Hi everyone,

I have been doing a PhD for the last 9 months and in a nutshell I hate it. I can't stand my supervisor, my work, my collegues, the university... It has reached the point where I dread going in every day, when I sit down to work I can't find the motivation from anywhere, all I can think is that I don't want to be doing this. I hate the thought of quitting but if truth be told, I have simply chosen the wrong PhD, but regardless I still feel rubbish at the thought of leaving. The most stressful thing is the financial aspect, I have get paid quarterly and I have just received a quarter's pay in advance (so it is supposed to cover me for the next 3 months), what I need to know is what will happen if I quit tomorrow, will the research council write to me to ask for it back? ow will they work out how much I need to give back? The only thing stopping me leaving tomorrow is money and the need to pay my rent each month, it's so frustrating! I just don't know what to do, I know I can't stay here, it is leaving me so unhappy and knocking my confidence, I feel like a nervous reck, but with the current job climate I don't know if I can afford to stay.
If anyone can help and give me that boost to take the big step and leave I would be so grateful, I would just love some advice :(

Thank you

If you quit tomorrow you will need to pay back a proportion of your stipend covering the days you've received a stipend for already in advance, but are not studying. So tomorrow (or the day after), and every day after then up to the 3 months you've received in advance. You could hardly keep those days' worth if you're not doing the PhD any more.

Good luck. I left a PhD nearly 13 years ago and was in a similar situation, but it was the right decision for me then.

I think if you really don't like the situation you're in that much, i'd leave now. I have a friend who is 6 months from finishing and has had the most awful time. He has had the worlds most diffficult supervisor coupled with an ill-thought out project. However, he cannot bring himself to leave after investing so much time into trying. In hindsight, he would have quit in his first year. My advice is that if there is no way you can yourself improve the situation such as switching projects (its still early enough at 9months) or switching supervisor, try chatting to someone to see how much you would need to get a masters from your current work. If the answers no, please dont waste another 2+yrs of your life being miserable because it wont get easier and you'll never get it back and you'll be unlikely to get the most out of the phd.

I felt the same about nine months into my phd. I realised very early on that university life and work was not what I had thought it would be, nor something I wanted to continue doing. However, I am also funded, in fact, that is one of the main reasons I agreed to do a phd (along with the desire to live a nice, leisurely life, legitimately occupied with some important thinking and tapping at the keyboard of course). I am paid quarterly in advance, and yes, you do have to pay back the proportion of funding given for time you have not completed in each quarter. And because it is hard to budget a lump sum over three months, I found I was always in desperate need for the next quarter's payment at least a few weeks before it was due. And then I would have to use that to pay all of the bills which had piled up. So, I could never afford to leave. And here I am, now 2 years and 9 months into my phd, and I've just been paid my final quarterly installment, and guess what? I hate my phd more than ever, I haven't done any work for a good few months, I can't seem to motivate myself to do anything at all (including in the rest of my life: friends, family, social life, general happiness have all faded away) And I still don't know how I'm going to support myself and my family come September.
My point is, don't let it get this far. Try to make a decision, and if you really want to leave, then be brave, get a job, sign on, whatever. Just do what makes you happy, and do whatever you can to avoid ending up like me. The longer you stay, the more your confidence will be drained, and the harder it will become to leave. Remember you already have a degree, and probably a higher degree as well, you will not be without opportunity for long. Good luck.
Have a look at this website as well, I found it very interesting. http://phdtips.blogspot.com/2009/06/when-to-quit-your-doctoral-program-ii.html

Excellent post, Beaud.
I was getting good money for my doctorate and it was the key reason I would have used to have stayed on. However, I didn't, and it is now the biggest relief not to be doing a research degree. There's more to life and if you're unhappy, don't just stay on for the money... Good luck in whatever you decide!