Maastricht University
Maastricht University is a public university in Maastricht, the Netherlands. Founded in 1976, the university is the second youngest in the Netherlands. The university's founding name was Rijksuniversiteit Limburg and was changed into Universiteit Maastricht in 1996. Since 2008 the name is Maastricht University, which the university claims will emphasize the international character.
Maastricht University has over 14,400 students, 43% of whom are foreign students, and over 3,900 employees. About half of the bachelor's programmes are fully offered in English, while the other half is taught wholly or partly in Dutch. Most of the master's and PhD programmes are in English.
History
Maastricht University was officially established in 1976 to become the eighth public medical school in the Netherlands. Faced with a shortage of medical professionals, the national government decided in the late 1960s that a new public institution of higher education was needed in order to expand the country's medical training facilities. Political leaders in the province of Limburg, most notably Sjeng Tans, the chairman of the Dutch Labour Party and former member of the Limburg provincial council and Maastricht city council, successfully lobbied for the new medical school to be established in Maastricht. This new academic institution, Tans argued, would not only be vital to sustain the city's intellectual life, but could also contribute to the government's restructuring efforts in the southernmost part of the Netherlands, which was experiencing serious economic challenges following the collapse of the regional coal mining industry.By the early 1970s, however, the shortage of medical professionals had all but disappeared and political support for a new medical school waned. In an unusual decision, the newly established school decided not to await official recognition and to start its educational programme in September 1974, promising an innovative approach to academic education by adopting a new teaching method known as problem-based learning. About 50 students enrolled in the first academic year. By the end of 1975, the Dutch Parliament eventually passed the statute needed for the institution to acquire national educational funds and to be able to award academic degrees. The new university, named Rijksuniversiteit Limburg, was officially established on January 9, 1976, when Queen Juliana of the Netherlands signed the university’s founding charter at a ceremony in Maastricht. Sjeng Tans became the university's first president.Soon after its establishment, the university gained political support to expand into other academic fields. A Faculty of Law was created in 1981, to be followed by an economics faculty in 1984. In the 1990s, the Faculty of Arts and Culture and the Faculty of Psychology were established. The university adopted a growth strategy focusing on new academic disciplines, such as knowledge engineering and biomedical studies, and began to develop educational programmes with a distinctly European outlook, such as the European Law School and European Studies. At the beginning of the 21st century, the university started to establish schools and colleges, such as University College Maastricht (2002), one of the first liberal arts colleges in the Netherlands, and the Maastricht Graduate School of Governance (2004). Often created as separate entities within the university, these new departments were later integrated in the university’s faculty structure.The university was renamed Universiteit Maastricht in 1996 and switched to its current English-language name in 2008. As of 2010, Maastricht University consists of six faculties offering 17 bachelor’s programmes, 56 master’s programmes and several Ph.D. programmes.
Campuses
Maastricht University has two campuses: the city centre campus, consisting of a number of historic buildings housing the humanities and social sciences faculties, and the modern Randwyck campus in the southeastern part of the city, which has become the university’s centre for the medical, health, psychology and life sciences. The Randwyck campus includes the university hospital. Initial plans in the 1960s and 1970s, in line with infrastructural plans at other public universities in the Netherlands, envisaged a functional, single-campus university to be established in the largely undeveloped Randwyck district. These plans never fully materialized, in part because university administrators and staff considered the UM’s presence in the historic inner city to be important asset in attracting prospective students. Instead, the university developed in a bipolar way with campuses at both sides of the river Meuse. This bipolarity is symbolized in the university's logo by two triangles pointing to each other.In recent years, the university has opened offices in the northern Limburg city of Venlo, the Belgian capital of Brussels and the city of Bangalore, India.
City Centre Campus
The courtyard at Nieuwenhof, home of University College Maastricht.
The university’s humanities and social sciences faculties are located in Maastricht’s city centre, west of the river Meuse, at what can be described as an 'urban campus’ in the historic inner city. In addition to teaching and research facilities, the university’s executive and administrative centre, the visitors’ centre and the main branch of the university library are situated here. Most UM facilities in the city centre are situated in the Jekerkwartier neighbourhood, the southwestern part of the inner city sometimes referred to as Maastricht’s university quarter. Most of the university’s inner city properties have official monumental status. As many of these buildings were facing abandonment at the time of their acquirement, the development of an urban university campus has contributed significantly to the preservation and liveliness of Maastricht’s historic city centre.
The first building to be obtained by the university is the former Jesuit monastery at the Tongersestraat, where in 1974, the newly established medical school started its first academic year. After the medical faculty moved to the newly constructed university hospital, this large building complex, constructed in 1939, became home to the economics faculty, which is the university’s largest academic unit in terms of student numbers. The building was expanded in the 1990s to include the university restaurant (‘mensa’) and a large lecture hall (‘collegezaal’). The Faculty of Law is housed in the former provincial government building (Oud Gouvernement) at the Bouillonstraat (Nos. 1-3), which was constructed in 1935 and was acquired by the UM in 1986 after the provincial government had moved to its new building in the southeastern part of the city.
