I am a pragmatist, both as a researcher and as an individual. I start this note with this declaration to make clear to the readers that what follows is the product of a specific paradigmatic belief.

A month prior to my DBA viva I learnt of the Mock Viva service offered by the DoctorateHub. I decided then to request the service because I was not sure of my ability to defend my thesis verbally. I was looking for weaknesses in my defence style. That said, I was very sure that my written thesis quality was beyond doubt.

The DoctorateHub team was very responsive and managed to conduct the Mock Viva at very short notice. The Mock lasted around two hours and it was full of engaging debate. The examiners profoundly interrogated the thesis in matters of thesis objective, clarity, methodology and analysis. Acknowledging that every thesis is unique, it might be noted will that in every Viva the questions differ substantially.

So, how would I know that a Mock Viva was helpful to me and might be helpful to others? The basic answer is that doctoral research is mostly a lonely journey. It is very likely that during this loneliness the traveller falls under a sort of illusion that his direction is correct beyond doubt. And this is why such reality checks provided by a scholarly team who are strangers to your work can help you recognize how your real examiner (strangers too) may perceive your work.

The result of my formal Viva was resubmission. The examiners in both the Viva and the Mock Viva were not convinced of the rigor of what I still believe is an original piece of action research. However, as a pragmatist, if I had a Mock Viva further ahead of the official submission, I may have changed it to satisfy the examiners point of view.

So, in a nutshell, I suggest that the Mock Viva with strangers-scholars is worth doing. To gain the most from it, you should have it at least three months before your intended submission date. This will allow you to incorporate new insights that you believe should be addressed.

Another benefit of the Mock Viva was to sharpen my verbal defence style based on the feedback from these professional scholars.

Considering those important components above, I would say a Mock Viva like the one that I experienced can make the difference between a minor and a major revision, or even between a minor and a direct award of your doctorate degree.

Ahmed S.

12 January 2019

I'm glad I know DoctorateHub. The coaches and mentors are doing an excellent job. They keep inciting thoughts during the Q&A session and find ways to help collaboratively. You are awesome. All the best.

This is more than a testimonial; it is a declaration.

The DoctorateHub’ outstanding learnings are permanently ingrained in me. They form part of my spinal cord, brain, heart, nervous and circulatory systems. Consequently, the entrenched excellent learnings positively affect my daily thinking and behaviour beyond the academic realm. 

This extensive transformation process occurred gradually from November 2018 to July 2021 due to unrelenting coaching, mentoring and course work. The coursework included: 1. Wicked problem tackling. 2. Thesis writing up. 3. Viva preparation. 4. Virtual Residency. 5. Post Viva - Major modifications and 6. Numerous thesis- stage-based learning teleconferences. 

Whilst Dr Meiszner provided an estimated 80% of the academic ‘gymnastics’ instructions and discipline, Professor Gomišček provided an intense 20% that forcefully dragged out the ‘church-mouse’ silence element of my behaviour. Within their combined focus, there was no hiding spot for this learner. 

In all sincerity, perhaps I might have miraculously attained an empty ‘Doctor’ label in time. But most assuredly, I wouldn’t have achieved the doctoral level of thinking and behaviour that I have today without their excellent mentoring and coaching. 

I remain forever grateful.

Dr Bongi Mkhize

I am going to graduate on 17th July 2020 and would like to reflect a bit on my DBA (Doctorate in Business Administration) journey and incredible role the DoctorateHub played in it.  

Through the past years I have been a regular at the DoctorateHub and engaged in various services for my thesis development such as thesis review; informal community discussions during the webinars; conducting a Mock Viva; or reaching out to them with ad-hoc questions related to my studies. 

So it happened that after the proposal preparation I was matched with a professor outside of my university to be my primary supervisor. He was able to provide me with a number of recommendations and review draft of chapters. It became clear however after the second supervisor’s feedback that the first draft of the thesis needed to be considerably reviewed, else I would not have been able to pass through the stringent Viva examination. This is where I decided to approach the DoctorateHub to see if they could provide help. I have been attending some of the webinars, which were very insightful and instrumental in the further progress throughout the journey and clarified many of the research challenges. It was also an interesting exchange with fellow students that shared their own experiences at the Viva and various research stages.  

It was necessary though to have the thesis submitted within a very short period of time and taking into consideration substantial second supervisor’s feedback. I acknowledge that I needed help in turning around the thesis before the final submission. This is where the Full Thesis Review service came to rescue, followed by providing detailed feedback on the re-written thesis and the Mock Viva. In comparison to the ‘light tough'  feedback from my primary and secondary supervisors, the in depth feedback and discussion with the team at the DoctorateHub allowed me to re-construct a weak version of the initial draft thesis into a more professional and presentable version before the submission. 

