Leading Innovation Management micro-credential

• Analyse innovation ecosystems and assess opportunities for collaboration across academia, industry, and government
• Design and justify innovation strategies that integrate disruptive technologies, commercialization, and technology transfer
• Apply introductory sustainability assessment tools (LCA, LCC, S-LCA) to support responsible innovation decisions
• Lead collaborative innovation processes, managing risks, ethics, and stakeholder engagement
• Communicate innovation strategies and proposals effectively to professional audiences

Applicants must be either students currently enrolled in a Master’s or PhD degree programme or lifelong learners from any industry, profession, or country. Applicants registered as lifelong learners must hold at least a Bachelor’s degree or have a minimum of two years of relevant professional work experience.

800€

Applicants must demonstrate English language proficiency at a minimum level of B2 (intermediate). A Bachelor’s degree (or equivalent professional experience) is required; a minimum of one year of relevant experience is recommended.

March – June 2027

Blended

The hours and workload involved (25 contact hours and 100 self-study hours) in this micro-credential are recognised as 5 ECTS.

Teaching methods:

• Interactive lecture, exercise, case study analysis, group discussion, workshops, simulations, pitch training.

Assessment methods:

• Portfolio tasks
• Team innovation challenge
• Portfolio reflection note
• Reflective essay

English

Vilnius University (as coordinating University) and Maynooth University.

Main Programme Leaders:

Prof. Dr. Saulė Mačiukaitė-Žvinienė — Professor of Innovation at Vilnius University Business School, Saulė brings to the programme more than two decades of work at the meeting point of research, policy, and practice. Her interests span innovation and knowledge management, responsible research and innovation, and the collaboration that connects universities, industry, and government. Having shaped and led numerous EU Framework and Horizon projects, she designs the micro-credential’s components on innovation ecosystems, leadership for transformation, and responsible innovation — helping participants turn ambitious ideas into strategies that hold up in the real world.

Ass. Prof. Dr. Anushree Priyadarshini — Assistant Professor at Maynooth University School of Business, Anushree works where innovation meets responsibility. Her research centres on sustainability, social innovation, and impact assessment — translating big-picture goals into tools leaders can actually use. She leads the programme’s sustainability and social-innovation strand, weaving the UN Sustainable Development Goals and introductory assessment methods (LCA, LCC, S-LCA) into the curriculum so participants learn to innovate not only effectively, but responsibly.

Other lecturers:

Researcher Jurgita Petrauskienė — is a researcher at Vilnius University Business School and Head of Strategic Management at the University, and has previously served as Lithuania’s Minister of Education and Science and as the country’s attaché to the OECD. Her experience in universities, government, and in international policy, and knowledge brings outstanding paths to the programme’s strategic-management and leadership sessions.

Ass. Prof. Dr. Peter Deeney — Assistant Professor of Finance at Maynooth University, he leads the Research Ireland–funded Wind Value project on the financial risks and community ownership of wind farms, and teaches sustainable finance and sustainability in business. Much of his research uses the UN Sustainable Development Goals to weigh the real environmental and economic trade-offs of new technologies.