developing a model to analyze the level of university - industry cooperation with used Interpretive Structural modeling

Cooperation between university and industry is not a new topic. Although there are some tested and used models for characterizing and analyzing this cooperation, these models have proven to be inefficient and unsuccessful in some countries. Therefore in this study we developed a model to analyze the level of university – industry cooperation in Iran. Furthermore we identified and ranked the barriers hampering and blocking this cooperation. In order to do so we used Interpretive Structural modeling (ISM) and Friedman test. Since ISM is based on the views of scholars we asked 33 experts both from university and industry to provide their views and comments about the present condition of university – industry cooperation. Using research findings we ranked barriers that hamper university – industry cooperation respectively as: 1- lack of trust between industry sector and academia; 2- lack of demand – centered research and dissertations; and 3-motivational issues.