Many universities have adopted distance-learning platforms making it possible to provide both students and teachers with hybrid Learning environments that enable a flexible combination of distance and face-to-face learning at various stages of the programme [Charlier, Deschryver & Peraya, 2006]. In the context of the Hy-Sup project (2009-2012), a team of research workers from 6 european universities has set out to characterise these new teaching configurations and to study their impact on student learning, on teacher development and on the learning institution. Surprisingly, despite the growing use of such environments, there has been no widespread research on their impact, apart from a few user satisfaction studies. The Hy-Sup research project aims to provide answers to the following questions: How do hybrid learning environments contribute to renewing higher education teaching methods and improving quality? (including contributing to the professional development of teachers)? To what extent does this articulation between face-to-face and distance education create suitable prerequisites for lifelong learning? The current paper is centred on the effects of various hybrid learning environments on teacher professional development and sets out to present the development of the conceptual framework and the methodology for that work as well as early results.