The university's executive building at the Minderbroedersberg.
University College Maastricht is located in the 15th-century Nieuwenhof convent, situated at the Zwingelput. The Maastricht Science College is located at the renovated Hustinx Mansion (1882) at the Kapoenstraat, which has a richly ornamented façade and a covered courtyard. The only faculty in the inner city which is not located in the Jekerkwartier neighbourhood is the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. This faculty, founded in 1994, was initially housed at the Hustinx building, but currently occupies two historic, adjacent buildings north of the Vrijthof square: Tilly Court, built in 1714 as the residence for the military governor of Maastricht, and Soiron Canon’s House (1786), located at the Grote Gracht.
The university library's inner city branch at the Grote Looiersstraat.
The university’s administrative headquarters is located in the Minderbroedersberg building, which dates back to 1699 and was originally built as a Franciscan monastery, was later used as a prison, and served as the regional court house for most of the twentieth century. The UM acquired the building to become its administrative head office in 1999. The Minderbroedersberg and the university’s executive organization located here are colloquially referred to as ‘de Berg’ (the Hill) by university employees for its physical location upon a small hill in the inner city, overlooking several other inner city locations. The building complex, especially its ‘Aula’ (main hall), also serves as the university’s primary location for official academic ceremonies, such as Ph.D. defenses. Down the hill, at the former Bonnefanten Convent, is the university’s visitors centre, which also houses the student service centre, administrative offices, the university gift shop and a coffee house. This building, which dates back to 1627, served as a convent until 1798 and was afterwards used for military purposes. In the twentieth century, the city’s main art museum, the Bonnefantenmuseum, was established here. It became the main branch of the university library in 1979, until the library moved to its current location at the Grote Looiersstraat.The library building at the Grote Looiersstraat was constructed in 1755 and after serving as the city’s poor house for a few years, it was transformed into a military hospital which it remained until the 1920s. Later, the building housed the city’s public library until 1999, when it moved to its new location in the modern Ceramique district. The building was then acquired by the UM. After major renovation and expansion works, which included a new entrance at the courtyard, the university library relocated here in 2003.
Randwyck Campus
The Randwyck district in the southeastern part of Maastricht.
The Randwyck campus, developed since the 1970s, has become the centre for the university’s medical and life sciences. The focal point for the Randwyck campus is the sprawling university hospital, which moved from its original location in the western part of Maastricht to its current site in Randwyck in 1992. The main university buildings, some of which are physically connected to the hospital, were built in the 1990s. Most sites have been constructed along the Universiteitssingel, the area’s eastern thoroughfare running parallel to the A2 highway. The medical faculty, the first to move to the Randwyck district, merged with the Faculty of Health Sciences in 2007 to become the Faculty of Health, Medicine and Life Sciences. The other faculty currently housed at Randwyck is the Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience. The university library's Randwyck branch is located at Universiteitssingel 50.In the early 1980s, when it became clear that the university would not relocate to Randwyck in its entirety, the city decided that the area would become a business district. In the 1980s and 1990s, the city approved several large infrastructural projects, such as the new provincial government building along the river Meuse and the MECC convention centre, as well as the construction of office buildings and a small residential area in the district.
In 2008, local housing association Servatius began construction for a campus project entitled 'Campus Maastricht', to be built at a site near the university hospital. The ambitious project, designed by Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava, would provide for an athletic centre, student housing, guesthouses, retail facilities and office space. The project was criticized early on for its environmental impact as a result of its abundant use of copper. Soon after the start of construction, it became clear that the projected costs of the campus, estimated at € 165 mln, were unrealistic. Servatius, having failed to secure additional investments, came under heavy political pressure and was forced to put the project on hold in May 2009. In November 2009, the housing association announced that it had cancelled the campus project with immediate effect, as continuation would impair its ability to carry out its principle function to provide social housing in Maastricht.
Organisation
Governance
As is common in the Netherlands, Maastricht University's teaching and research programmes are primarily carried out along the lines of faculties. Within faculties, teaching and research activities may be further decentralised through departments, schools, institutes or colleges. The names of organizational (sub)units, however, do not necessarily indicate their position within the university’s organizational hierarchy. In 2009, for example, the Faculty of Economics and Business Administration was renamed School of Business and Economics, even though it maintains the rank of a faculty.
Faculties are governed by a faculty board, headed by a dean. The dean has overall responsibility for policy and management at the faculty. Each faculty has a faculty council, a representative body the members of which are appointed for annual or biannual terms on the basis of elections by the faculty’s staff and students. Faculty councils have a limited number of decision-making powers as well as general advising responsibilities regarding the faculty’s teaching and research programmes and in organisational and budgetary matters. In addition to the faculty boards and faculty councils, other bodies may be created within faculties for advising or consultation purposes.
