ABSTRACT
Supervision of the highest academic thesis is a central part of senior researchers' work, especially in universities. The interaction between the supervisor and the student prompts multiple ethical questions, which often arise from the imbalance in the relationship. Primary stakeholders are, for obvious reasons, the supervisor and the doctoral student: the doctoral dissertation is produced through their cooperation. Doctoral studies include a lot of ethical questions that are linked to the rights and responsibilities of the stakeholders and how they are balanced. One of the most important and difficult questions during doctoral studies is time management. There is significant variation in how countries and universities conclude doctoral studies and allow students to graduate with a doctoral degree. When approaching the question of an appropriate number of PhD students by using the consequentialist approach, it is important to determine who the stakeholders are and how harm and benefit is identified for each.
