The Feared Viva! 30 Tips to Prepare for Yours!

There no escaping the fact that PhD Vivas are scary, they are one of the most mystifying, unknown and uncertain times in your doctoral studies. But like most things in life, preparation is key. Inspired by a few recent practice mock viva's I've supported, regular discussions about them and a recent Twitter thread, I decided to discuss some tips, tricks and methods to prepare for the dreaded event. So here are some of the steps, questions and preparations I did to get ready for my viva. (I actually quite enjoyed mine, which seems unfortunately rare in academia). There are 30 in total, each short little pointers with some examples from my own #Defence of my PhD in Engineering influenced Innovation Methodologies.

1) Who are your examiners? What's their background, field of initial & doctoral degree? What have they published? Any special notes on their history? (Industry background, preference for specific methodologies etc.). Basically what aspect about them personally will influence the viva and how can you prepare for them. I tabled this for quick reference to frame any specific questions, which you can find below.

2) A key question format learned during my doctorate with the amazing SMARTlab program at UCD was the "Swiss Cheese" question. A question looking to talk about a similar but different area of research. This is common when examiners are from closely related but different fields. a Typical question: "You write about X (swiss cheese) and I understand what you say about X (swiss cheese). But actually, I am more familiar with/expert in Y (cheddar cheese). . . Can you tell me more about Y (cheddar)? ". Your examiners are experts in their field, with decades of research under their belts. But they are still human, and we like talking about things we know! A question like this can really throw you off! The best-case scenario is the field falls under your research boundaries.

3) But what if it doesn't! What if you've not studied that area? What if it's beyond your scope? Clarity, Research Boundaries and your completed work can help! You want to recognise the question, field & area, but if it's outside your scope you want to move on. How? 

4) Sample Answer: "Thank you for that Question. I am also interested in Y and in future research, after the PhD, I hope to have the opportunity to expand my study and look more at Y in context..........But for this PhD that would just have been too broad as I had to focus on my field to bring the thesis into focus and bring it to completion. . . " Clear, Open, Polite but Effective!

5) The 2nd Question format is the Martian Question. Imagine your examiner is a Martian wanting context in relation to their home planet. An example question could be...."You write interestingly about X (your work) but I am not an Engineer, Poet etc; I am a computer scientist (or Martian). So, can you please tell me more about X with regard to my own field of (#CS, #Mars etc.)? It's human nature to want to put our own framing on a topic, field or body of work. I'm an engineer, so would love it in terms of #Engineering. But this isn't always possible. You have a unique history & you cant cover all viewpoints for all fields! You risk Scope Creep!

6) So a sample answer might be: "Thank you for the Question, which is interesting to me and is something I'd really like to consider in the longer term as a possible way to take this study further at a postdoc level. But in terms of this PhD, that would go beyond the scope of the thesis."

7) Then it's on to general questions! Examples include Q: What have you done that merits a PhD? A chance to outline your contributions to the field in a single concise paragraph. Like an elevator pitch that you give to an interested party (to borrow from #startup land!). 

8)Example of mine: "Made original and substantial contributions to knowledge in the field of innovation methodology with applications for all cognate fields and potential users, presented here via a thesis of publishable quality through the creation of a topography, Review & Assessment of Innovation Methods, identification of areas of Potential Improvement, the production and validation of the “Double Helix” Innovation Methodology & Praxis." 

9) Q: What is the area in which you wish to be examined? Which topics overlap with your area? Allowing you to frame your work in context with the related fields. We use the "Circles of Knowledge" approach in our group. 

10) Q: Summarise your key findings. Allowing you to note down and simplify your main outcomes in an easily read and understood manner! Think Cliffs Notes vs Abstract!

11) Q: Why is this topic important, and to whom is it relevant? Why is the problem you have tackled worth tackling? This allows you to make your research real, talk about whom it impacts or benefits and why your problem is important! Give context so people can understand it.

12) Q: Who is leading research or practice in your chosen area? Allowing you to show you are up to date, have understood your field and are pushing the boundaries of knowledge in your area. In my work in "Innovation Methods," my leaders were people like Clayton Christensen, Henry Chesbrough, Alex Osterwalder and IDEO, all leaders in the #Innovation, #Technology & #Business fields. All developing new forms of Innovation process, tool or methodology. 

13) Q: What are the most important references in your thesis? This allowed me to group the most important references in my thesis, connect related ideas and make a short summary list for quick reference. Example section attached.

