Tag: common questions about the viva

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Common Questions about the Viva Round-up

Last post for the week, and another little summary of things that I was doing towards the end of last year. The posts that I wrote based on the common questions I get in Viva Survivor workshops seemed to be really interesting to people (and when I remember to look at what people are viewing from time to time these posts keep on coming up). As I said towards the end of the year, these posts have lead to my next book, which I’m in the process of writing now – hence these recap posts!

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A New Book About The PhD Viva!

Since before I started the Viva Survivors Podcast I’ve been delivering viva preparation workshops, and over the last four-and-a-bit years I’ve been asked a lot of questions in a lot of a seminar rooms. Over the last couple of months a regular series of posts on this blog has been about common questions I get asked about the viva. It’s been great to be able to share these, and hopefully they will help those of you that have the viva in your future; it’s been really helpful to me for in a couple of ways too! I’ve had some more writing practise, and it’s helped me think things through for workshops that I have coming up.

But I get asked a LOT of questions, and as I’ve kept records for most of this year I know what keeps coming up again and again. That’s why I’m using these recent posts as a springboard to my second book, which has the working title of “Frequently Asked Questions About The PhD Viva” – which is a very does-what-it-says-on-the-tin sort of name, so we’ll see if that changes. (I like it though!)

So what can you expect from this book?

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Common Qs About The Viva: How Can I Avoid Nerves?

It would be very easy for me to say that PhD candidates shouldn’t worry about being nervous. After all, I’ve finished my PhD, and any negative things I remember about the experience are in the past. I’ve also got several years of experience of talking to candidates and graduates: I can’t say “don’t worry” except in a reassuring I-know-you-won’t-believe-me way. If you are prone to nerves, there is very little I can do in a piece of writing to help you avoid nerves entirely.

But perhaps I can share some things with you that could minimise their impact. I’ll do my best.

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viva

Common Qs About The Viva: Can I Make Notes?

Common questions I get asked during viva preparation workshops often relate to what candidates can or cannot do during a viva. Can candidates take time to think? (yes!) Can they call friends for advice? (no!!) Can they record their viva? (tricky one; ask your graduate school for guidance) Probably the most common question of this type is candidates asking if it is OK to make notes during the viva.

I not only think it is OK – I think it’s almost essential that candidates make notes as they go through the viva.

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Common Qs About The Viva: What’s The Worst Question They Can Ask?

They being The Examiners of course. The all-seeing, all-knowing Examiners. Yikes! I often encounter candidates with a fear that Examiners are trying to find a way to really make them uncomfortable, and pull their work apart. Now, hopefully if you’re reading this you don’t think or feel that way – but you might still be worried about how “bad” questions can get. So:

What’s the worst question they can ask?

I’ve mulled this over for some time, and have several possibilities:

They could ask a question not in your field. Despite being a mathematician they ask you about Art in Florence during the American Revolution. If you’re a historian, they could ask you to derive general relativity from first principles.

Except that’s not going to happen. Your examiners want to know about your research and you as a researcher. Asking about a topic that is genuinely out of your field is not going to be productive in assessing your PhD worthiness.

They could ask you a question that you have never considered. They could ask something speculative or something that you have to reason out from first principles. It might be about applying your techniques or methodology to data that you don’t have access to. Or they could ask you to think about something with very little information to hand.

But is that so bad? If you’ve got to the viva you’re up to the task. You have spent three or more years learning how to think as a researcher. Your examiners are not going to ask something totally beyond someone in your field: they would reasonably expect that this is something you can do.

And you can.

These two possibilities aren’t so bad. Is there no worst question?

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Common Qs About The Viva: What Should I Know About My Examiners?

I’ve been talking to PhD candidates about viva prep for over four years, and there are some questions that regularly come up at workshops. I’ve started answering some of these on this blog, but thought it might be useful to answer some of the most frequently asked questions all of this week. Let me know what you think in the comments, and please give me some questions for future posts!

What should I know about my examiners?

