You Are Here

Tag: viva process

Nathan

A Plan For No Corrections

Daily Post

Become a good writer.

Think carefully about the material for your thesis and how you might best present it.

Write your thesis.

Proofread your thesis carefully.

Ask for feedback from your supervisor or someone else you trust.

Rewrite based on your feedback and according to what you think is right.

Use a good spellcheck and read your work aloud to make sure that it makes sense.

Make final edits and submit your thesis.

 

All of which makes a good plan, but not a foolproof one. You can invest the time, follow the steps, be careful and still get corrections requested by your examiners at your viva.

You might misspell a word. You might forget something. There may be another way of looking at a situation.

And if that were the case you’ve not missed anything in your plan or in your effort. Writing is hard. Writing a thesis is really hard.

You’ve not done anything wrong. Your effort shines through. The corrections you’re asked to complete are simply one more round of effort to get your thesis as good as it can reasonably be.

 

The plan above is not one that leads to no corrections. The general points could help you write a good thesis for submission.

Happy writing!

Nathan

Future Feelings

Daily Post

What do you think it will feel like to wake up the day after your viva?

How might you feel if you were to look at a list of requested corrections?

What do you think it will feel like to be told you’ve passed?

How will you feel when you shake someone important’s hand at graduation?

 

And assuming that some of the above are positive or good expected feelings, what are you going to do between now and your viva to get to that reality?

Nathan

Pick One

Daily Post

Imagine I had a new service, YourViva™, where I could offer you a viva with one of the following characteristics:

  • Your viva will be short, under an hour.
  • Your viva will be easy, no surprising questions.
  • Your viva will result in no corrections.
  • Your viva questions will only come from one of your examiners, your choice.

You can pick one but will have no guarantees on any of the other characteristics. You might get them, their opposites or anything else in-between.

What would you pick? Why does that matter to you?

 

YourViva™ doesn’t exist but if you picked a viva feature it would be for a reason. You may not have any influence over getting that for your viva but, given that it’s in your mind, what will you do as a result? If you have a worry or concern you can still do something.

For example:

  • Viva length is totally out of your control. You’d be better preparing yourself to be at your viva for as long as it takes.
  • You can’t control the questions you’re asked. Rather than hope for easy questions, prepare yourself by rehearsing with a mock viva.
  • Some people get no corrections but not many. Consult your regulations to get a sense of what to expect for minor corrections.
  • Your examiners will have a plan and work together. A little research can help you understand who you’re talking to, what they might ask and why.

Focus on what you can reasonably expect and what you can practically do for your viva. You can’t control all the details of your viva but you can ensure you show up ready to do well.

Nathan

Challenged

Daily Post

What’s the biggest challenge you overcame during your PhD?

What was a significant challenge that you faced while writing up?

What surprised you about the challenges you found while doing your research?

What do you anticipate being a challenge as you get ready for your viva?

And do you have any thoughts on what might be a challenge at your viva?

 

Examiners might not ask questions directly about PhD challenges but reflecting on them can be a helpful reminder that you have overcome a lot.

Consequently, you are capable of overcoming the challenge you will find at your viva.

 

PS: looking to explore the challenge of the viva in more depth? Take a look at my Viva Survivor session on March 27th 2025. Registration closes soon for this live webinar – and includes a catch-up recording if you can’t attend on the day.

Nathan

Usually

Daily Post

It’s hard for me to offer guidance on questions that are usually asked at the viva.

You could search for “PhD viva questions UK” and explore the results. Adding your general research area as part of the search term might produce something more specific.

But every viva is unique and questions are always tailored by examiners to the research, the thesis and the candidate. Examiners need to explore the significant original contribution, unpick the research process and examine the capability of the candidate.

Consequently, it’s hard for someone like me without subject knowledge to suggest questions for someone – but if that candidate reflects on their research and the areas that drive examiners they will be able to identify topics to help their preparation.

There are no questions that are usually asked. There are areas that have to be explored in discussion.

