The paper explores the motivations behind academics' engagement with industry, focusing on a comprehensive sample of UK investigators in the physical and engineering sciences. The study reveals that most academics engage with industry primarily to advance their research rather than to commercialize their knowledge. While patenting and spin-off company formation are driven by commercialization, joint research, contract research, and consulting are motivated by research-related reasons such as learning from industry and accessing funding. The findings suggest that policy should focus on broader incentives for interaction between academia and industry, rather than solely on monetary incentives for commercialization. The analysis contributes to the debate on the entrepreneurial university by highlighting the micro-foundations of its development and the need to balance commercial and research objectives.The paper explores the motivations behind academics' engagement with industry, focusing on a comprehensive sample of UK investigators in the physical and engineering sciences. The study reveals that most academics engage with industry primarily to advance their research rather than to commercialize their knowledge. While patenting and spin-off company formation are driven by commercialization, joint research, contract research, and consulting are motivated by research-related reasons such as learning from industry and accessing funding. The findings suggest that policy should focus on broader incentives for interaction between academia and industry, rather than solely on monetary incentives for commercialization. The analysis contributes to the debate on the entrepreneurial university by highlighting the micro-foundations of its development and the need to balance commercial and research objectives.