I hope you can help as I don't know what to do and need some advice. I'm in the second year of a part time PhD and I already have regular thoughts of 'I think I'm in the wrong place''.

When I first applied for my PhD I was really interested in a Dance Psychology. There were only two places in the UK that appeared to offer PhDs in this area and the only dance psychology lab was at my current University led by an excellent and well respected psychologist which was great for me as it was only down the road from where I live and work. I'm self funded so I wasn't restricted to a University nor a research topic and spent ages preparing my proposal. I was delighted when I got accepted.

However, I have now come to a few conclusions and reality checks. It became apparent very early on that although the University has a Dance a Psychology Lab it isn't very well equipped for dance. There is no dance studio (you have to hire one at your own expense every time you need to do an experiment) and there appears to be no interest in the area of research elsewhere in the department. I constantly find myself explaining dance methods that I learnt at undergrad level and I get the impression that I was excepted as I work as a professional choreographer and the lab needed someone with my skills.

My supervisor went on sebatical this year and left me to it. We have had a few meetings but I feel that I haven't done anything this year apart from try and organise my first study which is now in danger of not happening due to technicalities and complications. This is bugging me as I have basically spent £2000 this year to do not a lot.

I turned down another offer at a top dance conservatoire to do this research and now I'm starting to regret it. I know I love the research I'm doing and I won't be able to do the research at the other institution but I know they will have the expertise and resources to support me.

What do I do?

Bear in mind that your story is similar to a lot of students. We all look back on our first year and think 'what the hell did I achieve?'. Some of us look back on our second years and think that too! You are only parttime so you are not expected to achieve much in one year anyway.

I think you need to decide if you are prepared to continue the way you are going and if so, think about what support you need and ask your supervisors directly if they will provide it. Set some goals and deadlines and work towards achieving them on time.