This study's primary objective was to investigate the existing context of academic staff engagement in research and its relation to classroom teaching at public higher institutions located in the Amhara national regional state. A cross-sectional type of survey design was used to achieve this objective. The sample units and individuals were chosen using stratified random sampling procedure. Injibara University, Debre Markos University, and Bahir Dar University were three sample public universities located in Amhara Regional State that provided 251 participants for the study. A survey questionnaire was used to obtain the data. Both descriptive and inferential statistical methods were used to assess the data that had been gathered. The findings showed that the sample universities had very low levels of academic staff engagement in research activities. Most importantly, the results of this study also showed a weak but negative correlation between academic staff engagement in research and classroom teaching. Finally, possible recommendations were made based on the key results and conclusions.