I can say that I asked her for her opinion on almost everything I have said/suggested/ recommended so far. Knowing what others think just helps me look at things differently.

I can say that I asked her for her opinion on almost everything I have said/suggested/ recommended so far. Knowing what others think just helps me look at things differently.

I think she is quite cautious based on the fact that I changed my first supervisor because she intervened in the project. I think the second supervisor is trying to be cautious. That is why she even refuses to give advice and says that I should find how to do things myself! Cannot we have someone in the middle???! It is either that they intervene in the project or refuse to give advice at all??!

The first supervisor did not not only offer advice! They wanted me to work on specific things which at that time I was unwilling to work on and I did not want to change my whole proposal! Yes, the second supervisor is unwilling to offer advice!

I have had two PhD supervisors so far! I changed the first supervisor after 3 months since she intervened in the topic and did not want me to work on the proposal she accepted indicating that "it is too easy and anyone can do it" ! The new supervisor, the one I currently have, has been completely hands off for four months to the extent that she refused many times to give me advice even when I asked her for it many times insisting on how much I need to know her opinion! After seven months in the PhD programme I am now wondering what are supervisors for? What are they supposed to do?! Why do we need them?! Why do we have them??? Thank you all!

The second part:

Sometimes I think I got over the disappointment, but other times I feel it is my mistake since I accepted to make a change to my original proposal and it is me who should bear all the consequences. I am in my twenties so I am mature enough and I should have insisted on the "no answer" instead of accepting to change the proposal. It was a mistake. I still feel guilty in a way or another especially that 4 months of my PhD were wasted. Honestly, what still messes up my thoughts is her repeated words "you are wrong". I have many ideas now and I carried a pilot study for one of them. I sometimes feel excited about all of them. Other times I have this voice inside me saying "what if I am wrong now! I could be wrong"!! My new supervisor asked me to write a new proposal and send it by the 6th April, so we will not have any discussions until the proposal is sent. I have many interests, but sometimes the desire to carry out something different from others work hampers me. When I review the literature, I feel "everything is done! We know all the answers! Will I just end up with a different case study and new evidence"! Is that all what I want! I always find the answer "no"! I do not want to repeat the same things others said! To some extent, I feel down by not making any real progress although I do not show that to my new supervisor and I always try to sound as much confident as possible. Last time I told her that reading lots of articles about different topics is progress by itself since the PhD is a journey to help me learn! Inside me, I know this is not enough because I will be judged on the work I produce not on the reading, and some students who started in January made more progress than me! I am usually confident, but this time I am not sure! I am frightened that I could be wrong and that my first supervisor was probably right! How can I be sure that I am not wrong? And that I am not going to waste three years of my life doing the wrong thing?!

Hello everyone,
I am a first-year PhD student, and I started my PhD in October. I started with a PhD proposal and due to many disagreements with my previous supervisor on the proposal after my arrival to the UK, we decided to change the topic. She said my proposal is "easy and anyone can do it!" Accepting to change the project at that time was a mistake! The first semester was wasted working on topics related to my previous supervisor's area of interest, but by the end of the semester in December, I was fed up with her perspectives, personality and with imposing her ideas on me. I decided to change the supervisor, and I would never regret that. In January, I decided to go back to working on my own proposal. I started working with a new supervisor, who is open-minded and who said that the proposal is strong! By coincidence in the end of February, I came across a PhD thesis which was submitted last semester and is very similar to my PhD research questions and objectives. I decided to be honest with my new supervisor about it. She asked me to write a new proposal, and she left it totally to me to choose what I want to do. Since then, I have researched different topics and found myself interested in different areas. One of them is somehow related to my first proposal but am still confused about how I can do it (methodology, theoretical framework, etc.). The other ideas I have are totally different from my first proposal, and I conducted a pilot study about one of them. When I review the literature, I wonder whether my different ideas are really original or not! I can hardly maintain my interest in one of them and commit to it. I feel lost. I started my PhD six months ago but have not really made any real progress so far! I have to start a project in April. What should I do? How can I choose one of the topics I am interested in?

