This paper aims to outline the main higher education reforms in Germany, including the implementation of the Bologna Process. It takes as its focus the doctoral phase, conceptualised by "Bologna" as the third cycle of study but held by many to be the first phase of independent scientific research. In the context of increasing internationalisation of higher education and the European Commission's forecast that 700,000 more researchers will be needed (European Commission, 2003), it is vital to get the reform of the system right. The paper considers the effects of the German Higher Education Framework Act and regional laws as well as those of the Bologna Process on Germany's ability to recruit and train national and international doctoral candidates in the natural sciences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
In 2006, an international comparison study investigated the organization and management of university continuing education (UCE). The Finnish continuing education system proved to be especially advanced in this study. On the other hand, it became clear that Germany was still lagging behind in continuing education. In this article, German and Finnish universities are compared with respect to organizational forms and management structures in order to derive potentials for UCE and to identify decisive factors of success. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]