I now can confidently say that I would not be able to make through the Viva without these two services. The DoctorateHub team was extremely helpful and thorough with their feedback and detailed suggestions during the thesis review and Mock Viva. The Mock Viva itself added a lot of confidence and helped with the strategies on how to answer difficult questions. I am very happy how I dealt with the questions at the real Viva, it was even complimented by the examiners and major part of it was due to the rehearsal with the Doctorate Hub. 

The DoctorateHub always delivered what was promised for the services, helped to be engaged at the webinars and stay persistent and motivated during the stages when I was almost about to quit. And I will continue to attend the Learning Cafe interactions organised by the DoctorateHub to continue the journey of a researcher-practitioner and perhaps inspire other DBA students and stay connected.

Dr. Sona L.

DoctorateHub was an essential pillar during my DBA journey. It provided the needed support at all stages and was a platform for collaboration among peers.

I am a PhD candidate and I'm in my 2nd year already. At first, I was expecting this journey to be difficult and confusing, but sometimes it's even beyond my expectations. Sometimes I feel that the guidance I receive from my scientific coordinator alone is not enough. That's why I'm grateful for these DoctorateHub webinars. I'm happy I get to know other PhD candidates and to receive some extra guidance. Thank you, DoctorateHub team for your work and efforts! Your help is much appreciated! P.S. Special thanks to Dr. Andreas!

I am so glad to have found your site. I found DoctorateHub to be very responsive. The passion of your staff for helping doctoral students shows very clearly by the time and advice that you all so willingly give and share. I very much appreciate your kindness and help. Thank you.

After I finished my course work, I was supposed to start writing my outline for my research proper. I became stuck at this point. I had no clue how to start or what to write. I was introduced to DoctorateHub by another student and the very first week I attended a meeting, I was able to write down my initial thoughts and I have been writing since then. DoctorateHub helped me to start my thinking process and they are constantly available for any additional help required.

I just wanted to share a quick note and let you know that you guys do a really good job. I’m glad I decided to work with you. It’s really great how professors engage in and create a cordial atmosphere for exchange.

I discovered DoctorateHub at the time I was seeking guidance and looking for a place where I can get in touch with scholars and learn from their research experience! This platform enriches the PhD journey and makes it less complicated by providing free and comprehensive support through: webinars, courses, trainings and much more!

I am not a postgraduate students but a professor supervising MA and PhD theses at Cairo University, Egypt. I decided to attend so that I may get hints and pointers as to how to help my students develop their thesis writing skills. This session was important, especially in its relevance to the process of developing a literature review. Thank you very much for offering this quidance free of charge. This is exceptionally useful and accessible to postgraduate students in less privileged parts of the world, such as Egypt, where I come from.

The Doctoratehub has really helped me to shape my research thinking process as I plan my research. The tips and feedback has really been insightful.

This platform is so beneficial on so many levels. Training, discussions and research is available on all levels of the doctorate journey through this platform. It has been so beneficial to my current processes and preparation for my future application on this doctorate journey. Thank you so much DoctorateHub team.

A platform that supports the researchers to be on the right track - Good to be part of this hub.

Question framing is the most obvious yet deceptively difficult part of research in my personal experience. The presentation took it head-on and explained well how questions can be framed and evolved as research progress. Most importantly it pointed out common mistakes and unrealistic expectations.

Thank you for teaching about the research problem and the solution bias. And how to avoid the temptation to focus on the solution, rather than the research problem. I'll watch this over and over again. Until I get this right!!

The two session I attended really help me in organizing my thoughts and moving forward with the literature review.

Excellent free service, attracting outstanding international speakers, and connecting on a global level.

I felt way better after the session especially that I got to talk to other PhD candidates that are struggling like me. I felt hope because my advisor never answers so I felt like I could have some guidance here.

As a postgraduate supervisor, who is already a Ph.D. holder, I was delighted to find a resource that I can continue to develop from. I will continue to share information about DoctorateHub with my students and peers. Thank you.

The inputs that you impart in each session I attended is enlightening. It helps me focus on the essentials and gave me confidence during my proposal defense. The consequence of attending is I passed.

Learning from people from different parts of the world is exhilarating. May there be more of this kind of endeavor in the future.

I would highly recommend working with DoctorateHub. In the past, I have benefitted from the webinars that DoctorateHub organises periodically. When the time came for me to prepare for the final submission of my thesis as well as my viva voce, I reached out to the team at DoctorateHub to see about a more formal engagement that might allow me to prepare for my upcoming viva. Over the course of eight weeks, I had the opportunity to work with a viva coach who challenged my research through a close examination of my write-up and in a series of mock viva engagements. All of this was done in a tough but collaborative way with my viva coach. As a result, I feel more prepared and grounded going into my viva. My thesis write-up is better now too. For me, the timing was perfect as I was able to go through the entire eight weeks before the final submission date of my thesis write-up. Overall, my viva coach helped me to see things through the eyes of the examiner and what they would likely question in the document and, importantly, in the context of the viva examination. I found the programme well worth the investment of time, effort, and treasure.

