I'm currently looking to apply for a PhD, hoping to start January in the UK (UK resident). I have seen some topics which I am not 100% sure about applying for but generally I haven't seen many topics which are within my area of interest.

Is it wise to wait for the perfect topic or to apply for a PhD which is perhaps not entirely what you are looking for? Obviously there is a balancing act here since if I wait for a perfect topic I feel I might be waiting too long but on the other hand I feel that I might end up applying for a topic I might find I dislike some way down the line.

I'm wary that a) October is almost here so topics are probably drying up (Is this true?), b) that January may be the last chance to start a Phd unless I want to wait 13 months.

To put another way, for those that found a topic (and thus didn't propose their own), how far did you have to deviate from your own interest area if at all and how long did you have to wait until a suitable topic come up?

Thanks for reading

I tried to get a funded PhD in my area of interests for 6 years and no matter how hard I tried I just couldn't. One year, I got fed up and applied for a number of PhD's and took the one offered (it came with funding). Didn't like the PhD topic but am glad I did it as I was unemployed and it provided security for 3 years. My interests and the topic I did for a PhD are within the same discipline but not alike. This concerned me but I was given good advice (I believe) and was told it was better to be doing something than nothing and that there is room for moving from one topic area to another and that a PhD does not define you as a researcher.

What I would say is that there is definitely no harm in applying - you can always turn it down in the event that you are offered one. Even if the project doesn't sound perfect for you, you might find that you attend an interview and really like the supervisors/department etc and really want to work there. Additionally, you may be able to get a feel for how much flexibility there is in the project. For example, the PhD I applied for ended up being very different from the PhD I actually did, as I was able to lead the project in the direction that interested me the most. It was supposed to be very heavy on lab work, but I hate working in the lab so I did a tiny bit at the beginning, but then persuaded my supervisors that it wasn't working and in the end the project was almost entirely computer-based.

I would say roughly 50-60% of my original PhD topic interested me, but I went for it anyway as I wanted to do a PhD, and as I knew I didn't really want to pursue a research career afterwards, the precise topic wasn't vital for me. If I were you, I wouldn't apply for anything that totally didn't interest me, but I would apply for things that were close to what I wanted to do and see where that led. You've got nothing to lose from applying. It might even help you get some decent contacts that may lead to a project more suited to you, you just never know!