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At the crossroads of current innovation policies towards a European Research Area (ERA) and a European Higher Education Area (EHEA) lies an important province of higher learning and research: doctoral training and the further careers of PhD graduates. A considerable number of higher education systems across Europe shift their paradigms for doctoral training away from the traditional so-called Humboldtian model towards the so-called professional model. On this background, the paper discusses (1) the German pattern of a strong link of the PhD to the labor market outside academe that is based on a traditional academic-disciplinary mode of apprenticeship training, and (2) approaches that argue for a new mode of knowledge production replacing an academic-disciplinary model of research training by a hybrid model that crosses disciplinary and organizational borders. The paper argues that a diversity of organisational and structural forms as well as different validation criteria and procedures will probably determine the future face of research training. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article provides an assessment on the validity of evaluation designs. Evaluation studies are made in order to come up with defensible conclusions concerning relevant questions. The author defines evaluation as the determination of the worth of a thing. It obtains information for use in judging the worth of a program, product, procedure or the potential utility of various approaches created to attain specified objectives. This paper outlines the considerations to design a given evaluation study. The basic steps in the process of designing an evaluation study are provided.

The article examines the efficiency of the group interview as an evaluation technique in higher education. It is concluded that the group interview seems to be an essential technique for eliciting student reactions to courses. It is even more effective than individual interviews, rating forms or questionnaires. The author suggested that it is vital for the interviewer to take complete notes during the interview. This technique could identify main concerns, issues and problems. By giving the students a chance to write any comments that they have not voiced during the interview is another useful technique.