Course description:

The University of Iceland offers this transdisciplinary course for senior graduate students registered in all schools and disciplines across the University. The course is also open to students from all Aurora universities. The course combines online content, virtual sessions that take place over the semester, and a five-day capstone experience on-site at the University of Iceland.

Participants will gain insights into current and future challenges and learn about how these are being addressed. Participants will work in collaborative interdisciplinary teams under the guidance of experienced industry and academic leaders to apply their new knowledge toward developing their own recommendations for tackling immediate and foreseeable challenges. Students will gain a deeper understanding of their own strengths as well as developing methods and approaches for innovative thinking under the guidance of experienced teachers.

The course incorporates the approach of Social Entrepreneurship and Innovation, which is part of the Aurora Competency Framework. This concept includes both social entrepreneurship, a way to achieve social change by employing entrepreneurial principles with or without the formation of new organizations, and social innovation, a process of developing and deploying effective solutions to challenging and often systemic social and environmental issues in support of social progress.

The course is 6 ECTS credits. Successful completion of the course depends on completion of the preparatory work, participation in the group work, and completion of a satisfactory final project and deliverable during the on-site capstone session.

See the course in the UI course catalogue here.

Blended Intensive Programme

This is a Blended Intensive Programme (BIP) course organised within the Aurora Alliance in collaboration with Copenhagen Business School (CBS), Paris-East Créteil University (UPEC) and the University of Naples Federico II (UNINA).

BIP code: 2026-1-IS01-KA131-HED-000426928-1

Learning outcomes:

Following the course, the student should

• be able to analyze and articulate the key societal challenges of today
• be able to take initiative on change and innovation in society, including using the methods of social entrepreneurship and innovation to do so
• be able to participate in interdisciplinary collaboration related to social entrepreneurship and innovation
• be aware of their own knowledge and capabilities relating to social entrepreneurship and innovation

Course schedule and assessment:

• Course schedule and mode of study:
  • Monthly online meetings from January to April 2027.
  • On-site intensive week in Reykjavík 10 – 14 May 2027.
• Assessment:
  • The course relies on brief assignments worked on during the virtual sessions, intense group work on the days of the on-site capstone session, and preparation of final deliverable, which is presented on the final day of the on-site session.
  • Students will receive a transcript of records upon completion of the course. Students will receive a pass/fail grade.

Nomination procedure:

Students must be nominated by their home institution to take part in this course, please contact your local Aurora office for information on the nomination process.

Nomination deadline: 15 November 2025

Nominated students will need to register for the course through the application portal at the University of Iceland. Nominated students will receive information on the application procedure soon after the nomination deadline.

Application deadline: 1 December 2025

Students who have turned in an application before the application deadline can expect to receive further information from the University of Iceland no later than 15 December.