I'm hoping someone can give me some advice as i'm going round in circles. I'm currently a 2nd yr phd student in theoretical physics (cosmology) and am looking at another 2yrs to go. I have not been working very well so far, I have little motivation and a supervisor who is not much help. I have been thinking about quitting for 8 months but didn't want to quit before knowing what to do next. Recently I found a masters course in renewable energies and am really interested in this area. I was all ready to quit but after speaking to some engineers they all said that a phd (even in a completely different field like cosmology) will probably put me in better stead. So now i'm unsure about whether I should quit and do a msc in something I enjoy and want to get into or carry on with this phd (painfully) for the next 2 yrs in the hope that a phd in anything will land me the ideal job in the renewables sector.

what do you think? I don't hate my phd but I have become much more interested in other more relavent things.

Any advice is appreciated

At some universities it is possible to take a leave from your phd for a year or more. Maybe you could do that for a while, to check the MSc meets your expectations?

Personally, I think that if you don't want to get a job in academia the phd is not worth the trouble, but that is just me.

The best advice I can give you is: whatever decision you make in the end, don't doubt yourself. don't look back and say what if, because you can actually never really know what would have happened if you had made the other choice.

I know people who have completed their PhDs on one feild and then have gone on to do an Msc in a completely different subject.

It's a tough one to call. If you dont really hate your PhD then I would think you should finish, afterall it would be a shame to bail out if you are already two years in, but if the PhD is not going to be any use to you in your future career maybe you should leave

I hated my PhD topic and was thinking along the same lines as you, but I dropped out of my PhD after a year and have now been accepted for the Msc I wanted to do.

I could well have spended 4 years doing a PhD in a topic I hated and then do the Msc but that would have been a waste of time.

good luck anyhow

You should do what you enjoy. The next two years could potentially be a nightmare. And who knows, you may land a great job in renewable energy or even go on to do a PhD in that once the MSc is finished. I left my PhD after two years and there is no shame in it - I haven't looked back since.

Thanks for the responses

I'm still very much in two minds. I guess I know I would be happier in the short term if i quit but I don't know if i will regret it in the future. I'm just not sure what a phd will do for my career, it might get me a job i can't imagine yet or it might be completely useless.

I'm also having a tough time seeing quitting the phd as anything other than a failure.. I know i shouldn't think like that but i can't help it.

hmm, a good mental test will be do you see yourself giving an eloquent thesis defense for your Phd degree and getting the great satisfaction of knowing so much of a subject that you really feel for..
btw, it seems that the PHD topic is quite different from the subject you are really interested in, can you get a job in that field even you have a phd?