14) Q: How did you decide to order your thesis? Thesis orders are broadly similar in most fields, but breaking down the order allowed me to build my #Viva presentation deck to match this order. Keeping things aligned between my discussion and the thesis order. 

15) Q: How did you become involved in this research area? (The evolution of the core idea)? Where did your research project come from? How did your research questions emerge? This one was key to me. My research was the culmination of years of previous impact work, so how I connected to the work, what it meant to me and why it was important to both me and the world at large really centred the whole # defence.

16) Q: Has your view of your research topic changed during the course of the research? Your views on your work of course will change while undertaking it. You can have new ideas, new insights and new research areas. You want to highlight areas of growth POST completion. But be aware, you don't want to frame this as areas you didn't consider during your research. Your doctoral journey should be as thorough as possible. These new insights & areas make great #Postdoc work.

17) Q: What's original about your work? What are the novel aspects of your work or innovative aspects? What are the contributions (to knowledge) of your thesis? Tell us what's new! A new method, piece of software, business model, historical context... whatever. It's your time to show off the fruits of your labour. So tell them what's new, different & enhances your field. How have you advanced knowledge in some way?

18) Q: Where does your work fit into the literature? How does your work fit in the field? What niche area, what specific field and how does it align with previous work? It may confirm the assumptions of the field or upset the apple cart! Be aware of which before your #Viva. Taking the wrong stand here can hurt....a lot.

19) Q: How could you improve your work? Again it's not about pointing out faults or problems, more about what could be added in the future, how can it be enhanced, what could the next researcher do to build upon your work?  

20) (Insert Churchill Quote here??) Remember nothings perfect! EVER! But don't let that get in the way of doing great research and sharing it with the world.

21) Where does it go from here? What are the plans for this work? What are you going to do afterwards? Postdoc, Industry, Impact? How are you going to apply this research to the world. For me I plan on publishing my #Innovation method as a book, open-sourcing it for development by its users & applying it in practice even more. #Applied #Innovation is what I love so iv already applied it via the Open Source Ventilator project, via my consultancy Sapien Innovation & my charity The Rapid Foundation.

22) Ethics is important in research. So good to cover that. Q. What were the main ethical issues of conducting this research? How did you establish the limits around the scope of your data collection? Why have you done it this way? Do you need to justify your approach? Do not assume the examiners share your views on ethics. So make sure you cover the ethics process if applicable. And discuss any issues if they arose. you must make sure your subjects are kept safe. People are not lab rats! 

23) Q: What are the alternatives to your approach? What did you gain from your approach? What would you gain by approach X? Were there any other options regarding process, methods etc? Why did you use what you used? Why not the others. Make a distinction between what you did. 

24) Let's talk data. Did you collect any data? Q: Do you think the data you collected was the most appropriate to answer your research question or is there any other data you would have liked to have collected? Did you get all the data you needed, was there more data you could have collected? Was there any data points that you could have measured but didn't? Could this data disprove or contradict your outcomes. If it could you need to discuss it!....

25) Example: If you are measuring the impact of something on specific demographics. If that data is showing impacts only in a specific demographic, one which is not the target demographic you need to find out why. Or at least address why. 

26) Q: Where will you publish your work? If you have published during your #phd, Great. If not have an idea where you will publish. Is it in Nature, an IEEE journal or NEMJ? Have a plan where you'll publish and ask for feedback on these locations. 

26) Anyone in impact led research, focus on users, your target audience and the overall goal. Show why your work really matters. Impact & applied research is so important. People must see it. It may even help you win the @IrishResearch 2020 Impact Award like I did the year I graduated.

28) Finally! Don't forget to check all your regulations before you arrange a #Viva. You don't want to miss anything regarding forms, deadlines, specific processes etc...

29) Recommendations on what I used to prepare: -Files & Guides from UCD Dublin & UCD Research: https://t.co/EXPOElUKJv?amp=1, - Amazing Videos from Dr Tara Brabazon from Flinders University: cutt.ly/xjgR3NO, -Virtual Viva Voce| UCD Graduate Studies https://cutt.ly/LjgRZgg

30) Lastly and most importantly try to enjoy it! You'll only ever have one (Hopefully anyway??).

Until then check out a similar discussion via podcast with me & @2daves1doc here, and reach out if I can help!: 

Thank you for coming to my ted talk! ??(But if you want to watch my actual TedX talk check it out here: https://youtu.be/weGoSQKtVAU