Implementation of Fourth Social, Cultural and Economic Plan in Iran is on the government agenda. In this Plan, “the accountability of Iranian higher education centers to the social, cultural and industrial demands” is emphasized. Therefore, building university – industry relations has special place in this plan. The purpose of this article is to examine the nature of university-industry relations and to present recommendations for its improvement. In this study, Meta Analysis was used for evaluation and analysis of literature, and interviews made with specialists in university- industry relations. Thereby, examination of documents about university-industry relations in six universities (MIT, Cambridge, Tokyo, Amir Kabir, Isfahan Polytechnic and Shahid Beheshti) and in-depth interviews with university-industry scholars and administrators in three Iranian universities, provided useful information for the researcher.The article, evaluates university industry relations in the West and Iran. Then, research and development in four countries, United States, United Kingdom, Japan and Iran is reviewed. The rest of this section discusses university – industry relations, and analysis of research founding in the sample universities. The final section presents the recommendations for improvement of university-industry relations including government support, industry support of universities, strengthening industries, and economic development, structural changes at universities, planning and patent and licensing.