At the central level, the university is governed by the Executive Board, consisting of a President, a Vice-President and a Rector. The Executive Board appoints faculty deans, other administrators and professors and has general management responsibilities. The University Council, an elected body representing all members of staff and students at the university, performs functions similar to those of faculty councils. The Board of Deans, consisting of all faculty deans and the Rector, acts as a coordinating and consulting body at the central level and is responsible for awarding doctoral degrees and honorary doctorates.Additional services at the university are provided by a number of central service centres, such as the university library, the language centre and the university catering department.
Tuition and Financial Assistance
Tuition fees at Maastricht University vary, depending on nationality and programme of study. Regular tuition fees for public universities in the Netherlands are determined annually by law. Maastricht's tuition fees are therefore similar to those at other Dutch public universities. Regular tuition fees currently amount to € 1,672 annually for both bachelor's and master's programmes. Under European regulations, regular tuition levels are also applicable to foreign students from the European Economic Area, which includes all European Union member states. Tuition for students from non-EEA countries is € 8,500 annually for bachelor's programmes and € 12,000 annually for master's programmes. The University is currently considering an increase in tuition fees for the academic year 2011/2012. A plan to introduce an institutional fee of € 950 for students at University College, which would be used to pay for scholarships and to maintain the College's overall quality standards, was shelved after criticism from staff and students.Dutch students are eligible for national student grants and loans, administered by the Dutch government. International students normally are not eligible for student grants, but students from EEA countries are usually eligible for loans to cover tuition fees. Unlike several other Dutch universities, Maastricht University is not in the US Department of Education list of approved schools for US student aid (FAFSA) funding purposes. UM administers several university-wide scholarship programmes for international students, including the UM High Potential Scholarships, UM Company Scholarships and Friends Make the Difference Scholarships. Annually, the top 3% of UM students with the highest overall grades are awarded a full refund of their tuition. The Limburg University Fund, a fundraising foundation associated with the UM, administers a scholarship fund for students from emerging markets. A special fund was created to support students from Southeast Asian countries hit by the 2004 tsunami.As is common in the Netherlands, Ph.D. candidates ('promovendi') at Maastricht University typically are not considered students and accordingly do not pay tuition. Instead, they have the rank of junior members of the academic staff. Such Ph.D. candidates are employed by the university or faculty on full-time, four-year contracts with regular, entry-level wages and employee benefits. Ph.D. appointments usually involve teaching responsibilities and limited administrative duties.
Faculties
Faculties
The education and research at Maastricht University is organised primarily on the basis of faculties and schools, namely:
- Arts and Social Sciences
- Business and Economics
- Health, Medicine and Life Sciences
- CAPHRI School for Public Health and Primary Care
- CARIM School for Cardiovascular Diseases
- GROW School for Oncology & Developmental Biology
- MHeNS School for Mental Health and Neuroscience
- NUTRIM School for Nutrition, Toxicology and Metabolism
- SHE School of Health Professions Education
- Humanities and Sciences
- University College Maastricht
- Department of Knowledge Engineering
- International Centre for Integrated Assessment & Sustainable Development
- Maastricht Graduate School of Governance
- Teachers Academy
- Architecture
- Maastricht Science Programme
- Law
- Maastricht Graduate School of Law
- Psychology and Neuroscience
- Faculty of Psychology & Neuroscience Graduate School
Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences
The Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences offers two bachelor programmes, seven undergraduate minors, eight postgraduate programmes, and has a Graduate School for Ph.D. students. These programmes are:
- B.A. degree programmes: Arts and Culture, European Studies
- Minor: Arts and Culture, Crucial Differences, European Studies, Globalisation and Diversity, Governing Europe, Law and Policy Making, Living with the Life Sciences
- M.A. degree programmes: Analysing Europe, European Studies, European Public Affairs, Arts and Heritage: Policy, Management and Education; European Studies on Society, Science and Technology; Arts and Sciences, Media Culture,
- M.Phil degree programmes: Cultures of Arts, Science and Technology
- Ph.D. degree programmes: Arts and Social Sciences
School of Business and Economics
The Maastricht University School of Business and Economics (commonly abbreviated as SBE) is currently accredited by EQUIS (press release), AACSB (press release) and Association of MBAs (AMBA). This Triple Crown accreditation has only been achieved by 48 other business schools, including RSM Erasmus University, INSEAD, IMD, FGV(Brazil), and the London Business School. Students from the Maastricht University School of Business and Economics have also successfully participated in the case competitions at McGill University (MMICC) and the University of Southern California (USC) in 2006 (website). In 2007, the university was once again invited and participated at CBS Case Competition. SBE also organizes a Maastricht case competition, called ICCM@M. For 2012 16 business schools from all over the world participate.SBE offers four Bachelor study programs (B.Sc.): International Business (abbreviated IB), Economics and Business Economics, Fiscal Economics and Econometrics and Operations Research. As well as that there is wide range of Master programs to choose from. SBE Students are represented by SCOPE Maastricht, the overall Study Association for students at SBE and in terms of absolute members and revenue the biggest study association in Maastricht.
Faculty of Law
The Faculty of Law, located at the former provincial government building.
