First time posting here - incredibly relieved to find somewhere I can ask for help outside of my department.

I'm 1.5 years into my PhD and I had to change project 12 months into this. The project I accepted with my supervisor was deemed ridiculous by many other members of staff for reasons I now appreciate. Whilst other members of staff tell me it isn't my fault and that it should never have been offered in the first place, it knocked my confidence back almost entirely. I should have seen how bad it was.

I've been working on something new for the past 6 months and it's come to a dead end. The results, on their own, are not publishable. However, I can turn it into something of interest and am starting to do so. But it will take time. And I still have nothing in the mean time. Nothing to talk about and nothing to present at conferences.

I'm very down about things and, depending on who I talk to, people tell me different things about the direction of my work. I question whether I worry too much, or too little. I just don't know what to do. I want to do good science and be proud of my work, but so far neither is true. Have other people been in this situation at this time of their PhD? What steps did you take?

Thanks in advance.

I think you will be ok. I'm 2.5 years in and I still don't have a lot to present at a conference; I just cross my fingers and hope something works by magic in the next year!

If you know where your work is headed, that's a good place to be in.

If you need more reassurance, maybe you can talk to your head of school or graduate advisers etc?

I agree with TreeofLife, you'll be fine and you still have time to get results. I'm also 2 and a half years in and all of my data is negative. There isn't anything there that my supervisor would be happy with me presenting. I have loads of experiments left to do so I'm also hoping for some good luck in the next 6-12 months.

In addition to TreeofLife's advice, could you try reading theses of other students that have passed recently? I found reading the theses of my supervisor's previous students very useful for getting an idea of how much data is needed to pass and which direction to take my research. Good luck!

Tulip