Live by the Research, Die by the Research

The situation of doctoral students is a complex ethical issue. They are not really students any more, but they are not yet full members of the Academy, so they are excluded from it. PhD students focus primarily on research, since if they do not publish in quality scientific journals, their future (both career and financial) is very much in question. As most of the doctoral student's capacity is taken up by research and publication during the training period, another important task is relegated to the background: learning to teach and to supervise research. Will the student have the ambition to become a good teacher and research supervisor as well as a researcher? What ethical factors can influence the personality development of a doctoral student? What experiences and perspectives will the newly graduated doctoral student bring to their academic career? Here I raise these questions both in general and in relation to graduate studies in mathematics.