Maastricht University’s Faculty of Law was founded in 1981. It started with a programme in Dutch law, designed in line with UM’s problem-based learning principles. Ninety students enrolled in the first year. The Faculty was initially located at the Nieuwenhof, which is currently home to the University College. With the number students growing quickly, the faculty moved to its current location at the Bouillonstraat in 1990. This building complex, the former seat of the provincial government, consists of tutorial rooms, lecture halls as well as staff offices. The building underwent major renovation works around 2009, which included a new common room and lunch counter for students, a garden terrace, and an additional lecture hall in the Feestzaal. The Faculty celebrates its 30th anniversary in 2011.
In the 1990s, the Faculty introduced a new programme entitled the European Law School (ELS), which focuses on European, comparative and international law. The programme is taught partly in English. A fully English-language ELS programme was established in 2007. It is the first English-language bachelor’s programme in law in the Netherlands. The Faculty currently consists of about 2,500 students and 150 members of staff. It offers four bachelor’s (LL.B.) programmes: Dutch law, tax law, a Dutch-language ELS and an English-language ELS. In addition, the Faculty offers seven master’s (LL.M.) programmes and three advanced master’s programmes, many of which are taught in English.In research, the Faculty has built a reputation in the areas of international, European and comparative law. The Faculty participates in two national research schools: the School of Human Rights and the Ius Commune Research School, which focuses on European, international and transnational legal questions in both private and public law. The Faculty is also home to several research institutes. In 1991, the Institute for Transnational Legal Research (METRO) was founded, followed by the Maastricht Centre for Human Rights in 1993. The Institute for Globalisation and International Regulation (IGIR), the Montesquieu Institute Maastricht (Centre for European Parliamentary History and Constitutional Development), the Institute for Corporate Law, Governance and Innovation Policies (ICGI) and the Maastricht European Private Law Institute (M-EPLI) were established more recently.
Faculty of Humanities and Sciences
The Faculty of Humanities and Sciences consists of:
- University College Maastricht (UCM)
- Department of Knowledge Engineering (DKE)
- International Centre for Integrated Assessment and Sustainable Development (ICIS)
- Maastricht Graduate School of Governance
- Maastricht Science College (MSC)
Faculty of Health, Medicine and Life Sciences
The Faculty of Health, Medicine and Life Sciences started January 1, 2007. The faculty was the result of a merger between the Faculty of Health Sciences and the Faculty of Medicine.
The Faculty of Medicine was the first Faculty to be established at Maastricht University. The University was officially established on 9 January 1976, although the first medical students began their studies in September 1974.The Faculty developed into a community with a staff of around 1200 (academics, administrative and support staff), and approximately 1950 medical students. Since 1992 staff and students are based at the complex of buildings of the Faculty of Health, Medicine and Life Sciences, Faculty of Psychology, and the University Hospital (Academic Hospital Maastricht) which opened in 1991.The Faculty of Health Sciences offered a broad range of disciplines that made the faculty unique. Not only in the Netherlands, but also in Europe. The format allowed students to integrate their discipline and research work into all areas related to society, sickness and health. By way of research and specific (undergraduate and postgraduate) education, the Faculty of Health Sciences contributed to quality improvement in health care.
Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience
Founded in 1995, Maastricht University’s Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience (FPN) is specialised in two contemporary angles in psychology: cognitive psychology and biological psychology. There are three different master programmes. The one-year master programme Psychology offers 6 different specialisations: neuropsychology, developmental psychology, cognitive neuroscience, health and social psychology, psychology and law, work and organisational psychology. In conjunction with the Faculty of Health, Medicine and Life Sciences, FPN's two-year research master Cognitive and Clinical Neuroscience offers four different specialisations: cognitive neuroscience, fundamental neuroscience, neuropsychology and psychopathology. The selective two-year master programme in Forensic Psychology in English, offers theoretical, research and skills courses, to educate students to become scientist-practitioners in the field of forensic psychology and psychiatry. For more information, see the Forensic Psychology Master website. Like all those at Maastricht University, the FPN's programmes revolve around Problem-Based Learning (PBL).
Academic Life
Student housing complex in the city centre, owned by Woonpunt housing association.
The Maastricht University student body is still composed primarily of students from the Netherlands, but UM has a sizable number of international students. Of the 13,117 registered students in 2008, 39% were of a foreign nationality. This number has increased to 43% as of 2009. Most foreign students are from European Union member states: 4,794 students, or 37% of the total student body. Other, non-EU foreign students, amounting to less than 2% of the total number of UM students, came from various countries in Europe (91), Asia (129), Africa (45), North America (33), Central and South America (15), and Oceania (29). The university attracts a significant number of German students, especially in its economic, European Studies and psychology programmes. About 800 students annually choose Maastricht as their study abroad destination, while about 1,400 Maastricht students spend one or more semesters at a foreign university each year. Some 70 nationalities are currently represented at UM.
