Changing a thesis topic

Has anyone here ever changed their thesis topic? I am in the process of doing it now (the uni has said they will consider it). I have only done one semester of work, so I am not too far into the process. But it means changing supervisor (which is part of my reason for changing). My new supervisor-to-be has agreed, but I am yet to talk to my current supervisor (which I am not looking forward to).

So - anyone else done something this crazy?

Hey Megami,
I've only been working on my thesis for about the same amount of time as you, and I'm almost rigid in an effort NOT to change my topic, but it's kind of inevitable, isn't it? I agonised over my proposed thesis topic, and now it's only incidentally related to my work, and I expect to get further away as I progress.

Luckily I have a dream supervisor (someone I knew from previous study) who just moves with the flow. She also understands that I am not the kind to be micro-managed. What can I say - I don't play well with others.

Good luck, let us know how it work out.

Megami,

I just wanted to let you know that when I read the topic of this forum (you know, Ch*nging a th*sis t*opic), my heart seized for a moment. It was painful.

All I have to say in response is, if you go through with it, may it be as painless as possible.

-Danny Birt

I changed my topic, also due to changing my supervisor, who had insisted on me writing about the original topic in question. While a pain, I'm better off for having changed topics - my current topic is something that I am far more qualified to write about, and thus the writing process is much easier. Luckily I don't see my previous supervisor too often. I hope it works out well for you.

I changed my thesis topic after putting in four years of work into my first one. I still got a paper out of it at least. Not a PI problem, but a project problem. 80% of my final thesis content came from the new project. Maybe it's because I'm in the sciences, but it was not that uncommon. A friend did the same thing and is also finally getting results. We both went into rather different sub-fields and it worked out.

I switched PhD topics after 4.5 years in July. It involved changing universities and (obviously) supervisors, but it was worth it. I've never met my new supervisor (he lives approximately 9000km's away), but we e-mail regularly, and use Skype now and again. I was very lucky that things worked out in the end...