Hi, I am just in my second year and am trying to keep up to date with all literature whilst working in the lab and gaining results but I am now losing touch with the originality of my project. I feel as though it has been done before and I would struggle to state exactly what is original about it. My supervisors don't seem to think so and I am scared to approach them with papers I have found and how I am feeling about it in case they think I am being stupid or that I am not a very good reader. What if they decide I am right but are angry that I have not found these papers before? I have read hundreds of papers and have a very detailed lit review and nice results, but I still feel like it won't be worth a PhD if its not that original, especially if I am struggling to see it. Any advice on this would be amazing.
I think your supervisors are better placed that you to say whether is it original or not, as maybe you are defining the word differently to them. Having said that, it is possible they may not be aware of this other research so you do need to bring it to their attention, just in case. Even if you find that it has been done before, this is not necessarily a problem as you can just change the orientation of your project slightly.
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