Maastricht University's academic staff, which has been growing over the past years, consists of about 1,900 members with a male/female ratio of 54/46. The number of support staff members amounts to 1,600, of which about 62% is female. Nearly 20% of UM's staff members hold a foreign nationality. About 12% of professors at Maastricht University are women. Regarding the number of female professors, the university ranks lower than comparable universities in the Netherlands even though the number has been on the increase over the past years.Like most other Dutch universities, UM itself does not provide regular student housing. However, the university participates in a student housing foundation, offering mediation services to students. About 2,700 rooms and apartments offered through the Maastricht student housing foundation are provided by local housing associations Woonpunt, Servatius and Maasvallei. Some 8,000 other accommodations are provided by private landlords. Most units are located in houses or small apartment complexes across the historic city centre or in its immediate surrounding neighbourhoods. Many foreign exchange students live at the UM Guesthouse in Annadal, which provides short-term housing. Student accommodations are usually rented out unfurnished, but the number of furnished rooms is growing to meet the demands of the increasing number of international master's students in Maastricht.
The university's independent newspaper, Observant, is published on a weekly basis and distributed throughout the university. It provides news, background articles, columns and educational information in Dutch and English, directed primarily at the university community. Studium Generale, the university's cultural office, organizes lectures and cultural activities for members of the university community and the general public.
Research
UM research is focused on international issues critical to the development of society. The university seeks to strengthen regional and national knowledge economies, elevating knowledge as a means of production equal to labour and capital. We have set up extensive partnerships with other universities, organisations and industry to apply scientific knowledge and create practical solutions to societal problems.
Themes
The research interdisciplinarity of Maastricht University is enhanced around three themes by which we are creating mass and focus in research in parallel with our education strategy:
• ‘Learning and Innovation’,
• ‘Quality of Life’
• ‘Europe and a Globalising World’.
Learning and Innovation
• ‘Learning and Innovation’,
• ‘Quality of Life’
• ‘Europe and a Globalising World’.
Learning and Innovation
Learning and innovation lie at the heart of our university. Maastricht is known for its innovative approach to education and for its university wide choice for problem based learning. At a micro-level research varies from the exploration of neurological foundations of learning to research in (new) educational formats to enhance individual learning, not only in school but also in workplace settings. Meso- and macro-level research include the evaluation of educational interventions both at school and at systems level, as well as corporate and organisational learning and social innovation.
Quality of Life
This interdisciplinary research programme focuses on the well-being of individuals in the context of a safe, healthy, sustainable and financially secure society. An important infrastructure of this research programme is situated on the Maastricht Health Campus. This Campus is home to the largest academic health science cluster in Europe, which serves the entire health continuum from top referral and top clinical care to prevention and rehabilitation. This is linked with an infrastructure for public health interventions, high-quality laboratories and clinical trial facilities, and a unique imaging platform. The research excels in four key areas: cardiovascular diseases, mental health and neurosciences, metabolic aspects of chronic diseases, and primary care and health sciences.
Europe and a Globalising World
During the last decades the European integration process and the position of Europe as a specific actor on the global scene has increased enormously. At Maastricht University we have developed several major interdisciplinary research lines that deal with questions about the role of Europe in a globalising world. We study several aspects of the European Union, such as the functioning of the European Union itself, the role of Europe on the global stage and for example the tensions between cultural memory and diversity on the European and global level.
Organisation of research
Research at Maastricht University is undertaken by multidisciplinary teams working on relevant social themes. The university has established a number of research institutes to carry out this research. Each insitute covers a certain domain. These institutes have independent boards and management, and often work in collaboration with external parties in the Netherlands and abroad.Graduate schools have been established for the specific purpose of organizing and managing PhD training. Also master programs that prepare for a PhD trajectory are often governed by graduate schools, particularly the so-called research masters. In most cases local graduate schools are linked to national or international research schools.The fundamental entities of research are the groups that are formed around appointed full professors.
Research training
Talented students with research ambitions can do a research master after completing their bachelor’s or master’s. Entry requirements vary according to the programme. It is also possible to follow a PhD programme in one of our graduate schools.
Employment as a researcher
Maastricht University regularly publishes PhD, post-doc and teaching vacancies on the Academic Transfer website. In addition, Maastricht University is currently looking for a number of talented researchers to work on specific research themes.If we do not have a research vacancy in your field please contact the appropriate research institute or school for more information about employment at Maastricht University.
Valorisation & entrepreneurship
Research at Maastricht University is focused on issues critical to the development of society. Research 'valorisation' gives social or financial value to research findings. Our researchers work in multidisciplinary teams with representatives of trade, industry (such as DSM Resolve) and socially relevant partners (such as the Dutch National Institute for Public Health and the Environment RIVM).
Within the university there are several parties that stimulate and facilitate valorisation
- The Contract Research Centre helps current and future researchers find funding for research at or in conjunction with Maastricht University. The Centre is dedicated to expanding the amount of funding available to university researchers and to greater emphasis on the focus, quality and efficiency of Maastricht University affiliated research projects.
- Biomedbooster is an organisation for knowledge valorisation in, amongst others, the life sciences sector. Its purpose is to link new research findings to an analysis of their market potential and the options for further product development.
