I've just started a PhD in science and I have been told just to read "widely" based on the few sentences that were advertised for my "known" research project. I'm not new to this situation of spoon feeding in drips and drabs, and I'm uncomfortable with it because I'm a knowledgable student and don't need spoonfeeding. Shouldn't I just get it sorted and ask directly for a copy of the full research proposal which I would assume I am entitled to anyway since this it is I ultimately who will be driving my researchforward?

I sense arrogance in that question. Perhaps your supervisor doesn't see you to be this know-it-all and wants you to help you along the way, by asking you to do seemingly tedious tasks. If they just left you to it, you would soon moan that they aren't helping you at all.

It makes sense that you would want to see it, unless it isn't ready? I suggest you employ some tact when you ask for it (which you should do), as Stu says, you don't want to appear as a know-it-all and get on your supervisor's bad books.

my supervisors havin issues at the mo and ive been asked to get on with it, which i dont mind i guess....but i dont know where to start etc. Maybe you need to read widely in order to understadn the whole picture and you will need to be aware of whats going on in other aspects of your research for your literature review, rest assured ur supervisor is not stupid...listen to em!

I always end up agreeing with Stu. You'll be perceived as arrogant and you don't want to hack off the person in charge of your work for the next 3-4 years

Being given the full research proposal could constitute spoonfeeding and we'd be interested to hear if other science PhD students have seen copies of the original proposal which was sent to the research council to gain funding for their project.

Working on a highly specific research project is relatively easy - having the background knowledge, experience and intuition to work out what the results mean and where to go next is the hard part.

Get stuck in with the background reading - it may be tedious, but it's worth it in the long run.

I think this depends on the supervisor. I saw the original proposal for the project that my supervisor tried to get funding for. I also saw the proposal for the project I'm doing now which is different to the project mentioned above. Although this was in a lot less detail so only have vague idea of what I'm doing!

Even if you do see the original research proposal (I didn't), or your supervisor gives you a big introductory talk I don't think you'll fully grasp what you're supposed to be doing for a while. I don't know how or when but I can I assure you that someday it WILL happen, then you'll be much happier that you can take control of the project and use your own ideas to push things forward. Until then, the reading is probably the best thing to do.

Think of it like a big puzzle - all the clues are in those papers! Find out which bits (you think) relate to your work, collect them all together and try to put everything you are told to do in it's place. I know that doesn't sound efficient or even sensible but I think that's what a lot of the best students have to do (the others just don't bother and never get to the stage where they're in control?)

Your supervisor probably SHOULD be trying to give you an overall view of the research, maybe they are brushing you off by telling you to 'read widely', but you can cope! From your original post I think you'd enjoy figuring things out on your own (you just don't know it yet). Finally, I do think it would be risky to ask for the proposal at such an early stage. But you could hint and see what happens, make the supervisor think it was their idea?

I'm a bit confused....isn't the proposal meant to give an idea of what you should end up with and a very brief idea of how you get there? The rest you research yourself.

Mia- you do agree with me on a lot of topics, perhaps it is destiny us!!

For us rather

It shows your keen. I kept asking to see the proposal for the project I'm working on so my supervisor eventually gave it to me although it was a rough draft! So I sort of know what I'm doing and I've stopped pestering him for it! Understanding it is another matter but I'll worry about that at a later date!

Stu and Mia - is this the first match made on findaphd?

That wasn't quite what I meant, but you never know.....

Ok I admit it....it was what I meant