ABSTRACT Objectives: to understand the meanings that nursing students and professors attribute to research and research teaching in the context of undergraduate studies. Methods: this is a qualitative research, whose theoretical and methodological frameworks were Complexity Theory and Grounded Theory. Sixteen students and 14 undergraduate nursing professors from a public university in Rio de Janeiro were interviewed. Semi-structured interviews were used for data collection. Results: causes, actions, and interactions related to research and teaching research in undergraduate nursing are connected with learning science for nursing praxis, which ranges from students' ability to question to their and their professors' understanding of social demands guided by science. Final Considerations: nursing professors and students signify research and teaching of this as a structure for the training of nurses for the critical professional capacity needed to meet social demands.