Hi everyone. May I have some suggestions from you? Well, somehow i have mismanaged my PhD, partly because of problems with the previous supervisor, and partly because of my indecisiveness to choose a topic(peppered with a bit of procrastination). The problem now is that I’m left with very little time to finish my Phd, or else to let it go and take a fresh admission latter on (which sounds scary to me after investing so much time). I have been interested in an area or two in which I plan to work in the future also (I am a philosophy teacher), but those areas require too much time now given the short time i have (and thanks to the 70% of the time required to finish my phd wasted). My new supervisor suggests now to choose an area and topic in his area of interest which he says could be easy to tackle in the present time constraints. I am exasperated: If i do my PhD in an area which I dont like much,--so that i can get my Phd in time--and later on decide to work in some other areas only in which i'm genuinly interested, does that make any sense to you?I mean the whole idea of doing PhD in an area you’re not interested in seems horrifying, especially when one has no intention to work in that area latter on. But on the other hand, pragmatically thinking the probability of finishing Phd well in time (working in the area of my interest)before the expiry of its duration is perhaps not very great :( An advise would be really appreciated. Thanks

By the way, my Supervisor argues, that a PhD is just a formality--a degree-- and nobody will ever read it other than the examiner. He says I should get the doctorate and can latter on work in any area i desire after my PhD is completed. :-/ Doesnt sound very convincing to me, because I think PhD is one's area of specialization, and after a Phd research its rather rare to work specialize and work in some other area of the subject.

Hi Griffith,

Your supervisor is more or less correct from my understanding. You will probably publish an article (or more) from your PhD but the PhD is the first step really for younger researchers-and to some extent perhaps even the older ones, or mid career professional Phder's as well. The thing is your topic becomes so narrow by the time you finish, that you have to broaden out from it again.

I am currently in the the middle years of the PhD- probably equivalent to just coming up to the 3rd year of a 4 year degree (3+1 type PhD). I'm doing one in an area I chose 2 years ago that suited my current job, after finishing a Master's thesis in a topic area that suited the job I held previously. I now have 2 years worth of work left to go (or the part-time equivalent for me would be 3 years or so to go), in this 2nd area that has some links with the first areas of study but not that many.

And in a month's time, I start a new role in an area that has some connections with this current topic but is different yet again. My current topic is useful and connected (to some extent) to the new job I will be starting but but the time I have finished the study, I know that my area of professional interest will have expanded, changed and shifted yet again to adapt to the area of my field I will soon be working in.

Once I wanted to do the PhD as part of a long held dream that had been interrupted in earlier years. Now I want to finish it as a process, so that i can use the knowledge, skills and improved critical thinking in my career, especially to help me with publishing and presenting as an accomplished professional in the education/social sciences fields.

Finally you have to do what is right and works for you, but don't discount what your supervisor says either. If you can manage to finish roughly on time, you will then have the freedom to move on and explore a range of areas in your field-and you can still conduct studies and projects in your area of original passion if you wish. Hope this makes sense and best of luck.

Pjlu gives good advice. If it means finishing go with your sups advice as what you will be using after your PhD are the skills gained through research and you can then apply them to new projects. It's not ideal in that you won't be gaining the deeper knowledge of the subject you wanted to study but as Pjlu says, you can do that after the PhD. :-) There is a school of thought that says you should love your subject to get through a PhD but in reality lots of people come to loathe their own projects and in employment you will more than likely work on projects that don't always float your boat. Good luck.

In any case, it is quite common for postdocs or more senior researchers to change the focus of their research after their PhD, even when they enjoyed the topic to begin with. It is just the way research works. You do a project, you find something and it leads you somewhere and not necessarily where you thought it might take you. Unless the area your supervisor proposed and what you want to do in the future are completely different (by that I mean different fields altogether), I would concentrate on finishing your PhD under the supervision of something who is interested in your work, especially if you don't have a lot of time.

Whatever you decide, good luck!