At a time of massification and demand for skills and upskilling, the diversity of higher education institutions (HEI) across Europe is seen as crucial and a source of strength (European Commission, 2022). The ongoing differentiation of HEI has led to varying institutional missions and profiles (e.g. research universities, universities of applied sciences, university colleges for teacher education) (OECD, 2021). However, there is an increasing emphasis on research and innovation in higher education (HE) that has led to an overarching research imperative (Krücken, 2019). Even though research funding is unequally distributed within national HE systems, institutional reputation and prestige are primarily associated with research achievements (Schneijderberg et al., 2021).

In this context, university colleges for teacher education are particularly challenged (Leutwyler, 2020; Tremp, 2012; Olechowski, 2011), since their core mission focuses on educating prospective teachers (BMBWF, 2019). To promote research activities at these institutions, several European countries have introduced new regulations. At university colleges for teacher education in Austria, research has been anchored via The Higher Education Act of 2005, which led to a profound change and reorientation: Institutions that had not conducted any research up to this point have been transformed into “research-active universities” (Kastelliz & Hopbach, 2018, p. 10). Especially in the first few years following The Higher Education Act, the problem arose that research competence could not be expected per se from members of these institutions and that it was hardly possible to build it up alongside full-time teaching (cf. also AQ Austria, 2018).

Beywl et al. (2015) show that university colleges for teacher education conduct research that is particularly relevant to professional fields and that they are also dependent on their own research for high teaching quality. Researchers are also confronted with specific expectations and in particular have to deal with the practical benefits of their research. According to Böckelmann et al. (2012), very few university colleges for teacher education were able to be supported by already established research structures. These had to be built up first, for example by establishing new organizational units. These new structures had to be aligned with teaching activities, but often remained as separate units.

In addition, the acquisition of competitive third-party funds for research purposes is generally difficult for university colleges for teacher education. Applying for competitive third-party funding requires professional structures and advice that do not or hardly exist there. In Austria, the administration of third-party funds is not the responsibility of the university colleges for teacher education, but is done by the ministry, "which makes operational project implementation more difficult and impairs the responsiveness of the universities" (Kastelliz, & Hopbach, 2018, p. 12).

Against this background this paper aims to answer the following research questions: How does academic staff perceive research activities at university colleges for teacher education in Austria? How do academics at these institutions perceive the orientation of their research? How much value do they give towards research in comparison to teaching? How do they perceive the importance of third-party funding and how do they collaborate in research projects?

These questions are important in order to understand the role and situation of teacher training institutions that have to deal with the specific situation in their own country, but also have the duty to compete and collaborate internationally with other teacher training institutions at a European level.

This paper draws on data from the Austrian version of the “The Academic Profession in the Knowledge-Based Society (APIKS)”-study that is carried out in more than 30 countries around the globe. The national sub-project "APIKS Austria" researches the situation in Austria at private and public universities, technical colleges and university colleges for teacher education. Scientists and artists at these HEI were surveyed using online questionnaires. The aim of the study is to shed light on the working conditions at HEI and to support the development of HE systems. This paper deals with the results of the survey at university colleges for teacher education in Austria, whose staff were surveyed between the beginning of June 2021 and mid-July 2021. Central topics in the area of research are cooperation in research and the orientation of research activities as well as the output (e.g. publications) and financing research projects. 2.551 scientific staff members at university colleges for teacher education were invited to participate in the study, 563 persons responded to the invitation (22 % response rate). 376 people stated their gender, with one person describing themselves as diverse, 241 (64 %) as female and 134 (36 %) as male. The average age of the respondents was 49, with the youngest being 24 and the oldest 69 at the time of the survey. Over 60 % of those surveyed have Austrian citizenship and were born in Austria. 236 people stated that they had obtained a bachelor's degree between 1981 and 2020, 85 percent of which were awarded in Austria. 425 people have (additionally) a master's degree. 216 people hold a doctorate or PhD degree, 47 of them abroad. The first graduates within the sample were in 1983, while at least one individual is expected to graduate in 2022. A total of 43 respondents completed their habilitation between 1998 and 2021, 65 % of them abroad. This shows that the staff members are usually Austrians or educationally socialised in the Austrian context. In this paper, we present descriptive statistics on how academics at university colleges for teacher education perceive their research activities and how they value research in comparison to teaching. We then apply a linear regression model to identify which factors influence the amount of research-related output (measured by the number of publications per year (dependent variable), in order to identify how academics at these HEI can be supported in balancing their teaching and research activities.

