diff --git a/src/app/shared/form/builder/ds-dynamic-form-ui/models/scrollable-dropdown/dynamic-scrollable-dropdown.component.html b/src/app/shared/form/builder/ds-dynamic-form-ui/models/scrollable-dropdown/dynamic-scrollable-dropdown.component.html
index 1ac38e9943c..ca854ae9a2c 100644
--- a/src/app/shared/form/builder/ds-dynamic-form-ui/models/scrollable-dropdown/dynamic-scrollable-dropdown.component.html
+++ b/src/app/shared/form/builder/ds-dynamic-form-ui/models/scrollable-dropdown/dynamic-scrollable-dropdown.component.html
@@ -44,8 +44,8 @@
       <button class="dropdown-item disabled" *ngIf="optionsList && optionsList.length == 0">{{'form.no-results' | translate}}</button>
       <button class="dropdown-item collection-item text-truncate" *ngFor="let listEntry of optionsList"
               (keydown.enter)="onSelect(listEntry); sdRef.close()" (mousedown)="onSelect(listEntry); sdRef.close()"
-              title="{{ listEntry.display }}" role="option"
-              [attr.id]="listEntry.display == (currentValue|async) ? ('combobox_' + id + '_selected') : null">
+              title="{{ listEntry.display }}" id="option-{{listEntry.display.replace(' ', '-')}}"
+              role="option">
         {{inputFormatter(listEntry)}}
       </button>
       <div class="scrollable-dropdown-loading text-center" *ngIf="loading"><p>{{'form.loading' | translate}}</p></div>
diff --git a/src/app/shared/form/builder/ds-dynamic-form-ui/models/scrollable-dropdown/dynamic-scrollable-dropdown.component.ts b/src/app/shared/form/builder/ds-dynamic-form-ui/models/scrollable-dropdown/dynamic-scrollable-dropdown.component.ts
index a4ca2101934..d02bb88261f 100644
--- a/src/app/shared/form/builder/ds-dynamic-form-ui/models/scrollable-dropdown/dynamic-scrollable-dropdown.component.ts
+++ b/src/app/shared/form/builder/ds-dynamic-form-ui/models/scrollable-dropdown/dynamic-scrollable-dropdown.component.ts
@@ -40,6 +40,9 @@ export class DsDynamicScrollableDropdownComponent extends DsDynamicVocabularyCom
   public loading = false;
   public pageInfo: PageInfo;
   public optionsList: any;
+  public allOptionsList: any;
+  public inputText = '';
+  public acceptableKeys = ['Space', 'NumpadMultiply', 'NumpadAdd', 'NumpadSubtract', 'NumpadDecimal', 'Semicolon', 'Equal', 'Comma', 'Minus', 'Period', 'Quote', 'Backquote'];
 
