Hi everyone im nearly a year through and feeling a bit lost at the moment. I feel my research is way behind schedule and that its an impossible task to finish. I still feel out of my depth when chatting to my colleagues and supervisor event though no one has said as mcuh. Just wondering is anyone else still feeling this way or is this just normal.

very much like you.. at the end of my first year as well.

wooo hooooo... im not alone. I just assumed after a year through i would feel a bit more confident in my ability. I just dont thought, its annoying me really.

keehaa, this is perfectly normal. I think this would be a good reason for you to have a look at your initial proposal and reconsider some of the facts. No PhD research (as far as I'm aware) gets complete with the way it was proposed on the day-1. Your work needs to evolve. Proposals are always over-ambitious to start with and they get narrowed down in time. If you look at your past work with a clear mind, you will notice that you can actually focus yourself to one particular bit and eliminate anything that stays outside this frame. This will save you a lot of time. There is nothing wrong with re-scheduling things. This shows the fact that you've considered your options. Sorry for the generic approach. This is because I don't know what your subject is. But this general point can be applied to most research projects in my view. Good luck.

I see what you are saying 404 and i do agree with that. I just think maybe i was a little naive going into this project. I just can not see me being able to answer that question that has been set. I have discussed this with my supervisor but he seems to think everyhting is fine. So im jsut trusting his judgment really and hoping that in my second year i will work harder and things will go a bit faster for me. Then touch wood, in three years time i will have managed to draw some conclusions relevant to my question. But i doubt it very much

Keehaa, I know exactly how you're feeling and I've only got 9 months left. Perhaps we all used to think PhDs are some magical thing that only complete geniuses can complete, and it's a bit weird finding out they're not like that at all. You can do it chuck, just keep calm and work steadily.

Cheers kc i think you are probally right. Ill be fine im just having one of those days i think.

Feeling out of your depth, an imposter in front of colleagues etc. this is all NORMAL! Now you know you are not alone - things will get easier. A PhD is all about the project evolving. Even those of us with only months to go won't not what the project is really about until we finish. Keep going and as one of the previous posters suggested - take this as a positive realisation and review where you are at ready for the new term!

Keeha, I too am nearing 12 months of PhD study. A recent peak has become a trough after my supervisor suggested that my transfer report be postponed by a few months so I can do more reading.

However from talking to other PhD's and reading other posts here it is obvious that this is the norm and that people feel intimidated by the breadth and depth of knowledge of others.

I also found that looking back through all the notes I have taken and reading I have done that I have learnt an awful lot since I started and I am sure the same applies to you.

I am slowly beginning to realise just how emotional these 3 years are going to be...

well, If anyone has seen my previous posts (more like moanings and rants).. so same here, the more I read, the less I'm sure about the project and lose confidence and the time factor is adding stress with issues about funding. I guess its that time of the year when we all face the beginning of "our" year in october. Lets try to keep sharing the thoughts and helping eachother at the lowwwwest points.