This is supposed to be a positive thread not a negative question!!

Just would like to hear from a few people who did or are enjoying their PhD and why? I understand everyone has their our own intrinsic motivating factors for doing a PhD and it is hugely stressful but I am in the process have writing an application and reading some posts on here have wobbled me a bit :)

I'm enjoying mine (I'm a final year). Supervisors have been great, upgrades were tricky but useful, thesis coming together. I honestly don't know why everyone seems to have a meltdown. Maybe that's to come :D

I feel scared to admit the enjoyment out loud!

I'm enjoying mine - just 5 months in (woah, scary now I've written that... time is flying). Most people I know are enjoying it. I get the impression there are certain pressure points - like when something is due or when faced with a challenge - and that is when a lot of people will come and write on here asking for advice.

hi AOE26, I enjoyed my phd, loved every minute of it. At that time, the thought of being joblessness never occurred to me, I was totally unaware of the consequences of "what-would-happen-after-a-phd" I did not have anything to worry about, except write up, defend, finish the phd.

I had a fantastic supervisor and made many good friends in the university and met fantastic people in the Forum. Although people do remain anonymous, I appreciate the responses coming from real people and I can always come back here when I need to share something, or ask questions.

love satchi

I loved my PhD. I soooo wish I could do it all again!

Overall I am enjoying the experience. Just entering final year. Having a steady stream of papers has certainly helped but it is stressful at times, hugely intense at all times and there are periods where I wonder what the hell I am doing. The worst part though, and the source of most stress, is not knowing for certain what I want to do afte graduation.

My experience is mixed but there are some very specific reasons for this. I love study, research and writing and believe that if I had completed this earlier in my life and full time, my enjoyment of the process would be far greater. I still enjoy many aspects but because it is part-time and my full time job is very busy and demanding, it can be stressful at times-especially those times when recruiting participants, etc, and there is less control over the outcome, plus the whole experience goes on for so much longer when it is part-time.

However, that being said, it has long been a goal of mine, and given my life circumstances, I chose to do it no matter what, (which means for me, while working full time as a more mature student and having very little personal time beyond this). I think now that I am very close to the end of the project, I can see exactly what I have sacrificed to get here and while I think I would do it again, I no longer have a naive understanding of the process and it has been very hard-in ways unexpected. Not hard in terms of level, but in terms of needing endurance, persistence, and endless discipline for a long time. Having said this I will be really happy and proud when it is complete and I probably would still do it again.

My experiences have something in common with Pjlu's - I have not enjoyed the parts that were not under my control (recruitment has been two years of stress and uncertainty - my one tip to any prospective candidate would be to come up with a research design that gives you as much control over timing etc as possible!). That said, it has been a unique time in my life when I have had time to read, write and think about things, and when my opinions and ideas have been valued, and if I wasn't already doing a PhD I would be sitting somewhere wishing that I was.

My PhD had some up and downs (I am at my 1 and 1/2 year).

Sometimes, even in the same window of time I find my self working on different projects. Some are frustrating and some are f**ing exciting..and the last ones give me the strenght to stay there :D

I'm enjoying my PhD. I found it a bit frustrating at times as it seemed to be one step forward two steps back but now that I have my design hammered out I'm pretty happy with the way it's going. I like my topic, my supervisory team are top notch and I find it a pretty flexible lifestyle.

I agree - recruitment is potentially stressful, especially if you're recruiting a special group such as children or individuals with a certain diagnosis. I kind of wish I was recruiting for experiments that could be done by any student! But then that wouldn't answer my research questions : )

I'm not completly enjoying it because I'm living in a city that I REALLY DONT LIKE. I actually just started my first year and I'm struggling about if i should quit.