Terminal decision

The new year provides me with the ideal opportunity to divulge some of the details of the last month concerning my progress and the PhD diary. Given that there has been very little activity here for some weeks now — and given the tone of some of the posts when there was some activity — it will be of little surprise that progress has not been terrific.

Whilst the nature of postgraduate research is such that good times will follow bad and vice versa, it became increasingly apparent to me that I was/am not enjoying my status as a postgraduate, and I have thus taken the decision to leave my PhD studies.

Over the next few posts, I would like to discuss some of the reasons behind my decision, remembering that one of the main reasons I embarked on maintaining this diary was to provide information on all aspects of undertaking a PhD. Clearly, I will not be able to fulfill that aim to its furthermost extent, since to do that would mean to drop out and then re-enrol, but hope that by discussing the various contributory factors leading to my leaving, it will make others aware of drawbacks concerning postgraduate research, as well as give them signposts to look out for should their own studies start to falter or their motivation questioned et cetera.

I intend to cover the reasons behind my decision first, and will then discuss what this actually means in practice, concerning the work I have completed so far and the various options it is possible to consider once the decision to leave has been made. These posts will be made over the next week or two.