The authors are grateful to the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT, Portugal) for financial support
through national funds FCT/MCTES (PIDDAC) to CIMO (UIDB/00690/2020 and UIDP/00690/2020), SusTEC
(LA/P/0007/2021), ALGORITMI60 (UIDB/00319/2020) and CEMMPRE (UIDB/00285/2020).
University-industry R&D collaborations (UICs) play a vital role in stimulating open innovation that leads to new products,
processes, and services that creates value for customers and broader societal impact. UICs, however, commonly fail to meet these
stakeholders’ benefits. This study identifies thirty-four critical success factors (CSFs) for improving UIC success. The study
includes a systematic literature review and a longitudinal UIC case study between Bosch Car Multimedia in Portugal and University
of Minho, a multi-million Euro R&D collaboration from 2013 to 2021. The importance of the CSFs is discussed in the context of
the UIC lifecycle. A survey among researchers and industry practitioners involved in R&D collaborative projects was completed
to confirm the analysis of the empirical results. This paper provides UIC managers with CSFs, which, when addressed competently,
can provide a basis for successful UIC projects and sustainable university-industry collaborations
