Teaching, research and consultancy are the main missions of higher educationrninstitutions. However there are research evidences that indicate the status of researchrnin these institutions is not as expected. The concern of this study is therefore tornexamine the status of research undertaking in Mekelle University. To achieve thisrnobjective, a descriptive survey method was employed. Accordingly the data wererncollected jimn 285 instructors and 8 university officials through questionnaire andrninterview re;p ectively. Important documents (articles. seminar paper. proceedingl ofrna workshop, profile of research projects, etc) were also used as secondwy datarnsources. The data secured through the close-ended items of the questionnaire werernanalyzed mainly using percentages and lI1ean values because afthe descriptive naturernof the study. The data secured through the open-ended items of the questionnaire,rninterview guides and document analysis were analyzed qualitatively. The finding ofrnthe study disclosed that, there are efforts so far made by the university in developingrnand maintaining capacity of research undertaking. 61 sinstructors have got researchrntraining opportunity. Efforts are made to .find research .(ill1d ji-om diffe rent sources.rnThe efforts made in publishing and disseminating research results on the part of thernuniversity seems encouraging. However, the finding of the study revealed that withrnfew exceptions, instructors are not actively involved in doing research. Problemsrnrelated to lack of incentives, lack/inadequacy of budget, lack of conducive researchrnenvironment, lack of recent reference materials in the library, under-utilization ofrnresearch outcomes and insufficient internet access have been the major constraintsrnfor instructors 'fltilure to conduct research. Based onthe /indinf!,s. it is recommendedrnthaI in order 10 improve the research activities in Nle kelle U ni ,'el'sil)" the uc;w./elilicrnstalf and the university must exert(itrther effort by making a link with industries andrnnetworking with other universities.