Teaching-Research Nexus in the World’s Top Universities: a Review Study with Presenting a Conceptual Model

Introduction: Teaching-Research Nexus (TRN) is one of the most fundamental issues in higher education management. This issue faces greater challenges in Iranian universities of medical sciences due to their more complex structure and obligations in contrast to universities under the supervision of Ministry of Science. Therefore, this study tried to design an appropriate model of teaching-research nexus for Iranian universities of medical sciences by identifying the determining components involved in the interaction and nexus between teaching and research in the world’s top universities. Methods: Using a review study, documents available in the university websites of the world’s top 10 countries (according to Shanghai Ranking of 1 to 5 top universities in each country), as well as Times Higher Education Ranking (medical sciences), and the literature on components affecting research-teaching nexus were reviewed and analyzed. The obtained components were classified through the three-dimensional conceptual model into structural, environmental, and behavioral factors. Results: The results of the review of the world’s top 32 universities and relevant research literature led to the identification of 17 major and 42 minor components which were designed and presented in the three-dimensional conceptual model based on their homogeneity. According to the model, the extracted major and minor components were classified into structural, environmental, and behavioral factors and their interactive relationship was identified. Conclusion: The components presented in the proposed conceptual model can be employed as the main part of formulating “organizational strategies” in order to align teaching and research and to be able to benefit from such interaction in universities and institutes of higher education.