How do you choose a good subject for your PhD /sci/? I'm

If you can't figure out how to turn the failures of your research into successes you need to examine what your trying to do in life.

>>8511238
go with option 2

dont make shit harder on yourself for no reason. you aren't going to revolutionize the field during grad school. just get it done and you can do your dream projects after you graduate and have a nice research career that actually pays

>>8511259
That is a really good point, but I'm afraid I will eventually lose my motivation if I give up on my dreams now when they may be within my grasp. This PhD thing takes a lot of years.

>>8511265
You arent going to have motivation if you dont end up with your degree.

>>8511259
>you aren't going to revolutionize the field during grad school
>tfw lebesgue came up with his integral for his thesis

Imo do option 2 now, get some publications in, go to some conferences, make more connections, and pursue option 1 at a later time when you have more experience under your belt, possibly as the immediate next thing you do as a post-doc, maybe later.
Option 2 is a position many would kill for. Don't underestimate the usefulness of making more of a name for yourself before chasing more ambitious projects. You have the rest of your life to go hard on your dream project, don't feel the need to go all in immediately and waste a good opportunity and potentially fuck yourself if it goes south.

>>8511238
Why not pursue option 1 after your doctorate? Do you plan on doing post-doc research?

>>8511436
>lebesgue
Never heard of him until now but I'm pretty sure he wasn't a 4chan autist

>>8511771
this. don't give up something great just bc it isn't perfect

>>8511815
>>8511771
>>8511259
ITT: newfags to science who have never been scooped on a big idea

>>8511819
>never heard of Lebesgue
So you're literally in high school

>>8511901
So you're an obnoxious pretentious faggot

OP here, thanks for all the input guys.

>>8511388
That is absolutely true.
>>8511436
The way I see it, if you have luck you could make a great discovery during grad-school, but aiming for it from the get-go is dangerous and will most likely result in disappointment.
>>8511771
That's true, though I feel like if I let any of these go, there's a good chance someone else will think of it in the long run. As for connection, I already have quite a few thanks to my PI being really good at networking and having the fortune of publishing in a pretty high impact paper during my M.Sc. and giving talks about it in quite a few conferences.
>>8511815
I do plan on doing post-doc research, but in my experience it's hard to find time to get back to older ideas, since new things are always coming up, usually tying back to what you already did. I'm also an MD-PhD, so my post-doc will probably already be related to my specialization.
>>8511901
I haven't heard of him either, but math isn't really my field. Anyhow, I gather he went to grad school in the 19th century. so the relevance can be questioned. I do have a more modern example though: Aaron Ciechanover recieved his nobel prize for work done during his MD-PhD at the same university I am going to.

>>8512156
>The way I see it, if you have luck you could make a great discovery during grad-school, but aiming for it from the get-go is dangerous and will most likely result in disappointment.
This is definitely true, but I'll give you some advice that I got as a PhD, and that I give to other new PhD students: you should choose a thesis topic that fulfills the bare minimum requirements to get a PhD (in the sense that it should add new knowledge to the world, but not very much), and begin writing as soon as you start. You can add new ideas and extend the PhD once you've finished.

>>8512613
Thanks for the advice, I'll definitely take the part about writing from the start, but my PI is not a big fan of doing small things (she likes big grants).

I have a similar problem but with my undergrad thesis. I just feel I don't have enough knowledge to do something cool/meaningful yet