Dutch universities of applied sciences (UASs) had been teaching-only institutes since their legal origin in 1960. The development of higher education (HE) in Europe in the past twenty years requires UASs to embody and become hybrid organ-isations where education and research are integrated. Ever-changing, complex society needs professionals with overarching skills, such as critical, analytical and reflective ones. The Dutch government has framed this as a generic need for research abilities in all higher education students, in addition to framing research as a pedagogy for the development of skills. The new millennium brought Dutch UASs national funding for research and the appointment of lectoren (research professors). In 2015, the Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences (AUAS) board substantiated this national incentive in a renewed university-wide strategy to integrate research in all educational programmes. The AUAS strategic programme ‘Research into Education’ (Dutch: Onderzoek in Onderwijs; OiO) was designed to assist in the implementation of this aim. Educational managers and lecturers were positioned as the central actors in manifesting the intended changes. Five projects were framed, spanning from hands-on, tailor-made assistance of teaching staff to the creation of national and international networks. The aims and mechanisms for change of these projects as well as their results are presented in this chapter.Although AUAS was successful in realizing a broad desire to integrate education and research, monitoring and evaluation of the process shows how little we collectively know about functional connections between research and education, especially in applied higher education. A future strategic programme needs to bring about profes-sional enhancement at all levels to maintain the already-realised awareness and desire and take the process further to effect ability, knowledge, and reinforcement (Hiatt, 2018). It is a work in progress, yet hands-on university development can become empirically founded practice by smart and precise choices and design.
The integration of research activities in universities of applied sciences (UASs) has led to the transformation of these universities into organisations with two primary processes: research and education. Although many believe in the benefits of combining research and education in one organisation, which is referred to as synergy in this study, research–education synergies have rarely been empirically investigated, particularly in the UAS context. Thus, this research investigates the intended synergy between the research and education of UASs by conducting a document analysis of their university-wide strategic policy. The findings show that UASs aim for synergies among people, UAS organisations and outside UAS organisations, with a focus on education-oriented synergies. This study provides an initial understanding of the strategic aims of UASs considering research–education synergy. The findings provide direction and a framework for future research and form a base for making explicit strategic choices for research–education connections in universities.
