In the two years of the program, students who wish to become managers of innovation and sustainability are engaged in enquiry-based and inno-preneurial activities. They will put their acquired knowledge into practice by experimenting with concrete applications in different laboratories aimed at creating:
The course will provide students with practical skills on how to prepare a Research and Innovation proposal, eligible for funding under the Horizon Europe financing framework. In the laboratory, students will learn how to describe the excellence, impact, and implementation of their ideas, test their hypotheses, and apply the knowledge acquired in other courses of the LDIS SMIS curriculum.
These activities are carried out in collaboration with INNOVA, a private company founded in Rome (Italy) by a highly motivated team of co-founders, who have made INNOVA one of the leading private European groups in innovation technology consultancy. INNOVA is the holding company of the INNOVA GROUP and operates in a niche market in highly competitive and fast-moving sectors, where growth and success strongly depend on technological innovations.
INNOVA's main office is located in Rome at the Tecnopolo Tiburtino, a technology park promoted by the local Chamber of Commerce and the Province of Rome, with the support of public agencies and major corporations. This dynamic and stimulating environment includes offices, laboratories, and an incubator, serving as a reference point for high-performance businesses.
The X-Labs were tested for the first time in 2021, in 2022, and again in 2023 and 2024, including students and professors from Luiss and MSc programme in Strategic Management, Innovation and Sustainability, and the Engage.eu partnership, as well as representatives of national and international bodies. The cycles used to be scheduled from February to the last week of April, and in a final pitching session (Common Home Event), in the presence of partners, institutions and stakeholders. X-Labs offer students a transformative platform, enabling them to develop proof of concepts in collaboration with industry partners. This innovative program reverses the traditional "training on the job" model to a "job on the training" approach, immersing students directly in real-world work environments and the dynamics of professional settings. Students collaborate in teams under the guidance of professional mentors, focusing on creating targeted, mission-oriented innovations. This hands-on experience equips them with practical skills and an understanding of workplace norms and social dynamics, effectively bridging the gap between academic learning and professional application.
Face the underlying challenges of digital and green transitions attending X-Labs
The X-Labs capstone modules engage students in groups of 5 to 10 to tackle real-world challenges. Today, public, private, and social organizations, as well as innovators, face escalating complexities, uncertainties, and insecurities,
making digital and ecological transitions more challenging than ever.
The X-Labs are based on the second pillar of the Horizon Europe program, "Global Challenges and European Industrial Competitiveness". The X-Labs are divided into 6 modules, each allowing students to work on and address challenges related to the 6 clusters of the second pillar of the program. These are:
- Health
- Culture, Creativity and Inclusive Society
- Civil Security for Society
- Digital, Industry and Space
- Climate, Energy and Mobility
- Food, Bioeconomy, Natural Resources, Agriculture and Environment
The X-Labs immerse students in typical workplace dynamics and social norms by re-engineering the traditional "training on the job" model into a "job on the training" approach. This innovative framework includes:
- An experimental, problem-based teaching methodology that encourages innovative thinking.
- Active facilitation and mentorship provided by Luiss faculty members and professional mentors from partner organizations.
- Opportunities for students to design and develop a proof of concept, which they then present to an X-Labs jury consisting of top executives from partnering organizations.
- A professional work environment from day one, enabling students to develop and refine innovative solutions effectively.
This structured yet dynamic approach ensures that students not only learn theoretical knowledge but also apply their skills in practical, impactful ways.
Z-Labs, also these activities are carried out in collaboration with INNOVA, are capstone modules of the MSc Strategic Management, Innovation and Sustainability enquiry-based educational path through which students supported by ad hoc experts can acquire or further develop frontier research capabilities, research and innovation methodologies, practices, and tools linked to particularly relevant cross-cutting competences and skills such as stakeholder engagement, technology transfer, quantitative analysis, and sustainable governance. They will be taught by a Luiss Research Fellow and one key-mentor for each of the transversal themes (tech transfer, quantitative analysis and governance).
Z-Labs are addressed to the second-year students, stimulating them to further develop key skills that they will apply towards empirical and experimental theses that they will have to submit for their master’s degree. The thesis, in fact, is a key learning component of the two-year MSc program. It is the final step of the Luiss enquiry-based learning model - Luiss Uniqueness - by exposing students to cross-disciplinary outputs following their 2-years preparation. Theses can enrich the synergies between academic research and education with professional expertise and challenge-based approach to formulate interdisciplinary solutions' proposals to real-life issues. The final thesis highlights students' ability to formulate critical thinking. By prioritizing this cross-disciplinary, and tailoring the output on individual skills, we ensure that our students are prepared for future professional success in the global economy and for lifelong intellectual and personal development.
Main Subjects & Deliverables
During the Z-labs, students will work in a team to develop one of three main projects which correspond to three labs. Each student will be assigned only to one lab:
Deliverable type 1: stakeholder map, project execution plan, governance
Deliverable type 2: Business Plan (including stakeholder map and governance model), Company Statutes
Z-Labs will be co-managed by faculty members, professional mentors and practitioners, students, and last 18 hours.
Luiss and Partners’ Inno-preneurship Spaces
Z-Labs initiative will be conducted primarily at the Luiss Loft as the Luiss Inno-preneurship Space, applying the Inno-preneurship Methodology developed within the H2020 ENGAGE.EU project and ENGAGE.EU alliance. Hence, the Inno-preneurship Spaces are defined as physical and digital layers which promote a collaborative and open processes facilitating the cooperation of a variety of stakeholders in developing innovative entrepreneurial ideas having a sustainable impact on society.
Z-Labs will inspire universities in the alliance to promote acceleration and dissemination of inno-preneurial activities by offering a network with other inno-preneurs, unlocking knowledge and expertise, disseminating good examples, and co-creating best practices.
Further support will be available outside from the university walls, thanks to “Casa delle Tecnologie Emergenti” (CTE) in Stazione Tiburtina in Rome as incubator in the city environment, and Assoholding with their acceleration program for new companies.
GrInn Lab is a laboratory dedicated to innovation for sustainable development through experimentation at the urban, local and territorial levels, combining theoretical research, applied research, innovation (including social innovation) and technology transfer. Addressing the challenges that the ecological and technological transition is producing, the lab is based on an ecosystem approach to innovation in the dual sense of targeting the production of complex ecological, cultural, and social impacts and aiming to involve five main urban actors: public, private, social, educational-cultural-scientific, local communities and vulnerable urban inhabitants (in particular, the younger generation, the weaker social groups, etc.).
The workshop draws on the field experience of LabGov ETS, an NGO made up of Lab alumni and students, and LabGov.City, a scientific partnership between Luiss Guido Carli and Georgetown University committed to the development of studies, projects and policies for the co-management of urban spaces, infrastructure and resources essential to making cities more just, inclusive, sustainable, equitable and democratic.
The GrInn Lab, which will see the active participation of Lab alumni, Ph.D. students, researchers, managers, public administrators, and third-sector professionals, is structured around six basic pillars:
- Climate and Technology Justice
- Heritage and Business Communities
- Common Goods
- Solidarity, Collaboration, Civic Innovation
- Circular and Energy Neighborhoods and Communities
- Emerging technologies for sustainable development.
GrInn Lab is intended for Luiss students enrolled in the second year of the Bachelor's degree program of the Departments of Economics and Management, Political Science, and in the third year of the Single-Cycle Bachelor's degree program in Law. GrInn Lab is conducted in Italian.
