TY - JOUR AB - Purpose This paper aims to explore the determinants of firms’ attitudes to R&D cooperation with universities with the goal to propose a model of knowledge transfer university-firm.Design/methodology/approach By understanding university-industry cooperation as a process, the model in this study is based on two factors: the “promoter of university-industry relations” (PUIR) and a technological system that is able to match the research supply of universities with the demand for innovation of the firms. A total of 375 firms, 420 research groups and 18 experts in knowledge transfer from Spain, Portugal and France have been involved in this study.Findings This study provides the first evidences of the relation between the number of matches’ demand-supply of research, the number of university-firm relations and the willingness to cooperate; all of these presented in the knowledge transfer model. Results also reinforce the utility of the role of PUIR and the matching system in the open innovation process.Research limitations/implications However, more evidences are necessary to get a complete validation of the model. In the future, the continuous utilization of the matching system by the PUIRs of the selected regions will allow the authors to evaluate how well the system is working by analysing the possible increases in formal collaboration university-firm in the area of R&D.Originality/value This study contributes to the literature through aligning the open innovation and intellectual capital theories in the specific and complex context of university-firm collaboration. Also, little research regarding this topic has been noticed in SUDOE European Union (EU) countries (SUDOE is an EU territorial cooperation programme that supports regional development by funding transnational projects). VL - 9 IS - 3 SN - 2053-4620 DO - 10.1108/JSTPM-10-2017-0050 UR - https://doi.org/10.1108/JSTPM-10-2017-0050 AU - Calvo Nuria AU - Feás Jacobo AU - Rodeiro-Pazos David AU - Pérez Braulio AU - Fernández-López Sara PY - 2018 Y1 - 2018/01/01 TI - Researcher, I have heard of your innovation. Will you marry me? T2 - Journal of Science and Technology Policy Management PB - Emerald Publishing Limited SP - 264 EP - 283 Y2 - 2024/09/21 ER -