In 2001, higher professional education received a research function by law. This new research role is incorporated into so-called lectureships. In these lectureships, which are analogous to university chairs to some degree, experts in specific fields function as intermediaries between higher professional education and the networked knowledge society. Their role is to 1) develop and distribute knowledge, 2) provide human resource development for teachers, 3) improve the curriculum, and 4) support innovation in business and non-profit organisations. This contribution presents the preliminary results of a participative action research in the lectureship Pedagogy of vocational and professional education. The aim of this research is to help professionals in this lectureship develop a research identity as part of their professional development and as such constituent for their innovations. Our research question is: how can we improve their professional development as action researchers and consequently their innovative practices? We present first an overview of the Dutch debate about the new research role. Then we will focus on our own Institution and its HRM policies on research. Third, we describe the School as Career Centre and our translation of its design rules into our lectureship. Then we give a historical account of our lectureship, followed by an outline of the action research we, the professor and senior researcher, conduct and of how we try to help the professionals in our lectureship. We conclude with some general remarks about the new research role for higher professional education.