I realise it is quite early into my PhD, but i am coming to the end of my first year and I am starting to feel really down. I can't generate any results cause I haven't managed to clone my genes yet Any body else felt like this. When should I panic? I sometimes feel like quitting, but I know I would regret it if I quit cause the expts to come I know I will really enjoy, I just starting to lose sight of the light at the end of the tunnel.

I think you should quit. You will never get any results and are wasting your time. Find something you are good at.

Ignore pe, he is an idiot.

Don't worry Louise, lots of people don't get any results in their first year, in fact I've been told not to even expect any results in my first year! You should keep at it

Hey don't worry only a few very lucky people get through their PhD without having such a phase. Show your cloning strategy to someone else in the lab, maybe you are missing something or they can advise you on a new approach. At the end of the day the cloning will work out somehow, it just gets frustrating when something that should take 3 days takes 2 months.

Don't give in! I tried for 5 years to get the chance to study for a PhD! I would never give in if I finally got the chance to do one. Neither should you! Science takes time. Don't give up on something stick in there.

Thanks for the advice. I won't quit cause I know that it is worth doing, and I can do it. But support is a bit thin on the ground and it just makes me despair sometimes

Most go through that stage in their PhD. Short of it is that at the end of your first year, you're not likely to have gotten much in the way of results and it doesn't really start coming until the 2nd year at the earliest. some don't even start the experimental bit until 2nd year. Stick with it and you'll enjoy it. You will regret it if you quit