Purpose: To determine the factors influencing the perception of undergraduate students toward research--teaching nexus and also to examine its impact on the attitude of the students. Design/methodology/approach: The study used a quantitative design to examine the perceptions of students in higher education institutions in India. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to describe the data and test the hypothesis. The data was collected using a structured questionnaire for a sample of 188 students from higher education institutions (HEIs). Further, in line with the purpose of the study and to test the hypotheses, the study used descriptive statistics, exploratory factor analysis and multivariate regression analysis. Findings: The study demonstrates that the factors influencing the perception of undergraduate students toward research teaching nexus were identified using principal component analysis (PCA) with varimax rotation, conducted on 27 measurement items. In addition, the results of the multivariate regression analysis indicated that research-based, research-tutored and research motivation dimensions, significantly impact the graduate students' perception of research--teaching nexus. Practical implications: The outcomes of this research may become valid input to HEI regulators, researchers and teachers while framing the policies and implementation of the same about the pertinent issues discussed in the paper. Further, it contributes to the existing theory that teaching--research quality and level of motivation are also the predominant factors influencing the teaching--research nexus among students. In addition, the outcome of this paper also supports HEIs to achieve the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UNSDGs) at large. Originality/value: This study contributes to the ongoing debate and scarce literature on research--teaching nexus at the higher education level. The factors derived in this paper propose a framework for aligning teaching and research in academic programs to create high-quality human resource in the nation.