This paper assesses some of the framework issues, of policy and provision, which affect the connections between teaching and research in higher education. The presumption of an essential linkage between research and teaching has in recent years been eroded by the sheer quantities of the system. In spite of the enduring appeal of the Humboldtian model, it was not always assumed in the UK and is not assumed in many other systems. The arguments for and against the connection are noted and assessed. The arguments in favour are mainly in terms of the advantages to research; and arguments from teaching are more difficult to specify. Both sets of considerations entail thought about the nature of knowledge as it is created and mediated through universities, and the corresponding identities and roles of university teachers. A broadening of concept from research to that of disciplined enquiry enables the scope of university forms of enquiry to be widened to include applied research, research and development as well as scholarship. It is argued that all university teachers should be involved in one or other form of disciplined enquiry, even if only a minority can be involved in research in the traditional meanings of the word.