This chapter takes stock of current research concerning undergraduate research in Scandinavia. A literature search identified relatively few studies that explicitly employ this concept. There is a strong emphasis on “research-based education” as a principle in all three Scandinavian countries, with a broader view on linking research and education. In recent years, perspectives emphasizing inquiry, student-centeredness and problem-based learning have attracted considerable attention. There are also other indications of practices associated with students behaving as researchers – e.g., the relatively wide use of the bachelors’ thesis and specific examples of institutions and cases where principles from undergraduate research have been employed. More recent developments include theuse of honours programmes.

Over the last fifty years undergraduate research (UR) has transformed from a focus on selected students predominantly engaged in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) disciplines at private US universities to one that challenges and transforms undergraduate curricula internationally for all, or many, students. The language used to describe UR varies between institutions, and includes terms such as ‘research-based education’ (Humboldt, Germany), ‘student as producer’ (Lincoln, UK), ‘problem-based and inquiry-based learning’ (McMaster, Canada), and ‘student as scholar’ (Miami, USA).

In Germany, learning through research has experienced a great upswing in the last decade, especially through project funding and research within the framework of the national “Quality Pact for Teaching” (QPL, Qualitätspakt Lehre). Forschendes Lernen – as the concept is called in German – was developed in Germany about fifty years ago. In the last twenty years, this teaching and learning concept has been adapted to current conditions and challenges through the commitment and creative ideas of various university players. Forschendes Lernen became the foundation for undergraduate research in Germany.

University College London (UCL) is a UK ‘research-intensive’ university with a large undergraduate population. Our aim is to connect world-leading research with world-leading education, and we have achieved this by implementing a Connected Curriculum for Research-Based Education. We focus on the role played by educational developers in joining research with undergraduate education. We discuss different spheres of activity within the Connected Curriculum and show how the process brought different communities together and sparked relationships between fields such as student partnership and quality assurance that had hitherto remained separate. Most significantly, own sense of identity changed as we moved from a more traditional role where our work was almost exclusively with colleagues who taught students, to a more creative position working in partnership with a wider network of colleagues and communities.

The linking of teaching and research is a key element of the modern university. It requires curricular changes such as the redesign of courses and/or the integration of research-based student activities into the curriculum. In recent decades, various approaches to connect research to teaching and learning have been initiated. The Zurich Framework is a conceptual model for structuring research-oriented study programs that is much discussed in German-speaking countries. The Framework links teaching and research didactically on three levels: the level of single courses, the level of degree programs, and finally the institutional level. In particular, the framework includes a model for course-based undergraduate research.