Consider those areas, reflect on your research and see where that thinking leads you in your preparation.

Nathan

End Well

Daily Post

The simplest way to end your viva well is to:

  • Check that your examiners have no more questions for you.
  • Check that you have no questions that you need to ask them.
  • Listen carefully to what your examiners are telling you through the process.

Vivas tend to conclude with short breaks for examiners to confer.

They tend to result in minor corrections for candidates.

And they tend to end after several hours of challenging discussion about interesting and potentially difficult topics of research – which is why it’s useful to breathe, take your time and make notes if you need to.

No-one wants a really long and drawn out viva process. At the same time, no-one benefits from rushing through the final stages. End your viva well.

Nathan

Red Carpet Treatment

Daily Post

There are no silly questions for a PhD candidate to ask about the viva.

I’m continually saddened though that PGR culture – and regulations and supervisors – haven’t stopped candidates believing that their examiners are some higher order of human and thus need very special treatment at the viva.

Here are three questions I’ve been asking the last six months:

  • “Do I need to arrange catering for my viva?”
  • “Is it appropriate to buy gifts for my examiners?”
  • “Is there a formal way that I’m supposed to talk to my examiners?”

Again, these aren’t silly questions: these are stressed questions by people who desperately want to do the right thing. There’s a mystery to the viva process. There’s a substantial amount of work leading to it. It’s all important so there are a lot of motivations for a lot of questions that any candidate might ask.

To the questions above: catering might be welcome, but it’s not your job to arrange it; no gifts; being polite and friendly is enough.

 

Your examiners are professionals. They’ve come to do a job. It’s an important job, no more than that.

They don’t need a red carpet rolling out.

Expect them to be prepared. They expect the same from you.

Leave the formalities there.

Nathan

Arguing The Point

Daily Post

Defending your thesis doesn’t mean that you need to argue throughout the viva. Defending can simply be supporting what you’ve done and written, providing clarity if something isn’t as clear as you hoped or confirmation if your examiners just need a little more.

There is a possibility though that you might need to argue. You might need to say that you believe or know that you are right. You might need to say that you believe or know that your examiner’s opinion is not correct, incomplete or not seeing the whole picture.

Remember that arguing the point does not need to be assertive. You don’t need to dial your speech up to 11 to win!

Ask questions. Listen carefully. Think even more carefully. Speak clearly to get your reasons across. And be sure you know your examiner’s reasons before you argue against their point or opinion.

Thesis defence does not imply that it is under attack. It certainly doesn’t mean that you are under attack.

Nathan

The Biggest What If

Daily Post

What if it happened at my viva?

Whatever it is, there would be consequences. That’s a simplified way to look at the situation, but it’s the most accurate. The most dire “what if” differs for everyone; depending on the exact details the consequences could vary a lot.

It might be forgetting something. In which case you could take time to recall. You could annotate your thesis to help you remember. There’s something to do.

It might be worrying about saying “I don’t know” – which is a common viva worry. Saying “I don’t know” is not the end of the viva. Rehearsal before the viva helps a lot. Remembering you can pause in the viva to think about why you don’t know.

It might be anxiety about failing. Failure at the viva is rare. This might be the biggest what if: which means that if you worry about it then you have to do something to move on.

If you’re really worried that you might fail then you need to explore why. You need to talk to your supervisors or someone you trust. You need to figure out what’s at the root of the worry. You need to do something.

It doesn’t just happen. You don’t just think about it for no reason. If you can figure out what’s causing you to wonder “what if…?” you can then take steps to move past it.

Nathan

You Have Time

Daily Post

Or rather, you can have time.

You have time to get ready for your viva – or, rather, you can have time if you sketch out a plan and know in advance what’s expected for viva prep.

You have time to respond to any and every question at your viva – or, rather, you can have time if you rehearse and get used to the idea that you don’t need to rush to answer.

There’s time to do everything you need to get ready and time to do everything you need at your viva.

You might have to slow down to take that time and make the most of it.

1 2 3 4 5 … 20