Thank you for the answer Dr Jeckyll. I do have a desk in an office with about 20 other postgrads, and I have a work computer as well, I spend every weekday there. Although, I have to add that my desk is in an office that has people from different departments and different school than mine. I sometimes interact with people in that office, and I also meet people from my department sometimes in pub events or at seminars. But they mostly have a very different experience from mine.

You are right that I am kind of independent in my work, and working like that is fine for me. Although what you said about me finding holes in knowledge is not the case. I did a literature review (actually needed more of that than others probably, because my field is too broad), but I didn't find any apparent hole in knowledge that I could fill with the tools at my disposal, that is, without a lab, without full scale testing & site measurements, and without access to software and methodologies from the industry. I do not have these, and when I ask my supervisors to help me with finding a goal that I could be working towards, they just tell me to "work on a topic that you want to be known for". That sounds very nice, but then again I'll have to submit a dissertation and graduate as early as possible as I am planning to work in industry not staying in academia.

You see if I had a topic or a goal or a better defined problem, I'm confident that I could work towards it independently and solve it in the end. But finding the task itself seems to be beyond me, especially considering the constraints on my resources.

Thank you again for your answer, it made me feel somewhat better.

I just passed my first year review in my engineering PhD, and my reviewer gave me what he calls a "shining review". However, my research experience is VERY different from anyone I meet from the faculty, including the following issues:

1.) Other PhD students often ask what group am I working in? My answer is either "I don't know" or "none". I am pretty much working alone, I have no collaborators or colleagues, I am doing no laboratory work, my work is done on a computer. I know what my funding body is and the department I'm registered at, but my group - if any - has no contact with me at all.

2.) My topic is broad (as in not specific enough). I made some little contribution submitting a journal paper and a couple of conference papers, however, the project is not well defined AT ALL, I am left to do whatever I feel like doing. This may sound great for someone, but it stresses me out, as the original project goal is pretty much finished and concluded now, and I have no idea how to continue. I simply don't have a well defined goal or a certain project or task to carry out, and I am left to figure out "some useful contribution to the industry".

3.) I have three supervisors, but none of them are from my field. Our meetings are generally just formalities, and their contribution is limited to helping me choose journals/conferences and checking my papers before submission. Others meet weekly with their supervisor(s), who precisely describe for them what they need to do for next week. I, however, meet my supervisors once a month, and my actual research is never discussed in depth. I have very little feedback on my work, and except for the annual review I had no idea whether what I'm doing is good or is it enough.

Now I feel kind of disheartened and think about leaving. Anyone had a similar experience with his/her PhD? Is this normal/acceptable? Any thoughts?