About Leadership Training Program 2026

A leadership program — in the spirit of a research retreat

The research-retreat format sits between a conference and a training course: you don’t just listen to speakers as at a conference, or receive content as in a course — you take an active part for five consecutive days at ICESCO’s premises in Sharjah.

The program rests on one principle: all week, each participant works on a live institutional challenge from their organization, or on a real case study presented during the program. The output of each module feeds the next, and the week ends with a group research paper that is peer-reviewed and published with a Digital Object Identifier (DOI) credited to every team member.

Five days that leave you with new leadership skills, a research paper published in your name, and an accredited, verifiable certificate.

Program objectives

• Develop a generation of leaders and professionals able to lead institutional transformation with AI tools.
• Embed governance, risk management and compliance practices in institutional decision-making.
• Offer an interactive learning experience that combines theoretical depth with practice and simulation.
• Connect students, employees and leaders with decision-makers and experts in an open dialogue.
• Turn training spend into a published, citable knowledge asset.
• Measure learning impact with auditable, quantitative tools.

Admission requirements

No prior research background is required; research and publishing tools are taught hands-on. Participants bring a laptop and, if they have one, a challenge from their workplace — or work on one of the case studies presented. The organizers provide the workbook, templates and all materials.