All academic staff, researchers, and postgraduate students, attending teaching and learning professional development events in University College Cork are asked how they integrate research and teaching and learning. How does research help teaching and learning in the University? How does teaching and interaction with students help research? Evidence has been collected from a wide range of university staff, postgraduate students, and other categories such as technical officers and librarians who assist in teaching. Analysis shows that 3 types of interaction routinely take place and can be named by participants. There are interesting subtleties in the responses of the different groups. However one category of interaction is most often missing from all groups. The missing link is the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning. It is this ‗missing link` that is used to move professional development forward. It has proved to be the catalyst and is transformational. It has been identified as a threshold concept for all categories of staff and postgraduate students. Without the link they cannot pass through the portal from novice to expert teacher. They connect the language of SoTL with the language of their discipline. To be successful within an institution, we have found that SoTL has to thrive within a supportive culture. Building of communities of practice, for each category in this study has been essential. Explicit rewards, in the form of grants, have been put in place to validate this work, and act as drivers. The Irish National Academy for the Integration of Research, Teaching and Learning (NAIRTL), led by University College Cork, has played a major part in the success experienced to date. National collaborations are strengthening the institutional work.