I think that this question is often asked in my workshops because candidates think there might be some special knowledge that they need. Like a cheat code on an early video game console, if they know the right bits of info, they will get an easy ride – or infinite turns at answering questions maybe! Of course, things don’t work like that, but there are some really useful things to know about your examiners in advance.

Many candidates know a little about their internal and external ahead of time (assuming that this is the examination team that you have; check your institution’s guidelines). Maybe you have met your external at conferences – perhaps even cited some of their papers in your thesis. And it’s likely that you’ve had the opportunity to meet your internal before, and know a little about them. There are three things though that will be really useful to know about your examiners.

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viva

Common Qs About The Viva: What Are Minor Corrections?

I’ve been talking to PhD candidates about viva prep for over four years, and there are some questions that regularly come up at workshops. I’ve started answering some of these on this blog, but thought it might be useful to answer some of the most frequently asked questions all of this week. Let me know what you think in the comments, and please give me some questions for future posts!

What are minor corrections?

I think that this question comes up a lot in my viva preparation workshops because people want to know what might be in their future. Hopefully they know that most PhD candidates have to make some amendments to their thesis, and so it’s useful to know what sorts of things come up. As I mentioned in yesterday’s post, typical items on a list of minor corrections could include:

  • spelling mistakes and typos: I was terrible for missing “the the” in my thesis!
  • corrections to grammar: some grammar rules are easy to miss; if your examiners spot things they are not just being pedantic – they want your thesis to be the best it can be.
  • amendments to tables, references, diagrams: usually to make things more clear.
  • small amounts of copyediting: rewording sentences and paragraphs to make the meaning more clear.

There is a hope that a thesis will be read at some future date by someone wanting to build on your research. Corrections are asked for, in part, so that the book you have produced will as helpful as possible.

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viva

Common Qs About The Viva: What If I Find Mistakes?

I’ve been talking to PhD candidates about viva prep for over four years, and there are some questions that regularly come up at workshops. I’ve started answering some of these on this blog, but thought it might be useful to answer some of the most frequently asked questions all of this week. Let me know what you think in the comments, and please give me some questions for future posts!

What if I find mistakes in my thesis after submission?

I think that this question comes up a lot for lots of possible reasons. Most common, I think, is a fear that mistakes will somehow lessen the impact of academic work – examiners might find a typo and instantly think “This candidate was doing so well… Such a shame!”

In preparing for your viva you are going to read your thesis; you are bound to find things that you would want to be different. Sometimes this will just be phrasing, but sometimes you might find things that need to be different: spelling mistakes, awkward phrasing or even errors in your work. What can you do?

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viva

Common Qs About The Viva: Does Publishing Before The Viva Help?

I’ve been talking to PhD candidates about viva prep for over four years, and there are some questions that regularly come up at workshops. I’ve started answering some of these on this blog, but thought it might be useful to answer some of the most frequently asked questions all of this week. Let me know what you think in the comments, and please give me some questions for future posts!

Does publishing before the viva help?

I think that this question comes up a lot because some postgraduate researchers have been told that that is what academia is all about. It’s true that peer review of journal articles is a backbone of academic research, but PhDs are assessed on material presented in the thesis. The award of PhD is based on the merits of the research in the thesis, and by extension the talents and competence of the person who did it (the PhD candidate).

Given all of that, does publishing before the viva help?

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viva

Common Qs About The Viva: How Do They Start?

I’ve been talking to PhD candidates about viva prep for over four years, and there are some questions that regularly come up at workshops. I’ve started answering some of these on this blog, but thought it might be useful to answer some of the most frequently asked questions all of this week. Let me know what you think in the comments, and please give me some questions for future posts!

How do vivas start?

I think this question comes up a lot because sometimes starting things is hard. I think there’s often a fear of the unknown associated with the viva: the start of the viva is the start of the fear! I think that’s a shame, because from my experience of talking to PhD graduates, vivas tend to start with examiners asking the candidate to talk in general terms about their thesis and research.

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