Hi all, this is my first post and I’m in need of some advice.
I am in the first year of my PhD and I have been doing it about 2 months now. In the summer after my third year at uni I managed to get some work experience in a research group at a university working with the head of the department and I really liked the group and the research. At the end of the summer they said that they would be pleased to offer me a PhD, so in my fourth year I never really looked about for any PhD's. Around February I met the department head again and he told me all about the project and I thought that it was definitely for me. Around March time I met the potential supervisor and realised that I didn't like him and that we really wouldn't get on. That and a few other things led to me turning down the PhD. So there I was with no PhD and with it being March, most places were already filled up. I later found out that a group in my own department still had a vacancy so I took it. The group and the project were no way as appealing to me as the other PhD I nearly had but I really wanted to do research instead of getting a job so I took it.
Now that I am doing this PhD however, I realise that I do not want to do research in this particular field forever. It's fine for a PhD but I really want to spend my life researching the types of things that I would have been doing if I had taken the first PhD. I have looked at post doc positions in it and every one of them says that they take the people with the most experience - which wouldn't be me. I really wish that I never took this PhD and that I had got a temporary job until this round of PhD positions came out, so that I could apply for one in the field I want to research in.
So being in this situation I have a few questions.
1) Should I finish this PhD or should I just quit it and apply for one in the field I really want to research in?
2) What are the steps involved in withdrawing from a PhD?
3) How long does the withdrawn process take?
4) Can I apply for another PhD while I am still registered on this one or do I have to completely withdraw first?
5) Do I have to repay any of the stipend that I have received up till now from the funding council?
6) If I do withdraw and apply for another PhD, can it be funded with the funding council that funds me now or will the funding council reject me?
Obviously if I withdraw from this PhD there are no guarantees that I will be offered another one and so it would be a big gamble. On the other hand, while I do enjoy this field of research I do not want to do it forever, and would love more than anything to spend my life researching in the other field. So either way it’s a big decision that requires a lot of thought.
What would you do in this situation/can you offer any advice?
Thanks,
Daniel