Thank you for your stimulating comment. Sometimes I think that I got over the disappointment, but other times I feel it is my mistake since I accepted to make a change to my original proposal and it is me who should bear all the consequences. I am in my twenties so I am mature enough and I should have insisted on the "no answer" instead of accepting to change the proposal. I still feel guilty in a way or another especially that 4 months of my PhD were wasted. Honestly, what still messes up my thoughts is her repeated words "you are wrong". I have many ideas now and I carried a pilot study for one of them. I sometimes feel excited about all of them. Other times I have this voice inside me saying "what if I am wrong now! I could be wrong"!! My new supervisor asked me to write a new proposal and send it by the 6th April, so we will not have any discussions until the proposal is sent. I have many interests, but sometimes the desire to carry out something different from other works hampers me. When I review the literature, I feel "everything is done! We know all the answers! Will I just end up with a different case study and new evidence"! Is that all what I want! I always find the answer "no"! I do not want to repeat the same things others said! To some extent, I feel down by not making any real progress although I do not show that to my new supervisor and I always try to sound as much confident as possible. Last time I told her that reading lots of articles about different topics is progress by itself since the PhD is a journey to help me learn! Inside me, I know this is not enough because I will be judged on the work I produce not on the reading, and some students who started in January made more progress than me! I am usually confident, but this time I am not sure!

Hello everyone,
I am a first-year PhD student, and I started my PhD in October. I started with a PhD proposal and due to many disagreements with my previous supervisor on the proposal after my arrival to the UK, we decided to change the topic. She said my proposal is "easy and anyone can do it!" Accepting to change the project at that time was a mistake! The first semester was wasted working on topics related to my previous supervisor's area of interest, but by the end of the semester in December, I was fed up with her perspectives, personality and with imposing her ideas on me. I decided to change the supervisor, and I would never regret that. In January, I decided to go back to working on my own proposal, and I started working with a new supervisor, who is open-minded and who liked the research project as it is. By coincidence in the end of February, I came across a PhD thesis which was submitted last semester and is very similar to my PhD research questions and objectives. I decided to be honest with my new supervisor about it. She asked me to write a new proposal, and she left it totally to me to choose what to do. Since then, I have researched different topics and found myself interested in different things. One of them is somehow related to my first proposal but am still confused about how I can do it (methodology, theoretical framework, etc.). The other ideas I have are totally different from my first proposal, and I conducted a pilot study about one of them. When I review the literature, I wonder whether my different ideas are really original or not! I can hardly maintain my interest in one of them and stick to. I feel lost. I started my PhD six months ago, and have not really done any real progress so far! I have to start a project in April. What should I do? How can I choose one of the topics I am interested in?

Hello everyone,
I am a first-year PhD student, and I started my PhD in October. I started with a PhD proposal and due to many disagreements with my previous supervisor on the proposal after my arrival to the UK, we decided to change the topic. She said my proposal is "easy and anyone can do it!" Accepting to change the project at that time was a mistake! The first semester was wasted working on topics related to my previous supervisor's area of interest, but by the end of the semester in December, I was fed up with her perspectives, personality and with imposing her ideas on me. I decided to change the supervisor, and I would never regret that. In January, I decided to go back to working on my own proposal, and I started working with a new supervisor, who is open-minded and who liked the research project as it is. By coincidence in the end of February, I came across a PhD thesis which was submitted last semester and is very similar to my PhD research questions and objectives. I decided to be honest with my new supervisor about it. She asked me to write a new proposal, and she left it totally to me to choose what to do. Since then, I have researched different topics and found myself interested in different things. One of them is somehow related to my first proposal but am still confused about how I can do it (methodology, theoretical framework, etc.). The other ideas I have are totally different from my first proposal, and I conducted a pilot study about one of them. When I review the literature, I wonder whether my different ideas are really original or not! I can hardly maintain my interest in one of them and stick to. I feel lost. I started my PhD six months ago, and have not really done any real progress so far! I have to start a project in April. What should I do? How can I choose one of the topics I am interested in?