The integration of research and teaching has traditionally been a hallmark of higher education. However, across the western world, government policies are challenging the viability of the research/teaching ‘nexus’ particularly at undergraduate level. Recent research has resulted in a better understanding of the nature of the research/teaching relation and of how it might be enhanced. However there are still considerable barriers to the integration of research and teaching in the undergraduate curriculum. Many of these barriers are shared across the sector, while some are specific to each national higher education system and each individual institution and discipline.

This workshop will begin with an examination of current theory and research supporting research-based teaching and learning. It will explore different disciplinary, institutional, regional, national and international barriers to, and consider strategies for, the implementation of a student-centred research-based undergraduate curriculum. Participants will discuss the importance of national and international collaboration and the benchmarking of institutional success around the integration of teaching and research. The session will attempt to identify future priorities for the higher education community with respect to national and international collaboration and benchmarking, as well as determine disciplinary and institutional priorities and strategies within the broader framework of the integration of teaching and research.

Participants will be invited to engage in an online forum prior to the workshop to help identify barriers to and strategies for integrating teaching and research. The facilitators will use this on-line exchange as the basis for discussion during the workshop. The outcomes of the session will be collated and used as a basis to further explore systems of higher education and their facilitation/obstruction of the development of research-based teaching and learning by institutions and individuals. This may be published after the conference or distributed to all participants as a means of reflecting on and integrating the experiences of the workshop into their daily practice.