Abstract:

University-industry collaboration deepens its impact on business processes and regional policies. In addition to teaching and research, universities are also engaged in technology transfer and community engagement. But at the same time universities are facing many challenges, and the quality of higher education should be according to the latest needs of the industry and society. Achieving good results from collaboration requires effort, participation, and commitment from all parties. In order to overcome current tendencies and to increase the scientific results and benefits for all included in university-industry collaboration, there is a need to build closer connections based on mutual trust.

This paper focuses on the factors facilitating and limiting cooperation between higher education institutions and business organizations. Previous research initiated by European Commission (Meerman et al., 2018) explores that for Bulgaria, and for European countries in general, the main facilitating driver for businesses to cooperate with universities is the existence of the mutual trust. We compare this result with our empirical research with questionnaire surveys among business representatives and academics to display the relevance of trust-related problems.

The aim of the research is to achieve tools enabling the sustainability of university-industry collaboration. Among the main factors, we focus on trust formation to develop behavioral economics mechanisms. Implementing an information disclosure system through appropriate effortless access with a concrete platform will improve the necessary trust in partnership relations with the industry, create the required motivation base for students, and the adaptability of the established relationship will maintain the university's awareness of industry needs.

To achieve the conclusions for the effectiveness of the collaboration the research tasks include: a literature review of the collaboration and trust formation as economic categories, exhibiting results of own empirical research leading to problems for trust, developing behavioral economics tools, offering a platform to achieve flexibility and information flow between science-business-education. A new tool is proposed to accomplish sustainable collaboration, namely a web-based platform, which will be implemented in the higher education institution. As a result of this tool, university-industry collaboration would be more sustainable because of its flexibility through accessible and renewing information flow with appropriate supporting mechanisms. Based on behavioral economics we also propose supporting tools to motivate, support, develop and promote university-industry cooperation.

Keywords:

collaboration, science, education, industry, trust formation, behavioral economics