Micro-credentials are documents confirming the completion of short forms of education. They may concern, for example, practical skills needed on the labour market, most often within a narrow, specialised scope.
Micro-credentials function as a competence scanner. They confirm that a learner has acquired specific knowledge, skills and competences that respond both to their needs and to the needs of the labour market. For example, employers can clearly state: “This person can design and programme a specific system.”
Bialystok University of Technology, in cooperation with the Educational Research Institute – National Research Institute, has just paved the way for micro-credentials – a new way of thinking about a career in the 21st century.
A course with students from all over the world
The first programme at Bialystok University of Technology to test the new format was a course in smart home design (“Smart Home design and configuration in Grenton system”). On 9–11 March 2026, 34 participants from Mexico, Slovakia, Turkey, Lithuania, Poland, as well as the University of Ruse in Bulgaria and the University of Banja Luka in Bosnia and Herzegovina – partner universities which, together with Bialystok University of Technology, co-create the European University Across – met in the laboratories of the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering at Bialystok University of Technology.
– We proposed an intensive 32-hour training course combining online theoretical preparation with on-site practical workshops in our modern laboratories – explains Rafał Grądzki, PhD, Eng., from the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering at Bialystok University of Technology, the originator of the course. – The response was immediate. In recruiting participants, we used our excellent contacts with partner universities from all over the world as well as our relations within the European University Across. Two students of the Mechatronics study programme at the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering of Bialystok University of Technology joined the truly international working group.
Education tailored to the market
The choice of subject was not accidental. The Smart Home sector is one of the fastest-growing sectors of the economy – it is estimated that by 2028 every third home in Poland will be “intelligent”. The course graduates not only passed the exam but also left the university with qualifications enabling them to work as:
- installers of automation systems,
- integrators of IoT (Internet of Things) solutions,
- energy management specialists.
Importantly, the university micro-credential goes hand in hand with a business certificate issued by Grenton – a Polish manufacturer of advanced smart home systems.
The training took place in the modern Smart Home laboratory (at dedicated teaching stations developed jointly with Grenton), located at the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering at Bialystok University of Technology. As a result, course participants were able to carry out tasks related to building automation in a practical manner and obtain a certificate of completion of the training.
A digital “badge” as an asset in a CV
The introduction of a micro-credentials system by Bialystok University of Technology is a signal to employers: the university is becoming a competence hub, dynamically responding to market changes.
The most important benefits of Bialystok University of Technology’s participation in the pilot micro-credentials programme include:
- expanding and increasing the flexibility of the educational offer: the university can offer shorter forms of education – micro-programmes or modules – which result in obtaining a digitally recognised micro-credential,
- better alignment with labour market needs: micro-credentials make it possible to design programmes focused on specific competences sought by employers,
- increasing the attractiveness of the university for new target groups: the micro-credentials offer can be addressed not only to students, but also to graduates, working professionals or people wishing to change their qualifications,
- developing cooperation with the socio-economic environment: the process of designing micro-credentials may take place in cooperation with enterprises, training institutions or industry organisations,
- supporting the university’s digital transformation.
Digital micro-credentials issued by Bialystok University of Technology are stored on the Odznaka+ platform, which enables issuing, collecting, storing and sharing digital badges in the Open Badges standard and equivalent PDF certificates. A digital badge can be easily shared with one click on LinkedIn or in a digital CV.
At Bialystok University of Technology, the process of coordinating and organising the issuance of micro-credentials is carried out by the Section for the Organisation of Education, ensuring the consistency of standards and the quality of implemented solutions.
More information about micro-credentials at Bialystok University of Technology can be found at: PB micro-credentials
Prepared by Monika Rokicka
See photos from the course “Smart Home design and configuration in Grenton system” at the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering of Bialystok University of Technology
The participation of some students and teachers in the intensive BIP course “Modern Solutions in Technical Systems: Smart Home Systems and FluidSim Pneumatic System Design” at the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering of Bialystok University of Technology was co-financed from the project: Erasmus+ 2024-1-PL01-KA131-HED-000199259 and 2025-1-PL01-KA131-HED-000316864