- UM Holding's main goal is to help develop and implement UM’s market-oriented activities. The holding manages the portfolio of UM spin-off companies and provides support to researchers by helping them further commercialise protected knowledge within the university spin-offs.
- The Centre for Entrepreneurship provides education in the area of entrepreneurship to students, researchers and entrepreneurs. It also aims to develop research in this area.
Research and campus initiatives
At Maastricht University (UM), we are continually working to further strengthen our position as a research university. To this end, collaboration between the government, business sector and knowledge institutions in the region is crucial. This is what we call the ‘triple helix’ formula. Such partnerships also help to shape our major campus initiatives:
- the Chemelot Campus in Sittard-Geleen, an open innovation campus specialising in chemistry and materials
- the Maastricht Health Campus in Maastricht-Randwyck, focusing on health and wellbeing. Brains Unlimited is one of the first concrete projects on this campus.
With these campus initiatives, UM is hoping to enhance its international appeal for top scientific talent, and foster additional opportunities for research funding. This will serve to further anchor the university in the regional economy.
Community
In all three initiatives, students, researchers and entrepreneurs work together in a community, the optimal climate for knowledge exchange and valorisation. This helps us to rapidly translate research results into patents and products. Further, clustering all activities on a single campus serves to increase their international visibility.
Programmes
These projects are also linked to new educational initiatives at the bachelor’s, master’s and PhD levels. The most tangible of these at present is the Maastricht Science Programme, a bachelor’s programme launched in September 2011. This programme allows students with broad interests in the sciences to compose their own natural sciences curriculum that suits them and is well geared towards a follow-up programme.
The University's main research centres are:
- CaRe Netherlands School of Primary Care Research
- CARIM http://www.carimmaastricht.nl/ (Cardiovascular Research Institute Maastricht) Heart and Vascular diseases
- EPP Research School Experimental Psychopathology
- EURON European Graduate School of Neuroscience
- Ius Commune
- METEOR Maastricht Research School of Economics of Technology and Organisations
The UM participates in the following research schools:
- Huizinga Institute UM participation in the research institute CWS
- ICO UM participation in the research Institute of Medical Education
- iBME integrated Biomedical Engineering. Co-operation with the University of Twente.
- SIKS UM participation in the Department of Knowledge Engineering
- School for Human Rights Research [www.law.uu.nl/English/orm/]
- VLAG Nutrition, food Technology, Agro-biotechnology and Health
- WTMC Netherlands Graduate School of Science, Technology and Modern Culture
- CAPHRI Care and Public Health Research Institute
- CARIM Cardiovascular Research Institute Maastricht
- CWS Arts and Culture Research
- EPP Experimental Psychopathology
- GROW Research Institute Growth & Development
- MHeNS School for Mental Health and Neuroscience
- ICIS International Centre for Integrative Studies
- IGIR Institute for Globalisation and International Regulation
- MARC - Maastricht Accounting, Auditing & Information Management Research
- Maastricht Centre for Human Rights
- METRO Maastricht European Institute for Transnational Law Research
- METEOR Maastricht Research Institute/School of Economics and Organizations
- Montesquieu Institute (Centre for European Parliamentary History and Constitutional Development)
- NUTRIM Nutrition and Toxicology Research Institute Maastricht
- ROA Research Centre for Education and the Labour Market
- UNU-MERIT (Maastricht Economic and social Research and training centre on Innovation and Technology), UNU-MERIT is also part of the United Nations University
Library
About the library
One University Library
Maastricht University does not have separate institute or faculty libraries: rather, it is home to a single library, housed in two locations, in the immediate vicinity of each faculty.
Collections
The library’s book and journal collections, in both electronic and hardcopy form, are built up in close consultation with faculty researchers and tutors. The electronic collection is easily accessible via the internet.Although the university is still relatively young, it possesses a large collection of old books (265,000 volumes) known as the Jesuit collection. In 1973 the Dutch government purchased the libraries of the former Jesuit colleges and the Great Seminary to form the basic collection of the then Rijksuniversiteit Limburg. This laid the foundation for the modern Maastricht University Library. Today, the Inner City Library houses a special reading room for precious works.
Learning and resource centres, and EleUM
Important features of the library are its learning and resource centres. These are unique facilities that support the Problem-Based Learning (PBL) methodology used at Maastricht University. They are home to selected, not-for-loan reference books relevant to each degree programme, and an assortment of different study places (two-person places, group rooms, study cells and individual study places, both with and without computers and/or laptop outlets).To facilitate education digitally, too, the library manages the university’s electronic learning environment, EleUM.
The digital library
The library is more than just a physical location. The counterpart to the physical library is the digital library, which is accessible from anywhere at any time. It offers digital collections, a virtual information desk ('Ask your librarian') and online courses in searching for and dealing with academic information.The digital library also plays an important role in preserving the university’s academic output. National cooperation is involved in storing and making this output readily visible, and led to the development of the National Academic Research and Collaborations Information System (NARCIS). NARCIS contains full-text publications from all Dutch universities, research institutes, the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW) and the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO), and integrates:
- the ‘Cream of Science’ (Keur der Wetenschap) showcase, which offers the complete works of around 200 leading Dutch academics in digital form
- the ‘Promise of Science’ site (Nationale Proefschriftensite), which contains approximately 20,000 PhD dissertations from Dutch universities.
