I am currently a second year PhD student going on to a third year. I have made the decision to transfer my candidature to masters instead. I would like to ask the following:
- Do people usually switch advisors/thesis topics upon transferring from PhD to masters? As with many stories shared here, I too, am losing interest in my current research area (which is one of the main reasons of me deciding to drop to masters degree).
But for those who decided to change their advisors/ topics, what are your reasons behind doing so? I am open to learning new areas but the maximum duration of candidature for masters in my university is up to 3 years. So I only have a year left to write my masters thesis. I will have to spend a lot of extra time and effort into reading up on a new area if I do decide to switch.
- Even if one decides to continue doing the current topic they are on, how vastly different is the aim of your master thesis as compared to say the initial goal of your PhD research? Most PhD research topics aim to resolve some open research problems. However, when one decides to transfer to master, they may not have the time or resources to give a positive answer to the problem at the end. In such cases, how would one change the approach to writing their thesis?
I am asking this because while I have made some progress on my reading and research with my supervisor, I feel that I will not be able to provide a full positive solution to my current topic at the end of the year. Granted, I could probably press on with my current topic and just write whatever progress I have and call it my masters thesis.
I would to love to hear your inputs and comments. Thank you!