   constructor(protected vocabularyService: VocabularyService,
               protected cdr: ChangeDetectorRef,
@@ -53,7 +56,8 @@ export class DsDynamicScrollableDropdownComponent extends DsDynamicVocabularyCom
    * Initialize the component, setting up the init form value
    */
   ngOnInit() {
-    this.updatePageInfo(this.model.maxOptions, 1);
+    // Obtain ALL the entries from the vocabulary, needed to search for the first matching option
+    this.updatePageInfo(9999, 1);
     this.vocabularyService.getVocabularyEntries(this.model.vocabularyOptions, this.pageInfo).pipe(
       getFirstSucceededRemoteDataPayload(),
       catchError(() => observableOf(buildPaginatedList(
@@ -62,7 +66,9 @@ export class DsDynamicScrollableDropdownComponent extends DsDynamicVocabularyCom
         ))
       ))
       .subscribe((list: PaginatedList<VocabularyEntry>) => {
-        this.optionsList = list.page;
+        // Save all entries, slice the first page to display, we only load more entries when scrolling / searching
+        this.allOptionsList = list.page;
+        this.optionsList = list.page.slice(0, this.model.maxOptions);
         if (this.model.value) {
           this.setCurrentValue(this.model.value, true);
         }
@@ -113,6 +119,42 @@ export class DsDynamicScrollableDropdownComponent extends DsDynamicVocabularyCom
     } else if (keyName === 'ArrowDown' || keyName === 'ArrowUp') {
       this.openDropdown(sdRef);
     }
+
+    if (keyName === 'Backspace') {
+      this.inputText = this.inputText.slice(0, -1);
+    } else if (this.isAcceptableKey(keyName)) {
+      this.inputText += keyName;
+    }
+
+    const matchingOption = this.findMatchingOption(this.allOptionsList, this.inputText);
+
+    if (matchingOption) {
+      // the matching option is not in the list of options to display, so we need to load more options
+      // TODO: Not sure if at this point it's even worth it to paginate the dropdown options
+      const maxAttempts = 3;
+      const waitForOption = async () => {
+        for (let attempt = 0; attempt < maxAttempts; attempt++) {
+          if (this.optionsList.includes(matchingOption)) {
+            this.scrollToMatchingOption(matchingOption.display);
+            break;
+          }
+          this.pageInfo.currentPage++;
+          this.optionsList = this.allOptionsList.slice(0, this.pageInfo.elementsPerPage * this.pageInfo.currentPage);
+          await new Promise(resolve => setTimeout(resolve, 100));
+        }
+      };
+      waitForOption();
+    } else {
+      this.setCurrentValue(null);
+    }
+  }
+
+  findMatchingOption(options: any, inputText: string): any {
+    if (isEmpty(inputText)) {
+      return null;
+    }
+    return options.find(option => option.display.toLowerCase().startsWith(this.inputText.toLowerCase())
+    );
   }
 
   /**
@@ -121,30 +163,9 @@ export class DsDynamicScrollableDropdownComponent extends DsDynamicVocabularyCom
   onScroll() {
     if (!this.loading && this.pageInfo.currentPage <= this.pageInfo.totalPages) {
       this.loading = true;
-      this.updatePageInfo(
-        this.pageInfo.elementsPerPage,
-        this.pageInfo.currentPage + 1,
-        this.pageInfo.totalElements,
-        this.pageInfo.totalPages
-      );
-      this.vocabularyService.getVocabularyEntries(this.model.vocabularyOptions, this.pageInfo).pipe(
-        getFirstSucceededRemoteDataPayload(),
-        catchError(() => observableOf(buildPaginatedList(
-          new PageInfo(),
-          []
-          ))
-        ),
-        tap(() => this.loading = false))
-        .subscribe((list: PaginatedList<VocabularyEntry>) => {
-          this.optionsList = this.optionsList.concat(list.page);
-          this.updatePageInfo(
-            list.pageInfo.elementsPerPage,
-            list.pageInfo.currentPage,
-            list.pageInfo.totalElements,
-            list.pageInfo.totalPages
-          );
-          this.cdr.detectChanges();
-        });
+      this.pageInfo.currentPage++;
+      this.optionsList = this.allOptionsList.slice(0, this.pageInfo.elementsPerPage * this.pageInfo.currentPage);
+      this.loading = false;
     }
   }
 
@@ -183,4 +204,30 @@ export class DsDynamicScrollableDropdownComponent extends DsDynamicVocabularyCom
     this.currentValue = result;
   }
 
+  scrollToMatchingOption(matchingOption: any): void {
+    console.log('scrollToMatchingOption', matchingOption);
+    const element = document.getElementById('option-' + matchingOption.replace(/ /g,"-"));
+    console.log('element', element.id);
+    if (element) {
+      // remove active class from all options
+      const activeElements = document.getElementsByClassName('active');
+      for (let i = 0; i < activeElements.length; i++) {
+        activeElements[i].classList.remove('active');
+      }
+      // scroll to the matching option and center it in the dropdown
+      element.scrollIntoView({block: 'center'});
+      // add active class to the matching option
+      element.className += ' active';
+      this.setCurrentValue(matchingOption);
+    }
+  }
+
+  isAcceptableKey(keyPress: string): boolean {
+    // allow all letters and numbers
+    if (keyPress.length == 1 && keyPress.match(/^[a-zA-Z0-9]*$/)) {
+      return true;
+    }
+    return this.acceptableKeys.includes(keyPress);
+  }
+
 }