Hi,

I'm a couple of months into my third year of what will realistically be a four year PhD. The project I applied for was in an area that was relevant to my Masters research and it looked like a fantastic project. Anyway, as soon as I started, my supervisor changed the area of work to fit with some experiments that he wanted for a side project, which included different techniques that didn't fit with the research the lab is set up for, and as a result I've had a series of problems getting the techniques to work.

All along, my supervisor kept promising that I would be able to incorporate this work into my thesis along with the research I really wanted to carry out (they are very loosely connected if a broad thesis title is used). So now I'm in my third year, too far in to walk away, and my supervisor now tells me that I won't be able to start this interesting project that I originally applied for at all, and he wants to change my thesis title to match this side project of his.

The problem is that I find his side project work incredibly boring!! I only continued through years 1 and 2 because of the hope of being involved in the project I was so interested in to start with. Don't get me wrong, I realise projects change and evolve over time, but I have to be honest here, I feel a bit cheated! Plus the side project is follow up work from another student so the chances of me getting a first author paper at any point is looking very slim. Any advice on how to change my thinking to try and find this new project interesting?

Thanks!