What I learned from doing a viva from my bedroom

I think every time I get around to updating this site I always say, ‘oh I’ve been so busy, must do better…’, but, to be honest, the likelihood of that is never great.

 

But in positive news there have been some things happening. As you probably all know the world has been pretty screwed in the last several months. I went back to Oxford, the city where I work, for the first time since mid-March last weekend. LAST WEEKEND. That being said, I’ve been very lucky in having a job that must truck on and I’ve managed to avoid getting ill (as far as I’m aware).

 

One of the bigger things that did happen during lockdown is that I virtually sat and passed my viva online. I am now Dr². Yes, that’s ridiculous. Yes, it took ages. But that’s not the point, the point is that I have some inside info on how to sit your viva from your home (or your bedroom, if you’re me), and to feel confident and capable.

 

Not even going to pretend I didn’t have the best externals for my viva. I was aware of both of their work and had attended conferences, larger meetings with them and I was quite keen on the viva so that I could get their feedback on what has taken quite a few years of my life.

 

Now to the nitty gritty of doing a viva, online, in lockdown.

 

I did the viva while sitting on a bed. When we started the call I made jokes about it, and about Trump. Because, being from

America, what else can I do? What a mess, right? My externals had a great sense of humour and enjoyed my ‘this is fine’ background and one even put a Scottish castle landscape scene as a backdrop to be soothing, it was a nice touch.

 

Secondly, Zoom is better than google hangouts. There, I said it. We used one of the external’s uni zoom accounts for the call, but there were back up plans in case of zoom not working, the internet going down, and other eventualities. So, we had more than one appointment in the calendar just in case.

 

I had to formally write an email agreeing that I was happy to do the viva online, via digital means. I also didn’t feel worried or stressed at all, but my lack of sleep in the week leading up to it would say otherwise.

Lockdown happened in March. I left Oxford when the Unis closed down and vacated my office, leaving my hard copy of my thesis there, gathering dust and probably being turned into a spider hotel. What that meant was that I needed to order a hard copy to read over and have to hand for the viva. There are companies that can print and deliver hard copies overnight. Thank god for that.

 

Key things I learned from doing my viva online: 

• Ensure you have a quiet space with no distractions, as much as possible.
• Get dressed. Yes, we can technically have on a nice shirt and PJ bottoms, but make the effort. Do makeup or wear a tie if that’s your thing, even put on outside shoes. Make it feel different, because it really is.
• Remember that everything is odd for everybody. The examiners are also likely doing the viva in their spare rooms/kitchens and there may be the appearance of a pet or child. This is fine, it actually helps to humanise people when we can’t see them in the same space.
• Take notes when they ask questions so you can think about the answer. That’s totally fine.
• Have a copy of your thesis to hand, even if you don’t use it to flip through it’s like a bit of armour – you did the work, you have a thing to prove it.
• If you plan to have a pre-viva, do it if that will make you more comfortable. It could help get rid of nerves of doing the viva, especially in a digital setting.
• And, as my supervisor told me – this may be the only time you get 2-3 people who want to speak to you specifically about your work for a few hours. That’s an amazing opportunity actually. Enjoy it, tell them the cool things, be honest, answer their questions and remember that they aren’t there to fail you, they are there to help you tease out the questions and answers you likely have, but didn’t elaborate enough on in the actual thesis.
• Finally, be sure to take a few minutes before the official viva-ing begins to ask the examiners how they are, the normal chit chat of a face to face meeting does help make things feel less stressful in a digital setting.

 

For more general PhD Viva info visit The Thesis Whisperer. There’s tons of helpful info there.