[jeffmoonchop]

I disagree that its tough. There are so many companies in the UK looking for R&D scientists. Most of the time its for contractors but they always extend contracts. Its normal for a company to test you out for 6-12 months with a starter contract but unless you are crap you'll stay on. Harlow is closing yes but there are still a lot of people working at the site. And its not the only company in the area.

[Guitarmaniac86]

I know I said I would reply "by the weekend" a few weeks ago.. It seems a month ago now, but I have been far busier than I expected.

A post doc is now not an option. After speaking with my supervisors and industrial sponsors it is apparent that without a publication record its not worth pursuing a post doc.

I am now at a point where I will probably be walking away from this PhD with 7 months left to submission. I have a meeting with everyone in the middle of April where I will spell out my intentions, explain why I am going to quit and then go looking for a job in anything. I do not care what job I get, even if it is selling shoes in a shoe shop forever.

The past few months I have had weekly meetings with my PI's and essentially, from their tone and the desperation they have for me to get some kind of results, I will not be finishing on time, and hence I will not be getting my PhD. I will fail, this is an inescapable fact. No matter how hard I push, I will be failing this PhD.

My academic supervisors have basically said I have not been productive enough for their liking and stated in no unequivocal terms that I am a terrible chemist. My industrial supervisors have said that "it seems lab work isnt for you." These are damning statements on the surface but there is a whole long, boring story behind it all that basically stems from mismanagement of the PhD between academia and industry with me stuck in the middle trying to keep up with the ever changing demnads placed on me by both.

Industry says academia shouldnt be dictating the direction of the research, academia says the opposite. This has led to the current state of affairs: Three lines of incomplete research, one of which I have been working on, on and off, for three years, that should have been completed two years ago if both sides listened to me, instead of panicking now that I wont finish in time.

If both sides listened to me that the original synthesis wouldnt work, and wasting a year on it, then taking two years more to decide that the synthesis I proposed was worth it, I wouldnt be in this mess now.

If both sides didnt decide to go off on a tangent for a year and make me do a synthesis that was now admitted that "was never going in the thesis anyway" I wouldnt now be trying to do two years work in 7 months.

The fact I have no publications is precisely because I was never able to finish a line of research before either industry or academia decided to change tact constantly. Now I want to quit. I cant do it for 7 months more.

[Dan]

I'm sorry to hear about your situation. Ultimately, if you've had enough then it's probably better to leave. There is more to life - best of luck.

[discodermolide]

Sure there is more to life. But with only 7 months to go it seems a pity to throw in the towel, especially after all the hard work.
Publications are nice but not a requirement for advancement. Why don't you use the time left and write up what you have, you must be able to make a story out of it?
Good luck.

[DrCMS]

I agree with discodermolide try to get something out of the last 2 and a bit years of work.

[Corribus]

Another option is to switch labs, or even universities. It's late in the game to do that, and will probably cause you to extend your time as a grad student for a few years. But it still leaves open the option to complete your degree.

[Guitarmaniac86]

Thank you all for your advice. I have now left the PhD with little under 6 months left. No useable results for a thesis and not enough time to get any meaningful results means I had no choice but to leave. I have not introduced new knowledge and would have ended up with an MPhil. I already have an MSc so an MPhil is useless to me. I am now looking at becoming a chemistry teacher in a school. The only thing I enjoyed during the PhD was teaching.

Ho hum. Such is life.

If someone is able to delete my account that would be grand, I havent been much use round these parts in years now.