Several concepts have been developed to implement research-oriented teachingin higher education in the last 15 years. The definition of research competences, however,has received minor attention so far. Some approaches to modeling research competencesdescribe these competences along the research process but either focus on a specificacademic discipline and/or specific facets or offer no empirical verification for cross-disciplinary approaches. We have developed a new approach to model research compe-tences across various academic disciplines in form of a competence model—the RMRC-K-model. This model comprises five dimensions: skills inreviewing the state of research,methodological skills, skills inreflecting on research findings,communication skills, andcontentknowledge. In this study, we present an instrument (R-Comp) developed on thebasis of this cross-disciplinary competence model. The factorial structure of theR-Compwas examined with data from 391 university students in three groups, either enrolled in aBachelor’s degree, Master’s degree, or a PhD program. The sample represented variousacademic disciplines. Results from confirmatory factor analyses supported the hypothe-sized structure of theR-Compfor the five dimensions in accordance with the RMRC-K-model. Additionally, results provided evidence for a more detailed differentiation of alldimensions with sub-dimensions reflecting theorized facets of the model. Both Cronbach’sαand construct reliabilityHindicated overall good reliability. Despite limitations to thisstudy, there is some first evidence of a valid and reliable assessment of student research competences

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• Evaluating research-oriented teaching: a new instrumentto assess university students’research competences