The UNESCO Chair in University Management (CUDU), through the UPC School, has launched the postgraduate program in University Leadership and Transformation. This initiative marks a new phase for CUDU, aiming to become a key platform for strategic dialogue between universities, institutions, and social and economic stakeholders, addressing current and future challenges in higher education.
The program, which grants a unique expertise diploma from UPC, will commence on January 20, 2027, and conclude in September of the same year, offering 15 ECTS (74 lecture hours). Registrations are now open, with a 15% discount for early bird registrations until November 30.
This postgraduate program emerges in a context marked by the rapid advancement of artificial intelligence (AI), global talent competition, and the urgent need to strengthen the social commitment of universities. Academic institutions are now central drivers of economic, technological, and social transformation, but the complexity of their governance requires renewed management models to balance tradition and innovation.
The program is designed to train leaders of university governing bodies and services, as well as professionals in educational policy and knowledge transfer. The goal is for them to lead digital transformation, strengthen connections with the ecosystem (businesses, administration, citizens), and redesign university governance.
The academic direction of the postgraduate program is led by Jasmina Berbegal, a full professor at UPC and an expert in technology transfer. The teaching faculty includes renowned figures such as Anna Fontcuberta (École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne), Josep Pallarès (Rector of URV), Xavier Marcet (Lead To Change), Joan Manuel del Pozo (Catalan Council for Education), and Lluís F. Marsal (URV), among other specialists in governance, AI, and teaching innovation.
The methodology combines online learning (Understand phase), an immersive in-person week in Barcelona (Experience phase, July 5-9, 2027), and the development of a tutored project (Transform phase) to implement direct improvements in the participant's home institution.
CUDU, established in 1998 by UPC and UNESCO, has been a pioneer in strategic direction and university management, and now embarks on a new phase to consolidate itself as a platform for dialogue and support in university transformation, with a special focus on technological universities and those in Latin America.