Great and excellent In-Residence at DoctorateHub, Porto, Portugal! Very well organised and particularly useful learning and information delivered in a brilliant style. I would highly endorse and recommend the Porto Workshop to research students that are interested in improving their research thesis and in growing their research “scissor”. Overall, the learning environment was conducive and Porto, a beautiful city.

For the more than 15 years (with the last 10 being in consultancy), I had been looking for ways to contribute to organizations that are interested in growth and broad-based development. I graduated from the DBA programme last year (2019), the course has accelerated my progress in understanding of organizations and now the doctoratehub is assisting me in sharpening these skills towards my interesting journey...I thank the providers of knowledge in the doctotratehub in providing this platform. Dr Ahmed M. Ibrahim

I have just signed up to this hub and it has been insightful. It was quite daunting at first and I’m thinking if do-able. But with me in this platform I can foresee a clearer future. Thanks to the organisers.

The residency was very well run. I think you are providing a very valuable service and the sharing of information with other students was very helpful.

It is a pleasure compiling this recommendation for the Doctorate Hub. Its Professors are vigilant and strategic thinkers with an eye for detail and a devotion to their careers. They have the capability and expert knowledge to teach a variety of subjects across a faculty, and their curiosity of expanding the horizon never diminishes. The Hub has an incredible ability to draw on their own experiences and observations to develop thoughtful opinions on a variety of encounters.

The learning on this course has been phenomenal as it has brought to view a number of blind spots in research, in fact they are not even blind spots, they were complete unknowns. The main one relates to what is broken in any given situation, if there is nothing broken then it is unlikely that it worth researching, at least for a DBA. Finding the broken pieces, added to the rigorous challenges from yourself, have highlighted my shift in thinking about problems in general, particularly digging deeper into the problem by asking why of the problem. I moved out of a comfort zone around what I have interpreted as action research. The why RQ allows for the superficial or surface layer problem to be problematised with relevant stakeholders, who in turn, (and as a collective) can penetrate to the deeper domains with a view to establishing the actual causes of such problems. In other words, the problem can be properly 'ventilated and saturated' which I have termed as key to staying on the problem side instead of jumping into the solution without properly understanding the problem. All of which is key learning for me and for participants involved in the exercises on this course. 

Once I shifted away from strategy formation (rejected by supervisor) and shifted to observing what was going on in practice, and ended up on a lack of strategic thinking and had to source the literature for what was a new topic for me, I battled timewise to shift gears from strategy formation and strategic thinking literature and would have preferred more time to get immersed in the new literature to get the 'objects' under control through reading. I felt that I rushed it and it became messy. The strategic thinking literature that I have been immersing myself in is highly theoretical and conceptual which worries me as there is very little in terms of experiential. This is likewise with already established RQ's, there are none that I have found, and also, the literature refers to hypothesis testing which petrifies me as there is a fairly big chunk that is quants orientated.  

I won't go as far as saying that the above didn't work out well when it actually has, I have learned about how the mirroring and juggling works in practice. 

In all, I have learned more about problem identification, RQ's and framing than on all of the earlier coursework in this doctoral program - I am very grateful for your time and efforts, Sir. Much appreciated!

Thank you for your invaluable input on my thesis journey.

I acknowledge the sacrifice in time and effort you made to help me grow as I learn to adopt an academic perspective of my work-based problem.

It was rigorous but worth it.

May your journeys yield great success.

It was a good 8 weeks, though I would have loved to have had this module during my DBA programs theoretical stage ...or even during one of the DBA DDP’s (Doctoral Development Plan).

A key learnings for me was to keep the focus on the problem, and not get diverted towards a solution based approach. 

The mirroring technique and the table shared in the module will be an useful tool for candidates to compare and ensure that relevant points have been reflected on and addressed in the respective sections of the thesis.

I see myself using the table for communicating how triangulation has been supportive both at the data collection and analysis stage of the thesis. 

I would like to take this opportunity to thank you and the team at the DoctorateHub for your time and patience and appreciate your feedback and comments that have ensured further clarity in my thesis. Wishing everyone the best in their future endeavours.

The course has been invaluable in:

1. Understanding problems as "wicked",
2. Assisting with my Thesis and,
3. For practice.

Despite the difficulty in balancing work, completing the Thesis and the course, at first the 8 weeks could appear to others as taking time away from Thesis development, but actually, it enhanced mine.

I would highly recommend it. Thank you. I do wish you the best with taking the course forward.