I feel like I haven't done much either. I've writen about 3000 words in 4 months (I need to for my uni) but it needs a lot more work on it before I can hand it in and I seem to have been unable to get anything else done with it despite staring at it for a long time yesterday

Ive just started my phd and all this talk of people quitting makes me worry I wont be able to finish. Ive been really enjoying my phd so far and I was wondering how many other people are still enjoying it as they near the end?

I get 12K a year and its fine. I run a car, go horse riding three times a week and go out every weekend. I dont have enough money to start saving but its more than enough to live off if your careful.

Jradetzky,

I think you are right not to lower your expectations, but I think if you focus too closely on one type of person you might miss the perfect one for you. We all think we know what is best for us but sometimes we can be wrong. Don't lower your expectations, but maybe keep an open mind.

Hi Kaeli,

I just started my PhD and I had similar problems when I was looking. I saw loads that I thought sounded interesting, but when I started to really think about them there were just a couple that I thought I really want to know more. I also looked at who would be my supervisor. If your supervisor is really high in their field chances are they will be really busy and you may have to stand on your own two feet more. Some lectures like to spend as much time as possible in the lab. Some have lots of projects running at one time. Try thinking about what you want from a supervisor and this may cut out some of the potential projects.

Good luck!!!

Hi,

I've just started a science phd (started in oct) and before christmas I was really motivated and felt like I knew what to do. Just after christmas I handed a draft copy of my lit review to my supervisor(we have to write a 3000 word lit review to see if we are on track). I'm waiting to get some feedback from him about it. But since handing it in I've not really known what to do with myself. I still have lots of lab work to do but I cant seem to write anything. Anyone have any ideas of how I can get myself motivated again?

Sugar_student I too wonder how people get any work done with all the chatting they do at uni, but you dont know how much work they do at home. Different people work at different times and I dont think anyone would be 'handed' a phd for nothing

Do you live near a uni at the moment? Some universities will let you join their library as a reader only, so you could access any journals but you cant take books out. The other option is trying to get a copy from the British Library but Im not sure if/how that would work.