Diary of a Viva Ninja: Day 14

Over the duration of a PhD research project one digests a vast amount of information, some of which ends up in the thesis, although much is discarded or ‘parked’ for future use (everything is recyclable!). It is almost impossible to remember everything one comes across and considers over such a length of time, but one is, nevertheless, expected to show deep familiarity with one’s own research and be able to articulate and elaborate upon it during the Viva. One way of making this more achievable – an effective way of revisiting and revising key themes, etc, is to create mindmaps. The physical act of doing this will help you ‘download’ into your short-term memory all the essential info and ‘order’ it in a technique similar to a memory palace. By clearly visualising this mass of material, you ‘order’ it into a manageable ‘map’. The cartography is only a representation of the territory, not the territory itself, of course, but it is a useful overview when one is revising. It may help you avoid ‘getting lost’ in the Viva.

Here are 3 of mine – 2 done today, and 1 from mid-way through the research:

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PhD thesis in visual form. Kevan Manwaring (2018)

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PhD research in process. Kevan Manwaring (2016)