The HöD practice and research network is a network of public service colleges whose main task is to establish, expand and professionalise applied research and the stronger integration of teaching and practice with project work through cooperation between the universities.This volume documents the results of the first conference that the practice and research network of the HöD organised in November 2017 in Berlin. The aim of this event was to provide an overview of the diversity of applied research approaches. For this purpose, no guiding theme was deliberately specified, but scientists were asked to report from their respective work areas. The spectrum of research presented and the resulting contributions published in this volume, which range from jurisprudential to sociological, economic, political, management and criminological issues, illustrate the diversity and innovation of the research approaches already implemented within the system of HÖD.With contributions byProf. Dr. Joachim Beck, Prof. Dr. Jochen Beutel, Prof. Dr. Iris Böschen, Maximilian Fischer, Prof. Dr. Jürgen Fischer, Prof. Dr. Bernhard Frevel, Dr. Heike Guthoff, Prof. Dr. Barbara Henman-Sturm, Prof. Dr. Frank Hogrebe, Dr. Norbert Jochens, M.A., Prof. Dr. Jürgen Kegelmann, Prof. Dr. Volkmar Kese, Prof. Dr. Andreas Lasar, Andreas Lenk, Prof. Dr. Holger Roll, Prof. Dr. Thomas Sauerland, Thomas Schatz, Prof. Dr. Margit Scholl, Prof. Dr. Jürgen Stember, Prof. Dr. Jens Weiß, Prof. Paul Witt, Dr. Daniel Zimmermann