Maastricht University

Maastricht University

Motto	Leading in Learning
Type	Problem-based learning
Established	1976
Chairman	Jo Ritzen
Rector	prof.mr. G.P.M.F. (Gerard) Mols
Academic staff	3,000
Students	12,080
Location	Maastricht , The Netherlands
Affiliations	EUA, VSNU
Website	http://www.maastrichtuniversity.nl

Universiteit Maastricht (abbreviation: UM) (or in the English language: Maastricht University), founded in 1976, is the second youngest university in the Netherlands, and consistently ranks among the top universities in the Netherlands in terms of education.

Maastricht University has some 12,000 students, 37% of whom are foreign students, and 3000 employees. The university is renowned for its problem-based learning method as an innovative way of teaching. About half of the bachelors programmes are fully offered in English, while the other half is taught in Dutch. Most of the postgraduate programmes are in English.

Rankings

• The Times Higher Education Supplement (THES) university ranking: place 111 in 2007 and again in 2008; 172 in 2006. Ranked 40 in Europe in 2008. In the category foreign students, Maastricht University scored 99/100, placing it 5th in Europe (cf. Harvard 91/100).

• Dutch Ministry of Education, Culture and Science (OC&W): In 2004, Maastricht University was ranked first (of all Dutch Universities) in a report on quality of education (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 Elservier: 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 (website).

• 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: website. The programme even made the 4th place on the list "Best in International Business" and 3rd in the category "Value for Money" website.

• Its undergraduate degrees in International Business and Economics were ranked 1st in the Netherlands in the 2008 Elsevier ranking Announcement

Faculties

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

Faculty of Economics and Business Administration / Business School

The Faculty of Economics and Business Administration is currently accredited by EQUIS (press release), AACSB (press release) and Association of MBAs (AMBA). This Triple Crown accreditation has only been achieved by 28 other business schools, including INSEAD, IMD and the London Business School. Students from the Faculty of Economics and Business Administration 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 ([1]).

The Faculty of Economics and Business Administration is also the home of the Universiteit Maastricht Business School.

Maastricht Graduate School of Governance

Main article: Maastricht Graduate School of Governance

The Maastricht Graduate School of Governance was founded in September 2004 by the University Board of the Maastricht University, in light of the growing needs for specialists in public policy analysis. The School combines the academic resources of the faculties of Maastricht University and those of several foreign partners in order to guarantee multi-disciplinary top-academic training.

University College Maastricht

Main article: University College Maastricht

University College Maastricht is a liberal arts college, providing Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Science degrees, which takes three years to complete. Whereas in a traditional program all the courses are laid out and predetermined for students, at UCM the concept of choice is central. UCM offers students a broad range of courses to choose from, covering all scientific disciplines. The students can choose from three different concentrations: Humanities, Social Sciences and Life Sciences. Apart from the regular courses students also take skill training and complete academic projects. As a result students have the opportunity to develop their own academic preferences and talents and acquire all the expertise and skills to enter a high-quality Master program. The College provides intensive guidance to help students make the right choices. Its students have gone on to study at some of the most prestigious universities in Europe and the US: Eindhoven University of Technology, Columbia University, Georgetown University, University College London, Oxford University, University College Dublin, the University of Paris-Sorbonne, and the London School of Economics.

Main research schools

• CaRe Netherlands School of Primary Care Research
• CARIM http://carim.unimaas.nl (Cardiovascular Research Institute Maastricht) Heart and Vascular diseases
• EPP Research School Experimental Psychopathology
• EURON EUROpean Graduate School of Neuroscience
• Ius Commune [2]
• 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 research institute MICC
• 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

Research institutes

• 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
• H&G Maastricht Brain & Behaviour Institute.
• ICIS International Centre for Integrative Studies
• IGIR Institute for Globalisation and International Regulation
• MARC - Maastricht Accounting, Auditing & Information Management Research
• MICC Maastricht ICT Competence Center (former: IKAT Institute for Knowledge and Agent Technology)
• Maastricht Centre for Human Rights
• METRO Maastricht European Institute for Transnational Law Research
• METEOR Maastricht Research Institute/School of Economics and Organizations
• 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

There are faculty research units and associated institutes (research website)

Notable Professors

• 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)
• Norman Dytianquin: Professor of Economics, 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.

External links

• Universiteit Maastricht
• Observant University newspaper, with weekly English section.
• UNU-MERIT
• Overview of all Bachelor's programmes at the Universiteit Maastricht
• Universiteit Maastricht for foreign students on iAgora - Reviews by former Erasmus and other international students in Maastricht on iAgora.