The word ‘viva’, short for ‘viva voce’ meaning oral examination (not the type you have at the dentist) can strike fear into research students. The viva at the end of PhD study is the final reckoning. The research and the thesis have got you to this point. It is here in this exam, in probably …
Tag: PhD
Musings on finding time to do research
Research isn’t something you can fit in around other things. You can’t do 10 minutes on it right now in between those two meetings. You can’t squeeze in half an hour while you’re having lunch. You can’t do it while you’re trying to help the children with their homework. You can’t do 20 minutes every …
Musings on research supervision
I have supervised many dissertations at undergraduate and postgraduate levels as well as supervising PhDs. Some are a breeze, some are a struggle and 90% are in the middle somewhere. The first stumbling block for me is the student’s choice of topic. Sometimes the proposed title is surprising, intriguing, exciting or off the wall. But …
Musings on methodology 