Ongoing research is registered in a research information system called METIS.
Academic information training
The library is structurally involved in various faculty curricula to help students develop skills in searching for and processing academic information.
Communication with users
The library’s services are discussed in faculty library committees and in the Committee for Academic Information Provision, which consists of staff and students. Digital surveys are used to periodically measure staff and student satisfaction.
Locations and opening hours
The library is housed at two locations:
- Inner City Library:Grote Looiersstraat 17, 6211 JH Maastricht
Regular opening hours: Mon-Fri: 08.30-22.00; Sat-Sun: 11.00-22.00
Extended overview of opening hours : http://www.maastrichtuniversity.nl/web/Library/OpeningHoursInnerCityLibrary.htm
- Randwyck Library:Universiteitssingel 50, 6229 ER Maastricht
Regular opening hours: Mon-Thu: 08.30-22.00; Fri: 08.30-18.00; Sat-Sun: 12.00-17.00
Extended overview of opening hours : http://www.maastrichtuniversity.nl/web/Library/OpeningHoursRandwyckLibrary.htm
Non-regular opening hoursThe opening hours may differ in the event of exams, public holidays and academic holiday periods.
Regular versus limited service
- On week days between 08.30 and 17.00, the library offers services at the desks at both locations. The information desk at the Inner City Library is also open on Saturday from 11.00-14.00;
- On week days from 17.00 and on the weekend, limited services are offered. The library can be used as a place to study or to meet fellow students. The information desks are closed, which means that you cannot consult journals / consult or borrow books from the closed stacks. Other books from the library (with the exception of the Learning and Resource centre books) can be borrowed via the self-lending machine. If you wish to return books, please place them in the book return box at the library entrance;
- You can ask questions 24/7 via our virtual desk ‘Ask your librarian’. Questions are answered on week days during office hours.
Collections
The Maastricht University Library manages various collections that are primarily aimed to support the university’s education and research.
Besides physical (i.e. hardcopy) collections, electronic media (e.g. e-journals, databases, electronic reference works and university publications) are increasingly accessible via the library.
The library’s collections encompass the different faculty discipline collections, special (i.e. heritage) collections and a central background collection.
Faculty collections
- Culture & Social Sciences collection
- Economics & Business Administration collection
- Health, Medicine & Life Sciences collection
- Humanities & Sciences collection
- Psychology & Neuroscience collection
- Law collection
Learning and resource centre collections
- Follow this link to Learning and resource center collections under Study facilities
Cultural heritage collections
- Pierre Kemp Library
- Pierre Kemp letter and manuscript collection
- Charles Eyck documentation collection
- Jesuit collection
- Peter Debye collection
- Prize volume collection
Central background collection
- Central background collection
Teaching & Learning support
To support them in the education process, the Maastricht University Library offers students and researchers various facilities in both its physical and digital libraries.
- There are learning and resource centres at both library locations, with collections and study facilities tailored to the education offered at UM. In addition, the Randwyck library has numerous computer stations in the LINK internet café and the Computer Resource Centre.
- Naturally, the library also houses a physical collection of books and journals. This goes hand in hand with its eLibrary, which makes all kinds of digital academic information and information sources available for education purposes. It also offers the possibility to make course-related digital information available via electronic readers.
- To support you in efficiently and effectively searching for, finding and using academic information, the library offers general library skills training as well as training in specific information and data files, EndNote and Evidence-Based Medicine.
- The library also supports both students and teaching staff in using the electronic learning environment, and offers all sorts of services in support of eLearning.
Research support
The University Library offers a broad range of products and services for Maastricht University (UM) researchers.
- First, of course, there is the eLibrary, which offers all kinds of academic information and information sources in support of UM research themes. As a researcher you can make suggestions for orders and thus help keep the collection up to date.
- To support you in efficiently and effectively searching for, finding and using academic information, the library offers skills training, including training in specific information and data files, EndNote and Evidence-Based Searching.
- Throughout the research process you can call upon the library to help you set up a literature review.
- The library also offers support in sharing and making available information in the context of interfaculty and/or interuniversity research cooperation.
- Once you complete your research, you can request library assistance in recording it in the Metis research registration system. This may involve uploading the research results (usually in the form of a publication, and often supplemented with data files and/or multimedia applications) in the institutional repository (digital display), and preparing personal publication overviews.
Health & Fitness 2012: Fitter!
FITTER!
Fitter is the theme of annually Health & Fitness week 2012! The Health & Fitness programme is especially organised for employees and consist of two parts this year:
- Fitter information markets, which offer an extensive and a varied programme about a healthy way of living, sports and health. Furthermore, there is a possibility to take part in various health checks and to attend a workshop.
- Fitter Together health programme which is designed to encourage all employees to improve their health.
