In some ways the graduate student is working on the most important work of their career. A PhD requires novel publications and if you get scooped on the main re

In some ways the graduate student is working on the most important work of their career. A PhD requires novel publications and if you get scooped on the main result of your thesis so that you don’t end up with the published paper on that topic very few organizations will grant the PhD. So this can result in losing out on getting a degree you put five years of your life into.