Structural and functional model of the entrepreneurial university

Purpose In the past 30 years, the subject of “Entrepreneurial University” has been very popular in scientific publications, according to the effects of the entrepreneurial university on the urban economy. Researchers have conducted several studies to create an appropriate structure due to the new missions universities had after the introduction of this subject, but these efforts have sometimes led to the parallel work of the established units or the lack of responsible units for some goals within the university. Design/methodology/approach The main goal of this study is to achieve the structural and functional model of an entrepreneurial university. For this purpose, 54 articles that specifically dealt with the creation and activities of the entrepreneurial university were studied using the thematic analysis method. Two groups of themes were categorized, one related to the structure of the entrepreneur university and the other related to the functions of the entrepreneur university. Findings In the structural dimension; this study proposes to introduce the vice-chancellor of technology and entrepreneurship within the university, which has units such as the university incubator, the technology transfer office and other units related to entrepreneurship in its sub-category, and the government–industry relations office in charge of establishing government and industry relations within the university. In addition, to avoid the parallel work of the entrepreneurial units this study suggests using the level of technological readiness as an index for promoting to another unit. Originality/value The findings can be used by policymakers in higher education and the national and local governments.