Postgraduate Program in Leadership and University Transformation
Barcelona, Spain
Postgraduate Diploma
DURATION
6 months
LANGUAGES
Spanish
PACE
Full time
APPLICATION DEADLINE
EARLIEST START DATE
Jan 2027
TUITION FEES
EUR 5,500 *
STUDY FORMAT
Blended
* Special conditions for tuition payment and 0.7% campaign
Key Summary
About: The Postgraduate programme in Leadership and University Transformation at The UPC School of the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya addresses how universities must lead change amid AI, new learning models, global talent competition, and demand for impact. It explores institutional governance, distributed leadership, stakeholder engagement, strategic judgment, execution, and institutional sensitivity to preserve academic identity while driving innovation. Keywords: leadership, higher education transformation, governance, management, organizational change, sustainability, accountability.
Career Outcomes: Graduates can pursue roles such as university leader, dean, director of strategy, higher education consultant, change manager, or policy advisor, working across governance, strategy, academic management, and innovation units.
Universities are at a turning point. The rise of artificial intelligence, the transformation of learning models, the global competition for talent, and the growing demand for social impact are redefining their role in society. In this new scenario, higher education institutions have ceased to be merely spaces for generating and transmitting knowledge, becoming central actors in social, economic, and technological transformation.
This evolution significantly increases the complexity of their governance and operation. Universities operate in environments with distributed governance, multiple stakeholders with diverse interests, and constant tensions between tradition and innovation, while simultaneously responding to growing demands for excellence, sustainability, and accountability. In this context, the challenge is no longer just to adapt, but to lead change. This raises a key question: how to transform highly complex institutions while preserving their identity and academic mission? The answer lies in a new kind of leadership. A leadership capable of integrating systemic vision, strategic judgment, execution capacity, and institutional sensitivity, oriented not only toward management but also toward generating impact.
List of subjects
- Show all
- Leadership in Complex Universities
- Strategy, Governance and Decision Making
- Innovation and Digital Transformation in Higher Education
- Universities, Society and Global Impact
- Immersive Week in Barcelona
- Capstone Project
The UPC School reserves the right to modify the program content, which may vary to better suit the program's objectives.
- Leading institutional transformation processes in higher education organizations, managing complexity and generating social impact.
- To exercise effective leadership of academic teams, promoting collaboration, innovation and organizational change.
- Analyze governance models and define institutional strategies in complex university environments.
- Promoting digital transformation and educational innovation in the context of higher education.
- Promote collaboration with the ecosystem (business, administration and society) to increase institutional impact.
- Integrate sustainability, social impact and institutional responsibility criteria into decision-making.
- Applying collaborative work methodologies and collective intelligence in academic contexts.
- Design and implement a strategic project with a direct impact on the institution itself.
Discover our master's degrees, postgraduate programs, and continuing education courses at the UPC School 's information sessions and Open Classes. Learn about the methodology, curriculum, career opportunities, and avail
The program is aimed at professionals in the field of higher education who hold or aspire to hold positions of responsibility, especially:
- University governance teams (rectorates, vice-rectorates).
- Directors of departments, centers, faculties or schools.
- Heads of academic units or university services.
- Professionals involved in management, innovation or transformation in universities.
- Those responsible for educational policies or institutions linked to higher education.
- Profiles with responsibilities in innovation ecosystems, transfer or university-business collaboration.