question on a topic you struggle to talk about.
  • A question about the bit of your PhD you didn’t like.
  • Something which is all about an examiner’s work.
  • Something completely unexpected.

It might be a surprise in the moment or something you’ve been dreading but an EDQ isn’t the end of the world – or, worse, the end of your viva.

If you’re faced with an EDQ then:

  • Pause and think before you respond – which is good advice for a REQ* as well.
  • Remember you can ask for clarity. Ask your examiners to say more.
  • Remember to take your time. More than simply pausing, remember it’s not a race or a rush.
  • Explore your thesis to help you support what you’re saying.

Remember that every question is an opportunity for you to demonstrate something but you are not expected to know everything. EDQs don’t have to dominate how you engage with your viva or be on your mind as you prepare.

 

* Really Easy Question!

Nathan

Clarify & Respond

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Could you repeat that please?

Can I just check…?

Before I respond, can I confirm that you…?

At the viva you need to make sure you’re comfortable with the question you’re trying to respond to.

Clarifying isn’t evasion: you’re not trying to dodge a question but be sure.

You’re not using up time as there’s no time limit: you have as long as you need to respond as well as you can.

Clarify the questions you need to so that you can give the best responses to your examiners.

Nathan

Selecting Your Examiners

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As a candidate it’s important to remember that you don’t get to formally choose your examiners. At best you can make suggestions to your supervisors: they can follow those ideas or not depending on what they think would work best for you, your thesis and the situation.

It’s reasonable to ask your supervisor why they think that Professor A or Doctor B are a good choice if you’re not sure. If your supervisor isn’t following your suggestion then you can at least know why and work from there.

You can safely assume that any examiner you would have is experienced and has the benefit of training. Beyond that, if you have the option to make suggestions, the first step is to think about what you would really like. What matters to you when you think about a good examiner? Do have names in mind or are you thinking about a kind of person? A specialist or a generalist? Or something else?

Explore your preferences, shortlist some names and then have a conversation with your supervisors. You might not get your choice but you can be confident that whoever your examiners are they are prepared and selected for good reasons.

Nathan

What You Want

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There might be things you need for your viva, like a specific date or a reasonable adjustment. Needs have to be met.

Wants are different.

  • You might want a specific academic to be your external examiner.
  • You might want certain questions.
  • You might want to have no unexpected questions.
  • You might want to feel confident or to not feel too nervous.
  • You might want a morning viva.
  • You might want a viva over video.

Wants might be difficult or impossible to arrange. They might require compromise, coordination or persuasion. How do you make the case? And how do you deal with the wants that can’t be satisfied?

Focus on your needs first and then remember that what you want most of all is to succeed at your viva.

Nathan

Change Of Circumstances

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At some point you’ll know the date, time and location for your viva and, importantly, who is going to be there. Typically, a candidate gets at least two weeks notice of the viva circumstances.

Sometimes those circumstances have to change.

There’s a small chance you or one of your examiners will get sick in the days leading up to your viva forcing a postponement. There’s a small chance that one of your examiners, for illness or another reason, might have to cancel their involvement.

Travel disruption could have a last-minute impact. Room availability can change unexpectedly. It’s unlikely but not inconceivable that someone could forget something they felt was needed for the viva leading to a delay.

It’s worth remembering that most vivas happen exactly as planned – and it’s worth finding out in advance who you would contact if something was to go wrong.

If there was a change of circumstances for your viva who would you get in touch with? And are there any potential problems you can identify and guard against in advance?

 

PS: if you have any viva worries then check out tomorrow’s 7 Reasons You’ll Pass Your Viva live webinar on Wednesday 17th June 2026. As well as being a big confidence boost all about the viva there’s plenty of time for questions too. If tomorrow is too short notice to attend then you can find full details for all my June and July webinars here.

Nathan

Icebreakers

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How might your viva begin?

  • Why did you want to do a PhD?
  • How would you summarise your research?
  • Can you briefly describe your main conclusions?
  • How are you doing today?

These example questions might break the ice at your viva. They might seem easy, challenging or unexpected – yes, some examiners really will see how you’re feeling!

Your examiners are asking a simple question and giving you something familiar to talk about:

  • Why did you want to do a PhD? – because you’ve likely thought about this many times before and told others why.
  • How would you summarise your research? – because you’ve had to think about, talk about and write about this many times before.
  • Can you briefly describe your main conclusions? – as this is something you’ve had to consider in writing your thesis.
  • How are you doing today? – because you and they are humans and they’re checking that you’re good to get started.

Whatever the question, that’s ultimately why they’re asking. Everyone in the room is human. Nerves play a part in the viva and everyone can engage better by starting well.

A simple icebreaker helps the viva to begin.

Nathan

Pause Or Stop?

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Pause after submission.

Take a small break from your thesis, your research and the daily work of your PhD – but don’t stop believing that you are on track, you are capable and you have made a difference through your contribution to knowledge.

 

Pause in the viva when you’re asked a question.

You don’t need to speak immediately: pause and think before you respond – but don’t stop doing your absolute best to share what you did, what you can do and what you know.

Nathan

All The Questions

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Simple questions aren’t necessarily easy to respond to at the viva. They can be simple because you understand them with no trouble, because they’re short or because they’re expected. You might still have a lot to say.

Complex questions might not be hard. A question with lots of points could be straightforward because of how much experience you have with that topic.

An easy question is just easy. A small question. A clarification. A detail.

A hard question is hard. Opinions. First thoughts. Unknown or unexpected. Not impossible though; asked because it needs to be asked for some reason, never to haze, harass or harm.

Difficult questions are common at the viva. Consider the level you work at. Consider the standard of your significant and original contribution to research. Consider the nerves you might feel and the outcome you’re working towards.

Difficult questions account for a lot of questions at the viva – but you have a lot of experience with difficult work.

 

All the questions you’ll get at your viva are unconfirmed until you hear them. You can have expectations and good guesses but you won’t know until you’re there.

Rather than worry, do the work: rehearse and find a way to engage with any question you’re asked. Don’t just hope you get easy or simple questions. Acknowledge the reality of all the questions you’ll be receiving on your viva day.

Nathan

Yeses & Noes

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I had to look up the proper pluralisation of yes and no for this post!

And when I did it turned out that there are variations: there are several different options for both. Do you capitalise your YES to make it clear? Do you simply refer to a lot of negativity as “nos”? Do you dare to offend grammar lovers by adding apostrophes?

Whatever you decide you have to be ready to say why.

Which brings us to the viva: when you’re sharing what you did during your PhD there are some aspects that could seem as simple as a yes or a no.

Yes I did that or no I did it this way. While it might be simple you’ll still need to say why.

Be ready to share the whys for all your yeses and noes at your viva.

Nathan

Unspoken Rules

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“Everyone knows that about the viva!” – except when they don’t.

Regulations can be consulted but only show some of the picture of what to expect. Your department could have expectations that are assumed as common knowledge. There may even be expectations within your discipline that “everyone knows” about viva lengths, discussion focus and examiner selection.

Everyone knows what to expect – except when they don’t. If you don’t know what to expect or don’t know how something is supposed to be with your viva then find the right person to ask – and ask!

Then, whenever you can, share what you do know with others to help them on their journey to PhD success.

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