Mend the Gap: exploring the research teaching continuum

The Mending the Gap booklet brings together experiences, insights and practical approaches from UM academics who successfully combine both in their work.

Bridging the gap between teaching and research can lead to many different outcomes: from finding new inspiration and publishing research to sharing your passion with students and gathering data for future research. These are some of the key insights from Mend the Gap, a project coordinated by Lena Gromotka, Kai Heidemann and Oscar van den Wijngaard.

The project explored how UM academics combine their teaching and research responsibilities through conversations with more than 20 colleagues, a literature review, and an exploration of research-based learning at UM. It shows that bridging the gap is about connecting the different identities of a scholar, rediscovering enthusiasm for your discipline, and finding meaningful ways to involve students in research.

The project grew out of several conversations between academics from different UM faculties and EDLAB staff about teacher identity and the perceived gap between research and teaching. These discussions were closely connected to the goals of the Reward & Recognition programme, which seeks to give greater recognition to teaching as a core part of academic identity and career development. Strengthening the connection between research and teaching was seen as a practical way to support this ambition while encouraging a broader shift in how both activities are valued.

The project approached this question from two perspectives. First, a literature review provided insight into practices, perspectives and policies beyond UM. Second, interviews with UM staff explored their experiences of combining teaching and research in their daily work.

The project had two main goals:

• to help foster a culture in which research and teaching are perceived as mutually reinforcing rather than separate activities
• to provide concrete examples, approaches and tools that help academics connect research and teaching for the benefit of both activities, as well as students.

In doing so, the project aimed to contribute to the CCCS vision for teaching and learning at UM by making the relationship between research and education more explicit. It sought to explore how viewing teaching and research as complementary activities, rather than competing responsibilities, can help academics combine both more effectively, strengthen engagement with teaching, and create richer learning experiences for students. By connecting education more closely to research, the project also sought to enhance the relevance and value of students' learning.

Finally, by gathering and sharing examples of effective practice at the intersection of research and teaching, the project aimed to support faculties in integrating research methods and academic skills more effectively into their curricula. In particular, it sought to further develop the CCCS concepts of collaboration – between students and staff, and among students – and contextualisation by highlighting the wider societal and academic relevance of teaching and research.

Project coordinators: Oscar van den Wijngaard, Lena Gromotka and Kai Haidemann
Project period: January 2024- December 2025