Hello all,

I am so confused and frustated these days since i've just come to know that what i am doing is already done by someone else. I have been doing my PhD for 17 months and i should complete this PhD for 36 months (because my scholarship will be finishing). I was so fool that i didn't notice that someone else also doing the same thing with me. Is someone having any experience or suggestion related with change the PhD topic on these very late time. And how can i tell my supervisor about it (I already can imagine his anger to me).

I don't know your subject area, but I'll try to help.
You say that there is someone else who is doing the same thing as you. Is s/he doing exactly the same thing? Can ypu change yours a little bit? Maybe use a different method, or different variables....

Also, are you sure you will finish in 36 months? I think 36 months is usually not enough time (I don't want to disappoint you)....

Hey

I just wanted to reiterate what Emmaki said really - I know at least two other people that this has happened to. On person was in her 2nd year and met someone at a conference who was doing the same thing in her final year and someone else who was put into contact by his supervisor with someone who was doing the same thing as them just to share ideas etc.

Like Emmaki said really it can never be exactly the same - can you change your variables, method, sample etc? Have you used different measures? The institution that I am at runs free courses for PhD students and many of them I have been on have reiterated that although you are supposed to be making a 'unique contribution to your field' - a substantial part is proving that you are a competent researcher etc.

At 17 months you are a long way in....but not too long to re-evaluate perhaps what it is about your project that is different to this other persons. Also you may find it useful to get in contact with the other person and have a chat/share some ideas?

In my university there were three consecutive PhD students who took the same topic and with the same supervisor.
I cannot understand what is the big deal here? It is same like two people walking from A to B won't take exactly the same route
if they do not work in collaboration. We have million of researchers around the world working on similar projects?

Hello All,

Thanks for the suggestions.

I am doing PhD in engineering and my PhD topic is about to modify a model to simulate Water Quality process in sewer network and i focus on specific output parameter. Actually to build this model with this certain output parameter, there is not so many ways to do this. Both of us have the same basic equation (which developed by other university) and the same output parameter and the funny thing, we are also modifying the existing model based on the same finding in literature review. Of course they way we are building our model is different, he built his model in MATLAB and i built my model in C. But i think this is not sufficient contribution to say that my PhD is giving "Innovative Contribution to the knowledge". He started his PhD not long before me. And i've just come to know recently that his model is much more complete than my one. So, I think what i was doing for 17 months is very useless...