Research at university colleges for teacher education is geared in particular to pedagogical practice and its relevance. The results show that the social relevance of the research was emphasized by the respondents. The members of university colleges for teacher education clarified that this was congruent with the expectations placed on them in research by the institution. The focus of applicability in research was clear, as was the lower felt pressure to acquire third-party funds on the part of their institutions. Research funding is usually provided by the university itself. Raising national or international research funds tends to be the exception. Research collaborations usually come about within the own institution or at least within Austria. Only about 40 percent of the survey participants worked together with researchers working abroad. One possible explanation is that less pressure felt to acquire third-party research funds can reduce the number of international research collaborations, since some third-party funding rewards or even demands such cooperation. The paper concludes with a critical reflection of the results regarding the challenging situation university colleges for teacher education and their academic staff are facing and the paper finally proposes policy recommendations on how researchers at these institutions can be supported.

Beywl, W., & Künzli David, C. (2020). Augenhöhe von Forschung und Praxis im Bildungsbereich. Potenziale instrumentellinklusiver Forschung für Pädagogische Hochschulen. Beiträge zur Lehrerinnen-und Lehrerbildung, 38(1), 54-66. Beywl, W., Künzli David, C., Messmer, R., & Streit, C. (2015). Forschungsverständnis pädagogischer Hochschulen. Ein Diskussionsbeitrag. Beiträge zur Lehrerinnen-und Lehrerbildung, 33(1), 134-151. Bundesministerium für Bildung, Wissenschaft und Forschung (2019). Steuerung des Schulsystems in Österreich. Weißbuch. Wien. Online: https://www.schulautonomie.at/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/190725_Broschuere_Wei%C3%9Fbuch_Governance_A4_BF.pdf [Zugriff 12.01.2022]. European Commission (2022). COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT. Accompanying the documents: Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions on a European strategy for universities. https://education.ec.europa.eu/document/commission-staff-working-document [Retrived: 25.01.2022]. Kastelliz, D., & Hopbach, A. (2018). Evaluierung der Pädagogischen Hochschulen. Thematische Analyse. Krücken, G. (2019). Multiple competitions in higher education: a conceptual approach. Innovation: Organization and Management. https://doi.org/10.1080/14479338.2019.1684652. Leutwyler, B. (2020). Forschung an Pädagogischen Hochschulen: Kontroversen, Errungenschaften und Herausforderungen. In A. Tettenborn & P. Tremp, Peter (Hrsg.). Pädagogische Hochschulen in ihrer Entwicklung. Hochschulkultur im Spannungsfeld von Wissenschaftsorientierung und Berufsbezug. (S. 36-47). Luzern: Pädagogische Hochschule Luzern https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.392351. Olechowski, R. (2011). Entwicklung der Pädagogischen Hochschulen zu Pädagogischen Universitäten?. Online: https://homepage.univie.ac.at/richard.olechowski/manuskripte/Olechowski_Entwicklung%20zu%20Universit%E4ten.pdf [Access: 12.11.2021]. Schneijderberg, C. et al. (2021). Does vertical University Stratification foster or hinder Academics’ Societal Engagement? Findings from Canada, Germany, Kazakhstan, and Russia. Higher Education Policy, 34(1), 66-87. Tremp, P. (2012). Aus der Nähe hinsehen, mit Distanz betrachten: Forschung an Pädagogischen Hochschulen. Online: https://phzh.ch/MAP_DataStore/73129/publications/2012_TREMP_Forschung_Fachhochschulen_fh-ch.pdf [Access: 12.11.2021].