Viva Survivors Select is a series of curated collections of the best of the Viva Survivors daily blog, a monthly zine of viva help on a variety of topics and themes taken from eight years of daily posts.

Viva Survivors Select 07 is the Confidence Issue. Encouraging confidence in PhD candidates has been a huge part of my work for a long time. This topic is an important one to explore on the Viva Survivors daily blog. It seems more than appropriate to take twenty posts all about confidence - how to build it and what it means for the viva - for an issue of the zine.

Each issue of Viva Survivors Select also includes new original writing by me to build on the themes and offer more help. I share a reflection on how music helps my confidence and I've also created a new writing game called Confidence Nudges that I'm sharing in this issue for the first time.

(formatted for A5 size, twenty pages including covers)

101 Steps To A Great Viva is a 24-page A5 zine to help postgraduate researchers as they prepare for their PhD viva. I share 101 actions that any PhD candidate can take to help them get ready for and have a great viva.

Created during a successful Kickstarter campaign in May 2023, 101 Steps To A Great Viva is my attempt to get someone to think proactively about their viva: what can you do to put yourself in a good position? What will you do?

I cover the viva from expectations to preparation, confidence-building to engaging with examiners. I'm extremely proud of the result and very grateful for the support I had to make it a reality.