Fitter information markets
Fitter Information markets take place on 22 and 27 March 2012 - 11.00-14.00 hrs and presents successes of previous editions: cholesterol check, fitness checks, chair massage, workplace check, a dietician to consult and the workshop core stability. For more information see H&F info markets on this website.
Fitter Together
The Fitter Together programme runs from 2 till 26 April. It is a health challenge that encourages employees to participate individually or as part of a team in a variety of healthy living challenges and activities. In 4 weeks you can earn ‘fitness points’ for your faculty or service centre by joining sportive activities to determine which service centre is the sportiest or which faculty the fittest! See for more information and registration Fitter Together.
More information on Health & Fitness activities?If you have any questions concerning the Health & Fitness programme you can mail us at: health_fitness@maastrichtuniversity.nl
Ranking
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)- In the 2009 THE-QS World University Rankings(From 2010 two separate rankings will be produced, one by the Times Higher Education World University Rankings and the other by QS World University Rankings), Maastricht University scored 100/100 in the category of international students.
- The Russian based Global University Ranking, which combines methodology of several rankings, placed Maastricht among top 100 universities in the world in 2009.
- In 2004, Maastricht University was ranked first (of all Dutch Universities) in a report on quality of education by the Dutch Ministry of Education, Culture and Science (OC&W)(press release). In 2005, the university came in first again. From 2006 onwards, the ministry no longer publishes a ranking list.
- Keuzegids Hoger Onderwijs: In 2006, eight of the twelve bachelor programmes were designated as best programme in the Netherlands by students (European Studies, Economics, Econometrics, International Business, Psychology, Medicine, Health Sciences and Molecular Life Sciences). From the other four programmes, three came in second place.
- Dutch Magazine Elsevier: At the beginning of the academic year 2005-2006 the university was once again ranked number one in the Netherlands by the Dutch publication Elsevier. In 2007 many degrees were again recognized as best in the Netherlands with exceptional grades given to the international opportunities in the International Business and Economics degrees.
- German Magazine Wirtschaftswoche: In 2005, the Faculty of Economics and Business Administration was regarded better than the same faculty at Oxford University (http://www.wiwo.de/pswiwo/fn/ww2/sfn/buildww/id/127/id/99119/SH/0/depot/0/).
- Financial Times: In 2008 the Faculty of Economics and Business Administration (FEBA) participated in the Financial Times’ ranking for Masters in Management programmes for the first time and its International Business programme scores a 25th place in the top 40 of European institutes that offer such programmes: (http://rankings.ft.com/masters-in-management). The programme even made the 4th place on the list "Best in International Business" and 3rd in the category "Value for Money" (http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/78519340-620e-11dc-bdf6-0000779fd2ac.html).
- Its undergraduate degrees in International Business and Economics were ranked 1st in the Netherlands in the 2008 Elsevier ranking Announcement
Notable Professors
- Harald Merckelbach: Professor of Psychology, member of the KNAW Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences, member of the Deetman Committee that examined sexual abuse in the Dutch Roman Catholic Church
- Corine de Ruiter: Professor of Forensic Psychology, President of the International Association of Forensic Mental Health Services, associate editor of International Journal of Forensic Mental Health
- Wiebe Bijker: Professor of Technology and Society, member of the KNAW (Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences) and together with Trevor Pinch the founder of Social Construction of Technology (SCOT)
- Franz Palm: Professor of Econometrics, member of the KNAW (Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences)
- Maurits Allessie: Professor of Physiology, member of the KNAW (Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences)
- Andre Knottnerus: Professor of General Practice, member of the KNAW (Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences), President of the Health Council of the Netherlands
- Luc Soete: Professor of General Economics, Director of research institute UNU-MERIT (which is also part of the United Nations University), member of the group of key thinkers for the Lisbon Strategy
- Geert Hofstede: Emeritus Professor of Organizational Anthropology and International Management. Founder of Institute for Research on Intercultural Cooperation (IRIC)
- John Hagedoorn: Professor of Strategy and International Business and professorial fellow with the United Nations University - MERIT
- Theo van Boven: Professor Emeritus of International Law, Former UN Director for human rights and UN Special Rapporteur for Torture
- Rainer Goebel: Professor of Neurocognition, Director of the Maastricht Brain Imaging centre, Winner of the German Heinz-Maier-Leibnitz award for cognitive sciences in 1993
- Peter Van den Bossche: Professor of International Economic Law; Head of Department, International & European Law; Director, Institute for Globalisation & International Regulation (IGIR); Formerly, Counsellor to the WTO Appellate Body and Acting Director, WTO Appellate Body Secretariat. Commencing 12 December 2009, Van den Bossche has been appointed for a 4 year term to the 7-member Appellate Body of the WTO.
- Cees van der Vleuten: Professor of Medical Education, Director, Chair Department of Educational Development and Research, Scientific Director School of Health Professions Education, Maastricht University, The Netherlands; Honorary Professor at the University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark; King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia and Radboud University, Nijmegen, The Netherlands. Recipient of the Hubbard award for most outstanding researcher in assessment in medical education.
Photo of University
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