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Tag: viva process

Nathan

Beginning & End

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Expect your viva to begin with questions that help you start well.

Expect your examiners to have a plan (but don’t expect them to share it).

As you start the viva you can expect to feel nervous but the opening questions should help you move past that feeling.

And as you begin you could try to have a rhythm for engaging with questions: take a sip of water, make a note or take a breath – do something to help you pause.

 

As your viva ends, expect your examiners to ask you to leave for a little while so they can talk privately.

Expect to feel nervous then too.

Expect that when they bring you back in they’ll be telling you that you’ve succeeded!

And expect they’ll tell you that you have corrections to complete as well!

Nathan

Impossible Vivas

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A viva with no questions is impossible.

Equally impossible: a viva with all the questions!

It helps to recognise ahead of meeting your examiners…

  • …you won’t know how many questions you’ll be asked;
  • …you won’t know what questions you’ll be asked;
  • …you won’t know what the start of your viva will be exactly;
  • …you won’t know what they’re thinking about as they manage their side of the discussion.

And none of these things make the viva impossible for you.

You can’t be asked every question. You won’t be asked none. You can’t know what you will be asked. Rather than guess you can rehearse and prepare for being there. You can know what it’s like to be at the viva by practising. You can prepare to respond by having a mock and doing things that help you consider your work again.

There are a number of impossible scenarios for the viva. Your own experience will be much more manageable.

Nathan

Time To Shine

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The viva is your time to shine. You can show the best of your research, your PhD experience and your capability as a researcher in your field.

At the viva you have time to shine. You don’t need to rush and you don’t need to rapid-fire responses. You can pause and think and be careful in how you discuss everything with your examiners.

You have to be ready for the time you’ll shine. Getting ready means being prepared practically but also knowing that vivas take time. Two to three hours is fairly typical. What do you need to be ready to discuss your work for that long?

The viva is your time to shine. Be ready for it.

 

PS: it’s almost time for Viva Survivors Select 09 to shine! The next issue of my viva help zine is coming next Wednesday 15th April 2026. Twenty of my favourite posts from 2025, two new pages of viva help including a new viva prep game and all original artwork by me. Do look out for the release announcement next week and if you get help from the Viva Survivors blog do consider picking up the issue.

Cover for Viva Survivors Select 09, The 2025 Issue, April 2026 - by Nathan Ryder Cover shows a red game piece/pawn looking at a wall with twelve calendar pages with various tally marks.

Nathan

Simple & Easy

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These two words are not equivalent.

A question might be simple to understand but your response won’t be easy to unpack.

You might have a simple explanation for some of your research results but the work to get to that realisation will have been anything but easy.

And your examiners might ask some simple questions to start your viva – “Can you summarise X?” or “Why did you explore this area?” – but know that your thoughtful response will be anything but easy.

The challenge of the viva is relatively simple to explain. The work you’ll do at the viva will not be easy.

 

PS: Looking for more viva help? Then check out tomorrow’s live Viva Survivor webinar where I’ll share viva help for three hours! You’ll get four-week access to a recording of the session and follow-up materials too. There’s more information at the link and registration closes this afternoon. Thanks for reading!

Nathan

On Track

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What might it take to convince you that you’re on track to succeed at your PhD?

If you have questions about viva regulations and the process then information is available (from many sources) to satisfy your questions. If you need to finish your thesis or research then time, work and support will help remove those obstacles. Or if you’re done with all of that but need to get ready then there’s a wealth of ideas on good viva prep.

But if you have all of this and you need confidence – something to help you feel certain – then perhaps the only place to find that help is from yourself.

You need to look back, reflect, consider and recognise how you’ve got as far as you have. You did all of that so you can do the work needed at your viva.

You are undoubtedly on track to succeed.

 

PS: I’ll share a lot more about the viva process and confidence at my live 3-hour Viva Survivor webinar this Wednesday 25th March 2026! You’ll get four-week access to a recording of the session and follow-up materials too. Registration closes tomorrow afternoon and there’s more information at the link. Please get in touch if you have any questions or want to know more. Thanks for reading!

Nathan

Who Knows?

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If you and your examiners all know about something then you can talk with the same reference points.

If you know something and your examiners don’t then you might have to explain something to them so that you can have a fruitful discussion.

If your examiners know something and you don’t then you will benefit from being ready to ask questions so that you know more and can respond to their questions.

Neither you nor your examiners can know everything! There might be topics or questions where no-one knows the truth and none of you have given much thought to it previously. That doesn’t mean you can’t take the opportunity of the viva to use what you do know to consider and discuss.

Whatever you or your examiners know or don’t know, because the viva is a conversation you have space to think, ask questions, offer ideas and make the most of the opportunity.

 

Inspired by thinking about the Johari Window model!

Nathan

No Tricks, No Traps

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That’s what you can expect most of all from your examiners. They’re not there to ask awkward or difficult questions to catch you out. Their questions are always asked with real purpose. They want to hear what you think, what you know, what you understand and what you can do.

They don’t want to catch you out. They don’t want to haze you or break you. They don’t want to find the edges of your capability and test you that way. Every question they ask is an opportunity for you to demonstrate what you can do. Every question is one more chance for you to keep going and keep showing what your research is all about.

No tricks, no traps – just opportunities to shine.

Nathan

Expecting Corrections

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When I share viva expectations with PhD candidates I emphasise that they can expect some corrections.

Most candidates get asked to complete some after the viva. They’ve not failed. They’ve not missed something. They’ve not been careless or lazy or ignorant.

Writing anything is hard. Writing a book is really hard. Writing a book for the first time – which is something that the vast majority of PhD candidates are doing when they produce a thesis – is really, really hard!

Corrections, for the most part, are a chance to make small improvements for accuracy and clarity. They are, relatively speaking, only a little more work in the weeks after the viva. It makes sense to check the regulations of your institution to get a sense of how much time you’ll have to complete them. Check to see what the formal process is like. Talk with others to see the scale of corrections they received.

And above all expect that you’ll have some to do when you’ve finished your viva.

One more step.

Nathan

Share Your Experiences

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Tell other people about your PhD journey.

Tell people working towards a similar submission date to you to share stories, advice and ideas. Tell those with further to go so that they get a sense of what the journey is like and what they can think ahead and plan for.

Share what it’s like to write up your thesis, what worked for you and what didn’t.

Share your prep plans and how they worked (or didn’t!).

Afterwards, tell others about your viva experience to help them have good expectations for their viva.

And let them know what it was like to complete corrections and the end of the PhD process.

Share your experiences with others so that they can know they’re not alone. Their research and thesis might be unique but they are not the first to do a PhD or have a viva.

Nathan

People Like Us

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Seth Godin defines culture as “people like us do things like this.”

This relates to the viva in lots of ways.

Some academic culture comes from rules. The regulations describe how things must be done in a formal way. General viva experiences follow stories: past experiences are shared, become embedded and then show up as general expectations. Examiners and candidates do things in a certain way because past examiners and candidates have done it before.

More particular viva experiences can become an expectation too. The culture in a department could lead to presentations as viva starters, a particular opening question, a way of communicating results or even celebrating success.

“People like us do things like this.” It’s important to figure out the things that people do – and remind yourself that you’re included in that definition. People like YOU do things like this – including succeed at your viva.

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