6 th International Scientifc Conference ITEMA 2022 – Proceedings DOI: https://doi.org/10.31410/ITEMA.2022.299 https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8448-2091 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3572-2009 University-Industry Cooperation, from the Viewpoint of Top-Level Management in Albanian Companies Ketrina Çabiri Mijo 1 Ermira Qosja 2 Keywords: Challenges; Motivational factors; Barriers Abstract: Economic development is conditioned upon many actors, where the cooperation of higher education institutions with industry and business plays an important role. Companies are highly interested in the “primary product” of higher education, in the sense of knowledge that benefts stu- dents, the absorption of talents, but also in the product of scientifc research, patents, start-ups, etc. This paper aims to measure the perception of the top-level managers in Al- banian companies regarding the challenges and barriers that appear in university-industry cooperation. Through a qualitative analysis, based on the questionnaire of the KALCEA 3 project (Erasmus + CBHE) in a sample of 27 large and medium-sized companies, an attempt has been made to inves- tigate the main factors that increase this cooperation as well as the factors that hinder it. An important role is also paid to the identifcation of factors that motivate companies and the challenges they will have to face. The fnd- ings of the paper are of interest to the industry, universities and politicians and focus mainly on the mentality and culture of cooperation. Creative Commons Non Commercial CC BY-NC: This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Non- Commercial 4.0 License (https://creative- commons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/) which permits non-commercial use, reproduc- tion and distribution of the work without further permission. 1. INTRODUCTION H igher Education in Albania has for several years undergone a series of reforms in the ongo- ing eforts to implement the Bologna System and align with the European system of high- er education. Genuine scientifc research and applied research are challenges that, in addition to the quali- ty of education and scientifc research funds, require a cultural approach and mentality within universities that ask for change and, like any change, encounter resistance and require a strate- gic approach. Ad hoc experiences and models exist, but they must be implemented and contextualized with persistence and creativity, to obtain a product that has value and contributes to the national economy. The most recent Albanian law on higher education gives more autonomy to Depart- ments and this can be a good start to facilitate academic entrepreneurship with a connection to the industry (https://arsimi.gov.al/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/AKTET_NENLIGJORE.pdf) . Historical evidence around the world shows that collaborations between universities and indus- try have given life to many successful discoveries over the years, and there are excellent examples of fruitful collaboration between universities, industry partners and startups (Gann et al., 2018) . 1 European University of Tirana, Tirana, Albania 2 Universitety “Aleksandër Moisiu”, Durrës, Albania 3 https://kalcea.com Received: August 29, 2022 Accepted: December 7, 2022 Published: June 12, 2023