<p>In research-based learning, the focus is on learners’ independence and self-activity. Accordingly, teachers act less as knowledge mediators and more as coaches, counsellors and motivators. However, these role concepts, which are constitutive for research-based learning, reach their limits in the support and counselling of student research processes, as university counselling always takes place in an assessment context. The resulting contradictions pose a&#xa0;challenge for lecturers and must be dealt with accordingly. The question of the balance between (examination) supportive guidance and the granting of self-directed research and learning for students also becomes a&#xa0;question of the teacher trainers’ own understanding of their role, including their enactment (possibilities) in the field of tension with institutional-curricular assessment requirements.</p><p>This paper uses a&#xa0;case study to reconstruct lecturers’ understanding of their roles and orientations for action in lecturer-led peer counselling sessions on the study project at the University of Cologne. It can be shown that due to the proximity of counselling and evaluation, specific ambivalences and limitations are inherent in these conversations, that are further intensified by the inclusion of the peer level, which is characteristic of research-based learning. Dealing with these ambivalences in turn leads to specific contradictions in the way lecturers accompany and moderate peer conversations in their search for the best possible balance. Against the background of the findings, possibilities and limitations for the fulfilment of the fundamental role expectations for research-based learning are discussed in conclusion.</p>