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Tag: viva process

Nathan

Viva Kit

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You need to take your thesis to your viva. Your examiners don’t expect a perfect memory. You can use your thesis throughout to help you respond to questions.

You need to take a pen and paper. The viva is a discussion but it’s an important one. Give yourself the option of taking notes that could help you afterwards.

You need to take something to drink. Don’t forget! Many examiners and universities don’t arrange for refreshments and you’re likely to be in your viva for a few hours at least.

You need to decide on what you’ll wear. You don’t need to be smart for your examiners, but you can dress in a way that helps you feel as good as you possibly can.

 

You need to have the right kit for your viva. It won’t take a lot to bring this together. This post has the basics that everyone needs to think about – but what do you need for your research and your viva?

Nathan

Minor & Major & None

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There are three general viva outcomes.

Minor corrections are minor: correcting typos, editing for clarity and amending diagrams. Most candidates are asked to complete minor corrections as a result of the viva.

Major corrections are unlikely: they account for very few viva outcomes proportionally. Requests from examiners are clear and if completed they still result in success and passing the PhD.

Getting no corrections is nice: of course! But it’s also only something that you can hope for. It’s worth acknowledging that writing is hard, writing a book is very hard and examiners spotting no typos or other corrections is unlikely.

Three outcomes. All, subject to completing any requests, result in success.

Rather than hope you’ll get through with none expect that you’ll have work to do and plan for when and how you will do that work after your viva.

Nathan

Umbrellas

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Viva prep is a bit like carrying an umbrella on an uncertain day.

You look out the window. There are clouds. They’re grey but not dark grey. It might rain but it might not. You could leave the umbrella and take a chance or pick it up, carry it with you, make the effort and be sure that you’re covered.

After years of work, learning, results, development and growth, it’s reasonable to assume that a PhD candidate is good. Viva prep then helps ensure that a candidate is good for the particular challenge they’ll find at the viva. They might be fine, but prep will make sure that they are.

Carrying an umbrella is not a great effort to be sure of keeping dry. Neither is viva prep so great an undertaking to be sure of doing well.

You might be fine without it, but why take the risk?

Nathan

Final Polish

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Corrections. Amendments. Changes.

They’re called lots of things, but the requests for alterations to your thesis after the viva really are just the very last, final tweaks to make your thesis the best it can reasonably be.

The vast majority of candidates are asked to complete minor corrections. Perhaps your university calls them something different, but you’ll know what they mean: correcting typos, light copyediting, updates to diagrams or correcting errors.

Examiners don’t look for perfection. They don’t punish small mistakes. They want to give you the benefit of one more relatively quick chance to make some final changes. Then that’s it: you’re done, your thesis is done and now it’s headed for the library. Finished.

A little final polish is a good thing.

Nathan

Good Responses

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Some of your viva questions will have great answers.

You’ll know something for certain, either because of your reading or your research. In that situation, when asked you will be able to give an answer.

You won’t know in advance which questions will lead to that in the viva. In fact, aside from some good guesses or small hopes, you won’t know any of the questions or comments that your examiners will ask or offer at your viva.

You might not have an answer standing by but you can always be ready to respond. Through practice and preparation, no matter the question or comment, you can:

  • Listen carefully to what is being said.
  • Pause and think carefully.
  • Make a note if needed.
  • Check your thesis for information if that will help.
  • Choose your words carefully and offer a good response.

Some viva questions or comments won’t have answers. Some don’t need them. Your examiners are looking to you to offer a good response by engaging with their words and doing your best.

Great is great but good is good enough. Engage with your examiners’ questions; offer the best responses you can and you’ll succeed at your viva.

Nathan

The Final Break

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Vivas often conclude with a short break. Your examiners will need to have a final discussion between themselves to confirm the outcome, maybe to confer on corrections or even check what regulations says about how they pass the decision to you.

These intermissions typically range between five and twenty minutes. This is long enough for a PhD candidate to get really, really nervous: after all, there’s nothing else you can do at this point! No more writing, no more talking, now you’re just waiting for the result!

With nothing else to do in those moments, I’d suggest deciding in advance what you will do to pass the time. You don’t know in advance how long you might have, but you can decide, I’ll go refill my water bottle or I’ll just step outside and feel the breeze.

At the end of your viva, having something to do when there’s nothing else you can do is a really good idea. It’s a lot better than simply waiting.

Nathan

Matters Of Context

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Many aspects of the viva, viva prep, viva expectations and what to do in the many related situations depend on the circumstances.

  • Do you start to prepare two weeks or four weeks before?
  • Do you need to admit when you’ve spotted a mistake in your thesis?
  • Should you have an examiner whose work you’ve cited in your bibliography?
  • Can you challenge an examiner’s comment?
  • Should you invite your supervisor to your viva?
  • Is a mock viva necessary?
  • Do you need to focus on your methods, your results or your conclusions more?

So many questions. So many scenarios. No easy answers.

It depends.

Explore the context. What does that question mean in your situation? What do you need to do? What is the real issue that you are unsure about?

Nathan

An Invitation

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Your examiners are invited to be at your viva. Like most invitations they can decline if they need to or want to.

A viva is a much bigger commitment than the hours on the day for an examiner. If they accept and attend it’s because, more than anything, they find the invitation to be compelling. There is something about your work as it’s been presented that makes them think it will be a good use of their time.

Reflect on what your examiners might be seeing in your work. Focus on that as part of your preparations. How can you share your research with them? What do you need to do to be prepared? And how can you make sure that the invitation they’ve said yes to results in a good experience for them?

When you have ideas for that question you’ll also have ideas for what will help the viva to be a good experience for you too.

Nathan

Before You Finish

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Before you submit your thesis check and double-check that it says everything you want it to say.

Before your viva day take time to get ready: practical preparations and confidence building!

Before your viva begins spend a couple of moments breathing, reminding yourself that you have done everything you can to get ready and that you have done enough to pass your viva.

Before the end of your viva take a moment to see if there are any questions you want to ask your examiners.

And before you finish your PhD journey take a little time to really reflect on what the journey has meant to you.

It’s more than a book you’ve written or a piece of paper you get from your institution.

Nathan

Anti-Expectations

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There are lots of key viva expectations, based around the typical length, the structure, tone and overall (high!) pass rate.

There are also anti-expectations that are much more particular to individuals: beliefs and expectations that, despite the general picture, something will go wrong this time, for them. Hardworking, capable candidates can come to believe that…

  • …they won’t pass, despite what everyone says.
  • …examiners are not going to be fair, they’ll just look for problems and mistakes.
  • …they just can’t be ready in time for the viva.

With viva anti-expectations, worries are jumped on and magnified. Details from one viva story are generalised. Anxieties blossom through misunderstanding and become something difficult to be shifted.

 

Of course, every viva is unique. It would be ridiculous to claim that every viva is free from problems. But the overwhelming evidence from the stories presented and the available understanding of the general situation is that vivas are fair, examiners are reasonable and prepared, vivas are structured and they can be prepared for.

If you hold any anti-expectations, then look for the evidence that supports them. Is it convincing? Is there even evidence for what you’re expecting?

Or is it better to explore the general expectations of the viva that you can use to get ready?

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