Unity of Research and Teaching – Application in the Professional Military Education

The guiding principle of the unity of research and teaching goes back to the German educational theorist Wilhelm von Humboldt. This means that on university level research and teaching has to be closely linked. This principle is implemented in the higher education in general and in special in the University of Applied Military Sciences in Austria. Based on this overarching principle four different methods are used in the research and learning process of the professional military education: research-led teaching, research-oriented teaching, research-tutored teaching and research-based teaching. Depending on the objective, the focus is either on the students or on the teachers. This article examines the different concepts of research-guided teaching and inquiry-based learning and explains and demonstrates their applicability to education in the field of military science.