What country are you in? UK or USA?

I know people who didn't get results to their last 6 months of their PhD. It is far from ideal but things like this happen especially if you are doing a new method. For your transport report, clearly elaborate on your problems and how you are progressing. It is a progress report, so saying that you how have finally started getting results and that you will be able to get all of the data in your third year, is fine. Show you have a plan to finish on time and make them believe in your ability and it will be ok.

Never clicked on the link, so didn't realise it was a paper mill. My fault!

Can I just say this is a nice succinct post that is very useful. Thankyou!

I am a big fan of getting data. It is hard to write a thesis without data and your second year is when you should start collecting it. Your first idea does sound interesting but if you can't get data, is it worth pursuing? You seem to be there yourself and there is no shame is slightly changing direction. I am doing it myself due to experimental difficulties but I am now getting publishable. You are still early in your PhD, and a quick change of direction should be possible.

I know changing research focus can be disheartening and it is easy to lose motivation. You probably have worked hard on the first problem and feel like a failure for not being able to do it. But that is research. You have thoroughly worked on a problem for a year and found it isn't possible, that happens to everyone. Everyone has set-backs and it is part of life, though what counts is how you pick yourself up from them. Because to be honest you still have 2 years to do amazing research and the only thing stopping you is yourself.

Yes. A lot of people apply for multiple PhDs, similar to how you apply for multiple jobs. You may get offers for both or none, so increasing your odds is okay.

I must apologise for my broad tone and should not have made such a generalisation. However I stick to the point that some fields have far lower expectations of published work than others. It is not to say they are any less valuable but that fields have different opinions on what is a significant contribution.

I don't think you will have much of a problem if you have already secured a scholarship and a supervisor. Check on your offer if they have a minimum GPA, if not just submit both scores. They must see potential if they have offered you a PhD in the first place.

Make sure you talk to someone about all this. Be it a friend, therapist,, university counselor, times like this can be very stressful and you shouldn't go through it alone.

I would take a leave of absence. Your final months with your Mum is precious and you can always come to your PhD. All universities will give you an extended leave of absence in your circumstances which will not affect you work too much. This is a legitimate reason to take a break, don't be too hard on yourself and other academics will be very supportive.

I am sorry to hear you are going through this and I wish you and your Mum all the best.

It can vary on your field. I am in engineering where it is assumed you will get 2 papers out before finishing but other fields (cough*** Humanities) no one ever publishes during the PhD. Have a look round your colleagues and see if publishing is necessary (though it is always desirable)

If you find it hard to motivate yourself, remember you can put published work in your thesis which will make your defense a lot easier. It is harder to criticise peer-reviewed work that has published during your viva. So if you have over a year left publishing would be very valuable.

I am fortunate that my project is contains 4-5 smaller projects that can all be turned into papers. Try to identify bits of your work that answer a clear question and publish them. Those papers than can then form the basis of a chapter which will make writing your paper easier.

You can only do research with data can you can obtain. What you want sounds difficult to get and you don't want your work to fail just because you couldn't get data.

Though have you tried talking with multi-national companies that have Indian divisions. If the HR in India will listen to you, they might help you get data from another division in the same company. Also to get companies to help you have to explain to them how you are helping them. Just asking for help is difficult but if you are selling them some useful data in return for access, that is easier to sell.

Also privacy laws in Europe will be very strict about this, so I doubt any European company will share any data.

I think it depends on the field. I know in mine it is 1-2 postdocs then up or out. After 2 post-docs to get a lecturing job you need to either be; amazing, in a hot field or know someone in the uni. It is all about how you sell yourself to the university and whether or not you add something.

To the OP, if you think you can sell yourself, you can definitely get a lecturer job. If you think you have the skills to do research and can show a university your skills/experience, you have a good shot. You probably have a special method/concept/approach that is interesting and don't let that get lost in your supervisor's work. I would go for a post-doc that give you some lateral movement in research (I know hard to find).

Do you have any papers? Do you have any major results? How much data do you have?

I would say work out how much data you actually have and how much you can use in your thesis. You can probably plot 2-3 chapter by now (preferably more) and then decide how much work you need to do. You will probably realise there is less work to be done than you think. From their you can make a plan for your final year so you are not constantly panicking.

For the second question, write about what you have data on. A thesis can be a collection of smaller works that together solve a bigger problem. If there was any coherence between the smaller projects you can easily find a problem that you helped solve.

I agree with kienziebob, be honest with you supervisor and everyone else. Simply ask what exactly entails and say you didn't realise what you signed up for. They would rather know now than later.

Also is full lecturing or supporting tutorials? Because you can teach completely random tutorials if you have supporting materials

Do you have the interviewers names? I have heard that Cambridge interviews are very technical and can focus on the interviewers research history/interest. Maybe research their work and form some opinions that you can debate/defend.

You are a university lecturer?

If so go for it. The university will help you and you might be able to get some work time allocated for research. Also if you publish a few papers you probably could get PhD by publication.