The idea of a university provides images that help discover the truth and establish a university. Thus, the current study considers the evolution of this concept in the West and examines how the idea of a university was formed and its status in Iran. The purpose of the present study is to explore the experiences of Iranian university professors from their time in universities both inside and outside Iran. It also examines their perspectives on how the idea of a university was formed and its status in Iran.

The present study is qualitative. It was conducted based on a combination of policy Delphi methods and scenario-building. Interviewees participated in several stages and answered questions in the form of five textual scenarios: Oxbridge, Humboldt, Civic, Boyer. Data were analyzed using a thematic analysis approach. The research field included 25 professors from Iranian universities, including 7 women.

After the interviews, the following findings were obtained: 1. Academic values (freedom, ethics, justice), 2. Academic processes (research, education, communication, services), and 3. Academic atmosphere (architecture, management, students, academic alienation). In the results section, it was shown that faculty members in Iranian universities believe that Iranian universities were not formed based on the idea of a university. They believe that universities in Iran are facing serious political, cultural, social, and internal challenges. The respondents considered solving these problems to be very far-fetched. They stated that creating conditions for a traditional university in Iran requires very extensive and profound changes.